DVD Collectors Online

Initial D, a review by Jon

INITIAL D (2005)
2 out of 5

Movie based on the Manga/Anime about the drifting sub-culture in Japan... why am I even including this? Look, just read the bloody book. And I bet the animated version is far better. This is bollocks. Some cool driving scenes and using an older car against the flashy modern machines was great, but not enough to get in a lather about. The film is hamstrung by terrible MTV style editing that continually distracts. The kid looks good lazy and laid back while driving, but doesn't change when he gets out the car. His mate is a stupid character who really annoys me and the nail in the coffin was a completely daft subplot about his girlfriend

Special mention for Anthony Wong who is a great actor. Here he plays the drunk dad who, in an unusually subtle part of the story, could be as good a driver as his son. He and the drifting kept me watching. As a pure car film, it's better than The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, but that film was more enjoyable overall. It just scrapes in for two stars because of Wong and some of the drift scenes. The other drivers are decent mysterious characters too, but I repeat, try the book or the series first.

The Car's the star: Toyota Sprinter Trueno


Trailer

(From Car Movie Marathon on August 15th, 2008)

The Truth About Jane, a review by Tom

Title: The Truth About Jane
Year: 2000
Director: Lee Rose
Rating: NR
Length: 91 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:
Stockard Channing
Ellen Muth
Kelly Rowan
Jenny O'Hara
RuPaul Charles

Plot:
Jane's Mom (Stockard Channing, TV's "West Wing," Grease) assumes her popular daughter is just like every other fifteen-year-old girl - a little confused about growing up, but a great kid at heart. Jane figures her mom is just like any other mom - a little too protective, but only because she loves her. Both of them believe they have a good relationship. Then Jane meets Taylor, the new girl at school, and falls madly in love with her.

Suddenly, everyone is trying to figure out how to cope with the realization that Jane is a lesbian. Her classmates are having trouble treating her like a human being, and her mom refuses to have anything to do with Jane's experiment. The trouble is, this is not just a phase. Jane knows she's gay. If her mom can't or won't accept that fact, their relationship could be broken forever.

Through the help of new friends and a lot of soul searching, Jane learns to accept herself and her sexuality. Now the challenge is finding a way to help her mom remember how much she loves her daughter.

Extras:
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

I first saw this TV movie before "Dead Like Me" first aired, so this was the first time that I saw Ellen Muth in anything. I enjoyed this movie. From the ones I have watched until now in this marathon, this one feels to be the most realistic.
Ellen Muth is great here. They used the same storytelling device as in Dead Like Me here. Ellen Muth serves as narrator similar as in Dead Like Me. With often the same kind of dry humor. I wonder, if this movie had anything to do with her being cast in Dead Like Me.
I think Stockard Channing did a good job as the mother, who in general is very liberal and open-minded (even having a gay man (RuPaul) in her close circle of friends) until it is her daughter who is gay.

Rating:

(From Lesbian Movie Marathon on March 15th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Hyperdrive: Series One & Two (2006/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia 2 entertain Video (United Kingdom) Length: 351 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
It is 2151. Britain has launched a fleet of spaceships to protect her interests in a changing galaxy. Amongst them is the HMS Camden Lock, with a crew who will risk everything and stop at nothing to bring harmony to the galaxy, while encouraging aliens to relocate their businesses to Peterborough.

They are led by the inappropriately optimistic Commander Henderson, a glorious hero in the eyes of himself, and his First Officer, York, not just a brilliant scientist and tactician, but also a borderline psychopath. The rest of the crew comprise love-struck Diplomatic Officer Teal, who burns several boxes of candles for the Commander; manic depressive Nagivator Vine; insubordinate Technical Officer Jeffers and enhanced human Sandstrom - whose body and mind were modified in exchange for the Space Force paying off her student loan. Together they experience the highs and lows of space travel and inter-galactic diplomacy: big swivelly chairs, anoying talking doors, and, of course, the alien wars that threaten the survival of life in the universe...


Hyperdrive
1.01 A Gift From the Glish
Writer: Kevin Cecil (Writer), Andy Riley (Writer)
Director: John Henderson
Cast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Paterson Joseph (Space Marshal), Richard Katz (Male Glish), Katherine Jakeways (Female Glish), Laurence Howarth (Fasmoff), Remi WIlson (Piretti), Joe Marshall (Wade), Waen Shepherd (Captain Helix), Stephanie Dooley (Beautiful Space Lady), Morwenna Banks (Announcer), Computer Voices), * Maggie Service ( (voice)), * Ewan Bailey ( (voice))

Not as funny as I hoped. But probably something I hopefully will finish watching in the future. If it would have been better, I probably would have watched the whole series today before continuing on in this marathon.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 3rd, 2012)