DVD Collectors Online

Nana, a review by Tom

Title: Nana
Year: 2005
Director: Kentaro Otani
Rating: NR
Length: 114 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1 , Japanese: PCM Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Mika Nakashima
Aoi Miyazaki
Hiroki Narimiya
Yuta Hiraoka
Tomomi Maruyama
Ken'ichi Matsuyama

Plot:After seeing the Death Note movies (and really enjoying it) I was searching the net for live-action versions of other mangas. This one was the only one I could find besides Death Note which had generally good reviews. I do not know the manga this movie was based on but this doesn't matter. I quite enjoyed this movie. I found it well-acted and captivating even though I usually do not particularly like this type of movie. I even had a tear in my eye in the last scene of the movie 

And I was surprised when I read Ken'ichi Matsuyama's name in the end credits. He played L (my favorite character in Death Note). I didn't even know he was in this movie. I didn't recognize him, but it could be because I wasn't looking out for it.


Rating:


After the success of this movie they made a sequel. Of what I have read so far it was a big let down. They even had to recast some of the major roles. Nevertheless I will buy it 

The first movie I had bought as RC1 (it just has been released there). The sequel is not yet available as RC1. The Hong Kong release has English subtitles though.
But now I have a problem: I am still missing $10 for my order at yesasia.com to get free shipping. Any recommendations?

(From Tom's Random Reviews on April 26th, 2008)

JCVD, a review by Rich

Title: JCVD

Runtime:96
Certificate:15
Year:2008
Genres:Action

Plot:My Review:
Awful self-indulgent Van-Damme film, this actor has not made a decent film for several years and this rates down at the bottom of the heap.
The idea to promote JCVD as a vehicle to demonstrate the leads serious acting skills backfires, it becomes a slow and boring film heavy with dialogue, with a jumbled and disjointed plot, clumsy supporting characters, and uncomfortable soul revealing scenes. The few action scenes are miserably bad, and it looks like this 'star' has fallen to the level of Seagal in his later years. Damme shame.
The only decent part of watching this dvd was having a listen to the dubbed audio, which sounded like a pack of Inspector Clouseau's doing hammy French accents - very funny.


(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 8th, 2009)

Caroline in the City Marathon, a review by Tom

Caroline and the Bad Back (1995-10-12)
Writer: Bill Prady
Director: James Burrows
Cast: Lea Thompson (Caroline), Eric Lutes (Del), Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie), Andy Lauer (Charlie), Jane Leeves (Daphne), David Hyde Pierce (Niles), Gerry McIntyre (Island Waiter)

Caroline hurts her back and because of painkillers she cannot finish her work on the current comic strip. Del and Richard try to finish the work for her.
As a tag-on we see Niles and Daphne from Frasier at the end, when they are reading this comic strip in the newspapers. I like those small crossover cameos
Otherwise an average episode. Not especially funny.



Caroline and the ATM (1995-10-19)
Writer: Mark Wilding, Jennifer Glickman
Director: Rod Daniel
Cast: Lea Thompson (Caroline), Eric Lutes (Del), Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie), Lauren Graham (Shelly), Ileen Getz (Mrs. Banks), Jason Graae (Mr. Green), Bill Pugin (Mr. Fleming)

Richard wants to get rid of his clingy girlfriend (Lauren Graham) by telling her, he is allergic to her doc.
Caroline has trouble with the ATM machine and for proof she has to watch the security tape of the machine with the bank employees. Problem is, that she picked her nose at the ATM machine not knowing that she was being recorded.

A standard episode. Nothing special.



Caroline and the Folks (1995-11-02)
Writer: Fred Barron, Marco Pennette
Director: James Burrows
Cast: Lea Thompson (Caroline), Eric Lutes (Del), Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie), Andy Lauer (Charlie), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing), Jonathan Silverman (Jonathan Eliot), Constance Towers (Barbara), Tom La Grua (Remo), John Mariano (Johnny), Lou Felder (Don), Jeff Garvin (Scott), Elisa Heinsohn (Stephanie)

Caroline is treading meeting the parents of her boyfriend Del.

Chandler from Friends has a small cameo in this episode. As a matter of fact, Caroline also had a small cameo in a Friends episode around the same time. I think it was the episode "The One with the Baby on the Bus"

(From Caroline in the City Marathon on September 14th, 2008)