DVD Collectors Online

Aurore, a review by RossRoy

Original Title: Aurore Year: 2005 Country: Canada (Quebec) Director: Luc Dionne Rating: 16+ Length: 110 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: French: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo Subtitles: English, French

What they say - (translated from French)My Thoughts
Like the back cover of the DVD says, this story has touched everyone in Quebec in one way or another. Everybody is affected by this story. Of course, being such a relatively old story, it all happened at the beginning of the last century after all, it has been ingrained in our collective cultural heritage here in Quebec. Even before seeing this movie, or the one that came before it, or before reading about it, I was still very much aware of Aurore's suffering, and the collective indifference to her situation.

Unfortunately, movies being the beast they are, and the actual events taking place so long ago, there's no way to know how much of it real, and how much of it was romanced. Still, from what I've read of the case in the past, they couldn't be all that far. And that, makes it a movie that is hard to bear. You know it actually happened. You know a young girl had to go through this. You know she wasn't alone. You know she wasn't the first. You know she wasn't the last.

I may be reading more than I should into this movie. But I can't help it. I can't help but think of all these children who are being abused, to this day, by a parent and/or close relative, and nobody will say anything. So many kids have had their lives turned into hell, only because nobody will talk.

And that's what this movie is all about. Yes, it's telling Aurore's story in particular. Yes, it's easy to say that the movie may not be faithful to the actual event. Yes, it's also easy to say that the movie is flawed because it may have tried to show the stepmother as being mad, instead of just mean.

But that's not the point. That's not what the director intended.

Aurore's story is mean to an end. What he's doing, is showing how a full community becomes just as guilty as the parents, because they ignored the cries of the children. Everybody knew, yet nobody did anything until it was too late. Everybody had their suspicions. Nobody went in, or even confronted the parents. Even after Aurore was treated for a full month in a hospital.

That's the message of the movie. If you have reason to suspect something, say something. Don't wait until it's too late.

Rating:

(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on November 6th, 2008)

A.I. - Artificial Intelligence, a review by Tom

Title: A.I. - Artificial Intelligence
Year: 2001
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 140 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Stars:
Haley Joel Osment
Frances O'Connor
Sam Robards
Jake Thomas
Jude Law

Plot:
In a future world of runaway global warming and awe-inspiring scientific advances, humans share every aspect of their lives with sophisticated companion robots called Mechas. But when an advanced prototype robot child named David (Haley Joel Osment) is programmed to show unconditional love, his family isn't prepared for the consequences. Suddenly, David is on his own in a strange and dangerous world. Befriended by a streetwise Mecha (Jude Law), David embarks on a spectacular quest to discover the startling secret of his own identity.

Awards:
Extras:
Featurettes
Scene Access

I enjoyed this movie in the beginning. Haley Joel Osment does a really great job at portraying this robot child. My problems with this movie start with the beginning of the "mother"'s change of heart. Initially very creeped out by David, she suddenly accepts him.
I could have accepted it for the sake of the story, but the movie really got boring after David was abandoned. Though I got a kick out of Teddy. Partially creepy but somehow cute and believable toy nonetheless.
The ending didn't help matters. Maybe if I had it seen it at the time of release I wouldn't have had such a problem with it. But after Indy 4 I just couldn't help thinking, if this is now the typical Spielberg ending.

I think it would have been more fun to explore the life of the family over the years. Why would anyone get a robot child which (presumably) never ages? How did they think they could have hidden this fact from others?

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on April 1st, 2010)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by Achim

7. Brothers of Nablus

(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 3rd, 2010)