DVD Collectors Online

Where the Wild Things Are, a review by Achim

Title: Where the Wild Things Are
Year: 2009
Director: Spike Jonze
Rating: PG
Length: 101 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Stars:
Max Records
Pepita Emmerichs
Max Pfeifer
Madeleine Greaves
Joshua Jay

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Featurettes

Usually a good thing when the film's message is not in your face the whole time, here I was missing the clarity at times. The film is rolling along having fun with Max and the Wild Things and only near the end the meaning becomes obvious. Maybe what I was missing a bit was more of a gradual growth for Max...? Maybe I was looking at it the wrong way, but the occasional realization of Max was not clear enough to me. But I am nitpicking, really.

The transition to the Wild Thing's world is done with a safety net, like indicating that Max is dreaming really. Only the one shot of Max pulling away from shore with the boat has an unreal quality to it, but it should only be obvious to those looking for such a hint (like I was ).

The Wild Things are awesome and an enjoyment to look at. Especially their expressions with the eyes and their mouth movements are excellent (the latter supposedly mostly real, only improved via CGI; I am not sure though). Max Records is bringing all subtleties of Max"s feelings across wonderfully. I was a bit baffled by Mark Ruffalo being in this and then only being on screen for about 1 or 2 minutes...



(From Achim's entirely random reviews on April 25th, 2010)

Art of the Devil, a review by Jimmy

Title : Art of the Devil (2004)

Overview
In modern-day Thailand, witchcraft is not something to be taken lightly. In fact, there are dire consequences if you do. When a millionaire spurns his pregnant mistress, she places a deadly curse on his entire family. Soon, each family member dies in a decidedly brutal fashion. The police are puzzled. But an observant and open-minded reporter might be just the guy to unlock the mystery. This absolutely relentless Thai thriller, making its American DVD debut, boasts enough gruesome and shocking imagery for ten horror films.

My Impression
Very different than the usual Asian movie that we are used to. This one as written in the overview deal with the world of curse and witchcraft. This is very good movie, even if the subtitles are a little bit fast and hard to set in Power DVD. The film start when the story is already in progress and you sure don't understand what happen, but the story will be reveal piece by piece untill it rejoins the point where it had started. In this film it's hard to not understand why the person responsible of the curse is at fault, the father of this familly has really mistreated her, in fact her fault is that she overeact and the word is even weak. The acting seems ok (it's not easy to judge when a movie isn't in a language you understand).

Another Asian winner.... 

Rating :



(From Jimmy's 2009 Horror Marathon on October 12th, 2009)

The IT Crowd: Version 3.0 - (mini) marathon, a review by Achim

"IT department. Have you tried turning off and then on again?"

1. From Hell
A great start into the third series, showing right away that Graham Linehan still has it in him (which he will hopefully keep proving throughout the next episodes). Was laughing at the opening credits (had forgotten about them) and then the laughs just kept coming.




(From The IT Crowd: Version 3.0 - (mini) marathon on July 31st, 2009)