DVD Collectors Online

Land of the Dead, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Land of the Dead: Unrated Director's Cut
Year: 2005
Director: George A. Romero
Rating: NR
Length: 97 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: DTS 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Simon Baker (1969) as Riley
John Leguizamo as Cholo
Dennis Hopper as Kaufman
Asia Argento as Slack
Robert Joy as Charlie

Plot:
Packed with more heart-pounding and blood-curdling thrills than any theater could show, this special Unrated Director's Cut unleashes the ultimate vision of George A. Romero's latest living-dead shock-fest!

Starring Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper and John Leguizamo, Land of the Dead finds humanity's last remnants battling to survive the unspeakable truth: The ravenous zombie hordes besieging their fortified city...are evolving!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos
Storyboard Comparisons

My Thoughts:
Land of the Dead is an awesome work of art! George A. Romero is a true Master of Horror!!! In Land of the Dead the zombies are starting to evolve... they are starting to communicate with each other... learning to use basic tools... just basically learning to think. Which, of course, is nothing but trouble for the human race.

There was a few noticeable cameos in this one. First I talked about Tom Savini being one of the biker gang in the original Dawn of the Dead.. he returns here in Land of the Dead... two movies later... as a Zombie... same character... still with Machete in hand. Also... 2 members of the British spoof of Dawn of the Dead... Shaun of the Dead.. got a cameo as zombies as well. It was said in one of the extras that George A. Romero loved the movie Shaun of the Dead and he was pleased to give them a cameo in his newest Zombie movie. Needless to say... but this is another movie I Highly Recommend!



(From What Movies I Been Watching on January 31st, 2010)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Year of Release: 2012
Directed By: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action

Overview:
The first in a trilogy of films based on the enduring masterpiece The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who - along with the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield - is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Their journey will take them into the Wild, through treacherous lands inhabited by Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer. Along the path, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even himself, he also gains possession of a "precious" ring tied to the fate of all Middle-Earth in ways he cannot begin to imagine.

My Thoughts:
Am I the right person to review this film?  That may be a question that may puzzle us for some time.  I say that because I love Middle-Earth.  No, I LOVE Middle-Earth.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  A year hasn't gone by since I first read the books that I haven't re-read them.  My professor at UofL in a class on fantasy literature said I knew more about the books than he did.  My fellow geek co-workers turn to me when ephemera questions about something in Middle-Earth comes up (we got into Silmarillion happenings a few weeks back).  I'm such a Middle-Earth fan girl, I knew going in that I would enjoy this trilogy.

But neither this one, nor the second one, are as good as Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. 

Unexpected Journey is a fun movie.  It's full of action, adventure, humor, and if LotR wasn't there would probably be considered a better film.  But LotR is there, and it was a masterpiece.  It was spectacular.  And Unexpected Journey isn't, for all of Jackson's trying to live up to LotR. 

This is my third time seeing this film, however, and I'll watch it again when 5 Armies comes out for extended blu.

Let's enumerate the good first.  Martin Freeman does a really great Bilbo.  Richard Armitage is a great Thorin, even if his Thorin is very, very different from book-Thorin.  I think I could watch Ian McKellen do anything.  The scenery is spectacular, and you get a real feel for travelling through Middle-Earth.  The riddle sequence with Gollum was really well done, and might be my favorite scene in the film.

Still, especially this third time around, you get a feel for what is wrong with the film.  They should have kept the way they showed Bilbo find the ring in LotR.  It's a glaring change, and one that not only really wasn't needed, but jars.  In seeing the extended film for the first time this viewing, I really, really think they should have kept the sequence in Rivendell where Gandalf and Elrond are talking about a streak of madness in Thorin's family.  It's so obviously foreshadowing what's going to happen that leaving it out in the theatrical was a pretty obvious mistake.  The extra lines in the White Council scene I'd have kept too. On the other hand, some of it really did need to be cut - especially some other parts of the dwarves in Rivendell, like the bathing sequence, that make them seem extremely uncouth.  Yes, we get that dwarves and elves are different, and it's supposed to be funny, but all that bit did was make them the butt of a joke that wasn't funny but kinda cruel, IMO.  It also looks a lot more artificial than LotR sometimes, almost like a video game rather than a movie. 

Still, if this is the only way we get the explore more of Middle-Earth and spend more time there, then I'll take it.  I love Middle-Earth too much not to.  It's still a fun movie, a great ride, and vastly entertaining.  It's just not a masterpiece the way the original trilogy was, and that's a shame.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on January 29th, 2015)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

No Ordinary Family: Season One (2010/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Lions Gate Films (United States) Length: 860 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

---

Plot:
After 16 years of marriage, Jim (Michael Chiklis, "The Shield," Fantastic Four) feels disconnected from his workaholic wife, Stephanie (Julie Benz, "Dexter"), and two teenage children. To encourage bonding time, the family joins Stephanie on her business trip to South America. When their plane crashes into the Amazon River, they barely enjoy a moment to celebrate their survival before returning to the grind of everyday life. But they will soon realize that their lives have been forever changed. Each member of the family starts to show signs of new, unique and distinct superpowers. Will their newfound abilities finally bring them together or push them further apart?


No Ordinary Family
1.01 Pilot
Writer: Greg Berlanti (Created By), Jon Harmon Feldman (Created By), Jon Harmon Feldman (Screenwriter), Greg Berlanti (Story By), Jon Harmon Feldman (Story By)
Director: David Semel
Cast: Michael Chiklis (Jim Powell), Julie Benz (Stephanie Powell), Christina Chang), Kay Panabaker (Daphne Powell), Jimmy Bennett (JJ Powell), Autumn Reeser (Katie Andrews), Tate Donovan), Romany Malco (George St. Cloud), Tom Amandes), Jamie Harris), Nathan Keyes), Reggie Lee), Stephen Collins (Dr. Dayton King), Melanie Chartoff (Iris Mitchell), Renee Faia (Sally Downs), Nadine Crocker (Lindsay), Gilland Jones (Emily), Nate Reese (Chairman), James Joseph Cole (Young Jim), Krissy Carlson (Young Stephanie), Oliver Alvarez (JJ's Classmate), Ingrid Sanai Buron (Guidance Counselor), Rey Herrera (Referee), Karen-Eileen Gordon (Crime Victim), Wiley Pickett (Cop), Loren Lazerine (Security Guard), Sean Andrew (Batting Cage Clerk), Larry Omaha (Supply Clerk), Lachlan Buchanan (Chad Claremont), Marissa Cuevas (Amanda)

A nice enough beginning. Not blown away by it, but curious how it will continue. But I still need getting used to Michael Chiklis in the lead. Nothing against him (I enjoyed him in Fantastic Four), but he just seem to really fit here. It's mainly his delivery I don't really like here.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on September 24th, 2011)