DVD Collectors Online

3-Way, a review by samuelrichardscott

3-Way (2004) R2 United Kingdom

Overview:
Based on fabled pulp novelist Gil Brewer's "Wild To Possess" comes this sinfully tasty, hard-boiled brew of lust, extortion and murder, starring Gina Gershon (Borderline) and Dwight Yoakam (Panic Room). Lew (Dominic Purcell, Mission: Impossible II) is a small-time loser with a very big secret. He's overheard a sordid little kidnapping plot worth a cool million and is cutting himself in for a piece of the action. But when Lew shares his guilty knowledge with three extremely untrustworthy women - sexy gal pal Rita (Joy Bryant, Antwone Fisher), luscious abductress Isobel (Ali Larter, Legally Blonde) and sultry, well-heeled Florence (Gershon) - his blackmail scheme spins murderously out of control. The problem with secrets? No one can keep 'em. Also stars Desmond Harrington (Ghost Ship).

My Thoughts:
I hadn't heard of this movie before, purchasing solely on the cast which includes Gina Gershon, Dwight Yoakam, Dominic Purcell and Ali Larter. Advertised as a 'sexy noir like thriller' I went into the film with intrigue but was unfortunately disappointed. The story, whilst completely capable, relies on too many stupid and unlikeable characters and the dialogue can be somewhat empty. The level of acting was average yet disappointing. Yoakam puts in a decent performance despite being given a poor character to work with but everyone else put in lesser showings. Don't get me wrong, the movie is far from bad but it just isn't very good either. A below average 2/5

(From Never Ending Movie Marathon (short reviews) on June 27th, 2010)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a review by Tom

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United Kingdom) Director: David Yates Writing: Michael Goldenberg (Screenwriter), J. K. Rowling (Original Material By) Length: 138 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: PCM 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dutch: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Catalonian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Danish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Flemish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Swedish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Catalonian

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Stars:
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley
Jason Boyd as Piers
Richard Macklin as Malcolm
Kathryn Hunter as Mrs. Arabella Figg

Plot:Awards:
Won:

ASCAP Awards (2008)		Top Box Office Films (Nicolas Hooper)
Empire Magazine Awards (2008)		Best Director (David Yates)
European Film Awards (2008)		People's Choice Award
National Movie Awards (2007)		Best Family Film
National Movie Awards (2007)		Best Female Performance (Emma Watson)
National Movie Awards (2007)		Best Male Performance (Daniel Radcliffe)
Scream Awards (2007)		Most Vile Villian (Ralph Fiennes)
Teen Choice Awards (2007)		Choice Summer Movie: Drama/Action-Adventure
Visual Effects Society Awards (2008)		Outstanding Special Effects in a Motion Picture (John Richardson, Steve Hamilton, Ricky Farns, Stephen Hutchinson)

Nominated:

Art Directors Guild Production Design Awards (2008)
BAFTA (2007)		Production Design (Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan)
BAFTA (2007)		Special Visual Effects (Tim Burke, John Richardson, Emma Norton, Chris Shaw)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (2008)		Best Family Film
Costume Designers Guild Awards (2008)
Empire Magazine Awards (2008)		Best Actor (Daniel Radcliffe)
Empire Magazine Awards (2008)		Best Actress (Emma Watson)
Empire Magazine Awards (2008)		Best Film
Empire Magazine Awards (2008)		Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Empire Magazine Awards (2008)		Sony Ericsson Soundtrack Award
Hugo Award (2008)		Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
MTV Movie Awards (2008)		Best Kiss (Daniel Radcliffe, Katie Leung)
MTV Movie Awards (2007)		Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet
National Movie Awards (2007)		Best Male Performance (Rupert Grint)
Saturn (2007)		Best Costume (Jany Temime)
Saturn (2007)		Best Direction (David Yates)
Saturn (2007)		Best Fantasy Film
Saturn (2007)		Best Make-Up (Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight)
Saturn (2007)		Best Music (Nicholas Hooper)
Saturn (2007)		Best Performance by a Younger Actor (Daniel Radcliffe)
Saturn (2007)		Best Special Effects (Tim Burke , John Richardson , Paul J. Franklin, Greg Butler)
Saturn (2007)		Best Supporting Actress (Imelda Staunton)
Saturn (2007)		Best Writing (Michael Goldenberg)
Scream Awards (2006)		Most Anticipated Movie
Scream Awards (2007)		The Ultimate Scream
Visual Effects Society Awards (2008)		Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture (Jolene McCaffrey, Jelena Stojanovic, Victor Wade, Adam Paschke (For the Hall of Prophecy, comp shots))
Visual Effects Society Awards (2008)		Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture (David Vickery, Philippe Leprince, Trina M. Roy, Jolene McCaffrey (For the Hall of Prophecy))
Visual Effects Society Awards (2008)
World Soundtrack Awards (2007)		Discovery of the Year (Nicholas Hooper)

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Interviews
• Outtakes

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the last ones. The characters came off as a little uneven. Also the story wasn't really that interesting. Also for me it came out of nowhere that Harry Potter suddenly is such an experienced wizard that he could teach all the others.

Rating:

(From Tom's Harry Potter Movie Marathon on December 20th, 2012)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Deep Space Nine is a former cardassian space station orbiting the formerly occupied planet Bajor. The Bajorans have lived for 60 years under cardassian rule but now they are free. The provisional government has asked the Federation for support and Starfleet takes over the management of DS9. It's commander is Benjamin Sisko, who has lost his wife three years ago in the battle against the Borg and now he must raise his son alone in the middle of nowhere. His second in command is Major Kira, a former bajoran resistance fighter. The rest of the crew are both Starfleet officers of all kind of races and Bajorans. Chief of security is Odo, a shape-shifter with unknown origins.
The spiritual leader of the Bajorans asks Cmdr. Sisko to study the "Tears of the Prophets", mythical orbs that have come to Bajor of the last ten thousand years. With their help Cmdr. Sisko discovers the only known stable wormhole in our galaxy and it leads to the Gamma Quadrant, to a point 70,000 light years away from DS9, on the other side of the galaxy. And suddenly the bajoran system has been put onto the map and the Cardassians will accept any excuse to re-take it.

My Opinion: It's very clear from the beginning that DS9 will be different than its predecessor Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). TNG played on a all-Federation-personnel Starfleet spaceship, while on DS9 uncounted cultures clash: Starfleet personnel, Bajorans and the civilians aboard the station - for example Quark, the Ferengi bar owner. And most of the characters have a background story and their lives haven't been straight-forward. I really like that. Unfortunately I can't really remember what I thought about them, when I saw them for the first time back in the mid-90s, but DS9 is now my favourite Star Trek show and one of my favourite Sci-Fi shows.
I also liked the idea of the "handshake" when the Enterprise made an appearance in the pilot episode, something they will do again when the Voyager departs from DS9 in their pilot episode. But the meeting between Captain Picard and Cmdr. Sisko also showed that these shows will be different.

Synopsis: A bajoran scout ship is being attacked by a cardassian warship but the pilot can be beamed out shortly before his ship is destroyed. He seeks asylum aboard DS9 because he was a member of the Khon-Ma, a "terrorist cell" during the occupation. Kira knows him from these days and she pleads to Sisko to grant asylum. But not all Cardassians have left the station. The local tailor Garak - who is suspected to be a spy - contacts Dr. Bashir in a rather unorthodox way and informs him about a meeting between two klingon renegades and the former terrorist.

My Opinion: The first episodes of the season will be used to introduce the viewers to the characters. While the pilot was mostly about Sisko and the loss of his wife at Wolf 359, this episode is about Kira and her past in the resistance. It was an OK episode, but I really liked the introduction of Garak, who will become an interesting guest character over the years.

Synopsis: Odo tries to throw a Bajoran out of Quark's casino/bar and wants him off the station. A few hours later that man is dead and there are no traces that could explain how the murder had left the crime scene. As chief of security Odo investigates but soon becomes a prime suspects and thus having a conflict of interest. Meanwhile Chief O'Brien's wife Keiko - who was a botanist aboard the Enterprise - has nothing to do on DS9 and becomes frustrated. When Sisko's son Jake befriends Quark's nephew Nog and subsequently gets into trouble, she decides that the station needs a school.

My Opinion: This episode introduces Odo who has also been security chief during the last years of the occupation. I really like that he's a man of principles who has his own codex and who values justice above all else. It was only consequent that it was he who pointed out that only a shape-shifter could have left the crime scene without leaving a trace. The story's hole was that the doctor couldn't figure out what these DNA particles were until it grown into a whole body. After all he was second-best in his year at medical school...

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on September 20th, 2008)