DVD Collectors Online

Iron Man, a review by RossRoy

Original Title: Iron Man: Steelbook Edition Year: 2008 Country: Canada Director: Rating: PG Length: 125 Min. Video: Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

What they say
Lift off with high-speed, high-flying action in this Ultimate 2-disc Edition that takes you inside the suit of Marvel's invincible superhero for the ultimate Iron Man experience!

After surviving an unexpected attack in enemy territory, jet-setting industrialist Tony Stark builds a high-tech suit of armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man. Straight from the pages of the legendary comic book, Iron Man is a hero who is built - not born - to be unlike any other!

My Thoughts
I must say, I didn't know much about Iron Man before seeing this movie. Never read any of the comic books or seen any material about the character. So what did I think of the movie? I loved it! It's great as a superhero movie. It's got some good humor. It's got some tension. And as an origin story, it's really good too. Robert Downey is awesome in the role. And I hope the little surprise at the end will indeed to lead to what it is hinting to




(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on November 24th, 2008)

Campfire Tales, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Campfire Tales Year: 1996 Director: David Semel, Martin Kunert, Matt Cooper Rating: R Length: 87 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: DTS: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
James Marsden
Amy Smart
Rick Lawrence
Jay R. Ferguson

Plot:
Horror takes a detour deep into the woods in this terrifying cross between Scream and Tales From The Crypt, starring Christine Taylor (Dodgeball) and Ron Livingston (Office Space).

Returning home from a concert and driving recklessly, four teenagers crash their car on a deserted road. To ward off the cold, they build a fire and wait for help. But the hair-raising stories they tell around the fire put a deeper chill into the night. Each tale is more lurid, more horrifying, more shocking than anything they've heard before. Yet for these unlucky teens in the woods, the biggest shock is still to come...

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
This is an Anthology Horror that I discovered in just the last couple years. And it quickly became my favorite Anthology movie I ever seen. There is a very short opening story Which admittedly is not that great. It is like most the stories in this movie... based off a well known urban legend.

Next we get to the wraparound story... which I love. Best one I ever seen on any of this type of movie. the wraparound story is well done and has great atmosphere of it's own.

Then we finally get to the first of the 3 actual stories. Which is a pretty good one. There is a newlywed couple that are driving around in  a camper... and they get lost and stranded in the back streets somewhere. Has likable characters and pretty good atmosphere. I liked how they handled the things in the dark... as you never get a good look at them. Though it was on the predictable side as it is based of a well known urban legend.

The second story has a young girl with an intruder in the house. Also off a well known urban legend so you know what to expect. I know what you are thinking... why watch something that you know how the stories are going to end. And I would normally agree with you... but these are done so well you don't mind the fact that you know where the stories are going... you just enjoy the journey of getting there.

The last story is my favorite of them all. A guy on a motorcycle (Glenn Quinn of Roseanne fame) stumbles onto a house where a beautiful mute girl lives... and it seems she lives in a haunted house. This is the one of the 3 stories that I do not recognize from an urban legend.

From here we find out the end of the wraparound story... which is also done well. 

this is a great movie over-all even if it is predictable. Definitely one I would recommend to any horror fan.




Count:
Movie Count: 13
TV Ep. Count: 6
Other Count: 0
Time Started: 5:00pm

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2010 on October 5th, 2010)

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Summer break is nearly over and Buffy has returned from L.A.. But she seems to to have changed. She is closed up and snubs virtually everyone. And it gets worse: The Anointed One wants to get the Master back from the really dead. And for this he needs the people who were close to him when he died.

My Opinion: This behaviour will develop into a habit. Everytime Buffy goes through a shocking or traumatizing event she will try to shut everyone out and keep the world at bay. She will do it again at the beginning of the third season and during the sixth season. It may not be a good character trait but it's definitively a defining one for the character. Just as the one that she will do what's right when it matters.
The episode was also a portent for the season. When she claims that Angel has thought about fighting her and that he should try it. When Snyder states that he would love to expel her. When she was lured away from the library and that's the place she was needed most.
I think it was a good start of the season.

Synopsis: During her patrol in one of Sunnydale's graveyards she discovers that a grave is empty that shouldn't be empty. But it's not another Vampire who has risen. The body is simply gone. So it's either the work of flesh-eating demons or a group that wants to build an army of Zombies. But when Cordelia finds a lot of body parts in the dumpster they can safely dismiss both theories. But who needs only some parts from several young women?

My Opinion: I never liked these frankenstein-y stories, neither here nor in the fourth season. But once again I liked it that good and bad weren't clear cut, that our Dr. Frankenstein in the form of Chris didn't go as far as killing someone just to build a bride for his brother. But I haven't understood what the other guy was hoping for. Why was he helping in the first place and why would he have killed Cordelia? I simply couldn't see his motive to act the way he did.

Synopsis: Buffy and another "rebel" is ordered to organize and host the annual parent-teacher-night. And Buffy has to keep her mother far away from principle Snyder. And some special Vampire holiday is coming up. And the Vampire Spike has come to town to have some fun around here. And he will kill Buffy on Saint Whatshisname's day. Fortunately those two events don't fall on the same day...

My Opinion: ...Unfortunately Spike isn't the most patient guy. I loved it how he single-handedly decluttered all the Vampire rituals and my prejudice about them. James Marsters once stated that he played Spike "with a bit more soul than he was supposed to". I knew him from Smallville and he was one of the reasons to give Buffy a chance and I couldn't wait to finally see him here. He will develop into one of the most interesting characters on the show even though he just lost his first battle against the Slayer.
But they also made two statements about him that they will "correct" later: Giles states that he's barely two hundred. I would assume "barely 200" means something like 190 or 180. Later they will make him just 150 years old (born around 1850). Spike also says that Angel was "his Sire, his Yoda". But as it will turn out, Spike was sired by Drusilla who was sired by Angel. But maybe Spike meant it in some figurative way. After all, Angel is his Grand-Sire and Yoda was Luke's second Jedi teacher after Obi-Wan.

Synopsis: During a visit of the local museum one of the student tries to steal a mummy seal and accidentally breaks it. The young, female Inka mummy re-awakes, kills the student and disappears from the museum. Shortly after she takes the place of an exchange student (whom she also killed) and moves in with Buffy for the next two weeks. And naturally Xander falls for her the minute he sees her. But then there's a mysterious knife guy who seems to be connected to the mummy and the body count is increasing. The gang has to find out what's going on.

My Opinion: I have to say, I liked this episode. As most creatures do this young woman tried to ensure her own survival. But in the end she couldn't kill the person she fell in love with. I also liked the comparison between her and Buffy's fate: The be the Chosen One and not being able to have a say in it. And in opposition to Teacher's Pet Xander could be Xander without being influenced from the outside.
In this episode we've also seen Oz and Jonathan for the first time but I think one notices Jonathan only if one knows him already - ironically that is exactly what this character will be about.

(From "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon on March 28th, 2009)