DVD Collectors Online

Mahanagar, a review by Antares

Mahanagar (1963) 95/100 -

"Not to have seen the cinema of Satyajit Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon." - Akira Kurosawa

I guess until today, I've never seen the sun or the moon. This is my first film by Satyajit Ray, and while it's only my first, I have to wonder if my favorite director of all time was right. At around the ten minute mark, there's a scene where Arati, who's in bed with her husband, tells him while he's half sleeping, that she will try to find work to help with the family's financial situation. There's a sense of pride in her eyes, and a new found confidence in her demeanor, that you can't help but want to see her succeed. Then, just a few minutes later, Ray shifts the focus to the other end of the emotional spectrum, to a scene where the son tells the father that his daughter-in-law is getting a job. In the span of a brief few minutes, you see the son's embarrassment when he tells his father the news that Arati has found work, juxtaposing it with the guilt and shame that the father feels for being a burden to the family. What makes this scene so powerful is the subtle way that Ray shoots it. The son is off screen, giving his father the news, all the while admitting to his fault at not being able to provide for the whole family. While the son is talking, the camera stays focused on the father's face as Ray slowly and softly, moves into a close up of the father. As the tears start to trickle down the old man's face, you sense a realization that he and his wife are a burden, and have nothing left to offer this world. The pain is painted across his weathered features and he looks down deflated and defeated. In just a few short scenes, Ray runs the gamut from self-confidence, to guilt, to worthlessness. The film really hits its stride when events transpire that put Arati in the role of sole provider for the family. The anguish that the husband feels, coinciding with a simmering jealousy that's boiling just below his emotional surface. Can his pride survive against the progression of time and its changing social structure? In the end, Arati will make a decision which will show her integrity, but may lead to harder times for the family. A somewhat ambiguous ending, but the whole film is done with such craftsmanship that it's pretty close to a work of art. An amazing film that registers so many emotions, on so many levels. I highly recommend this film.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on April 2nd, 2014)

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, a review by Jimmy

Title: Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)

Genre: Horror
Director: Jeff Burr
Rating: NR
Length: 1h25
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:85.1
Audio: English
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Kate Hodge
Ken Foree
R.A. Mihailoff
William Butler
Viggo Mortensen

Plot:
A pair of college students driving coast to coast are lured off the main highway and on to a deserted Texas road. Here they are stalked by the menacing Leatherface and his demented family... a bizarre cannibalistic clan with blood on their hands and a feast on their minds. Their only chance for escape is a survivalist with enough firepower to blast Leatherface and the rest of the grizzly predators to hell. A depraved shocker of intense terror from the gruesome beginning to the bloody finish.

Best thing to do when you fucked up a franchise is to forgot the messed episode and to do like it was never made. This is what this one do as it happen some years after the original massacre (as the intro told us). Of course that doesn't meant that some things doesn't make sense, like the new familly unit. But in that case I've decided in my mind that it was the familly of a sister of The Cook in the original movie. Common it's a way like another to fill the blanks and we are suppose to use our imagination while watching a movie

This one is far more serious and ridiculous, of course it had some joke (even the original had some) but there is a difference between a one liner here and there to decrease the tension and turning characters as laughingstock. The first time I've watched there are sure some events I didn't see coming and this is certainly a good thing for a movie to not be predictable (don't forget I never watch the trailers for that reason). The familly unit works quite well and everyone had his utility, strangely more than it was the case in the original TCM. There are some good effects depending of wich version you watch, but anyway who would watch the R rated version when we have the choice between an almost complete version and one cut by more than four minutes...

This is a good rebirth and you even got a young Viggo Mortensen in the cast.

Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 15th, 2013)

"Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009), a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Baltar and his Basestar is driving the Galactica and the fleet forward. And of course he is driving them into a trap. Starbuck and his patrol detect a Cylon-occupied planet on which a huge pulsar cannon is positioned. This gun could destroy a Battlestar with a single shot. Starbuck, Boomer, Apollo and a group of demolition experts (read: criminals who like to blow things up) try to destroy it, but they get shot down and have to fight for their survival on an ice planet.

My Opinion: Except for the cold it must be paradise for Starbuck: Countless nice women and they are all equally beautiful (because they all look the same ). I didn't remember that the old fleet also had a prison ship. But it bothered me that Boxey could sneak in on the shuttle - that boy seems to be everywhere. And crash-landing (instead of just landing) also seems to be a recurring theme on the show. But I didn't care much for this or the following episode.


Synopsis: Having found help in the form of a group of Human clones the colonial fighters are still trying to destroy the pulsar cannon. But they are running out of time because the fleet is closing in on the shooting range of the cannon. If they fail the fleet will most likely not survive.

My Opinion: An OK conclusion to the story (of course they destroyed the gun). But I liked how Baltar toyed with the fleet and made them do what he wanted.

Synopsis: The Cylons have attacked the fleet and destroyed two of the agricultural ships and damaged another. The fleet needs new seeds and they hope they can trade for it on a nearby planet. Even Adama is coming along on this landing mission. But Boomer and Starbuck get robbed and have now nothing to trade. Fortunately for Starbuck the people there play cards, too. Unfortunately that brings him in even deeper trouble and in the middle of a fight between the local Humans and another alien race.

My Opinion: A rather ridiculous story. The entire story about Adama and his "stalker" was absurd and the way Starbuck became the Constable was ludicrous. And on top of that all were these "pig aliens".

Synopsis: Starbuck gets shot down by a Cylon patrol and has to crash-land while Boomer returns to the fleet. Shortly after he got apprehended by a patrol of the local Cylon garrison he gets freed by local Human resistance fighter. But they are merely children, not warriors.

My Opinion: "Starbuck crash-lands" I should put this on a shortcut key. I really liked the banter between Lucifer and Specter (same production line as Lucifer), the commander of the local garrison. I also liked that he was able to lie and to deceive but I didn't like that Baltar fell for it the whole time. But the story on the planet was again over the top. Starbuck attacks a garrison with a bunch of kids (some of them not older than ten) who ride on unicorns(!) and they win.
Interestingly the female lead was a young woman called Miri who had a crush on Starbuck. In Star Trek there was also an episode called Miri where the female lead was a young woman called Miri who had a crush on Kirk.

(From "Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009) on March 21st, 2009)