DVD Collectors Online

The Return, a review by addicted2dvd

The Return
Sarah Michelle Gellar ('The Grudge') stars in this shocking, non-stop supernatural thriller unlike anything you've ever experienced before. Joanna Mills (Gellar) is haunted by increasingly terrifying visions where she can see and feel the brutal murder of a woman she's never met. With her life spiraling out-of-control, she follows the relentless nightmares to an eerie small town in Texas - a place where secrets can't be buried, a spirit seeks vengeance, and the horrific murder from Joanna's visions may just be her own.

My Thoughts:
This one was a complete blind buy... I never even saw the trailer before.I basically bought it because of Sarah Michelle Gellar is in it... and I have liked her since the Buffy the Vampire Slayer days. This movie is another one that I found confusing. It is one that you really need to pay attention to. But another problem I had with this movie was that they don't set up the story well enough to get you to care about the characters. Other then that it is only what I would consider a fair movie. Nothing spooky in it what so ever... so I am less then pleased. I will still keep it in my collection... who knows maybe I will like it more the second time I watch it... that has happened to me before.

(From Weekend Movie Marathon on September 2nd, 2007)

Fall of Eagles, a review by Antares

Fall of Eagles





Year: 1974
Film Studio: Koch Entertainment Distribution, BBC Television
Genre: Drama, Mini-Series, Television
Length: 650 Min.

Review
       In the late summer of 1914, the noted English diplomat Sir Edward Grey was quoted as saying; . The event of which he spoke was the declaration of war amongst the major powers of Europe, precipitating the First World War. What was meant by this statement was that the ruling houses of the major monarchal powers would not survive the onslaught of both modern warfare and modern political reforms that were about to sweep over a war torn and decimated Europe. The Hapsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the Romanovs had ruled their individual nations autocratically for centuries, but with the entangling alliances that were formed after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, each would be drawn into the escalating conflict that would bring about an end to their respective dynasties. It is upon these entangling alliances that the BBC mini-series Fall of Eagles is based. Starting with the inter-connecting marriages between most of the ruling houses of Europe and the offspring of Queen Victoria of England, roughly 75 years of monarchal mischief, mayhem and malevolence are showcased in 13 episodes, ending with the abdications of the aforementioned rulers prior to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1918.
   
       I had viewed a few of the latter episodes of this mini-series on the Bravo network back in the late nineties, and had been drawn into the drama of these doomed despots and eagerly awaited a release on DVD. Now after viewing the series as a whole, I must admit that while it is entertaining, it also comes across as more of a soap opera than an in-depth treatise on the events which brought about the beginning of the war. Much time and many episodes are spent on trivial palace melodrama and political intrigue amongst all of the ruling houses. This leaves the mini-series a little bit flat on excitement and makes one wonder why the story needed to spread out over thirteen episodes.

       Another point of contention for me was the fact that many of the main characters suddenly disappear and their fate and destinies are brushed over quite insignificantly. Which leads me to wonder if this is the complete story in this DVD package? I could have sworn that one of the episodes that I watched on Bravo, dealt with the execution of the Romanov family during the Russian Revolution of 1917. My memory tells me that there was a scene of the family being herded into a small room and a few of the Bolsheviks walk in and suddenly open fire upon them. I could bring wrong and my memory could be failing me, but I also vaguely remember more interaction between the Kaiser and his two main generals, Otto von Bismarck and Erich Ludendorff, concerning the disposition of the war.

       All in all, if you were a fan of the two brilliant BBC productions Upstairs, Downstairs or I, ClaudiusReview Criterion

(From Fall of Eagles (1974) on June 16th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Monk: Season One (2002/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Studios Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 561 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Plot:TONY SHALHOUB is a riot" (TV Guide) in Monk, the show that critics are praising as "fresh, exciting and utterly original." (Chicago Tribune)

Monk's hilarious, offbeat antics have made him unfit for duty but he's back as a police consultant to help out on their most baffling cases. The brilliant but neurotic Monk is now fighting crime as well as his abnormal fears of germs, cars heights, crowds and virtually everything else known to man in "the best detective show to come along in decades." (New York Post)

"Nothing on TV generated more fun than this" (Los Angeles Times) and now you can enjoy the entire first season of Monk on DVD.

*Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2002)
**Best Performance by an American Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy (2002)


Monk
1.01 Mr. Monk and the Candidate
Writer: Andy Breckman (Writer)
Director: Dean Parisot
Cast: Tony Shalhoub (Adrian Monk), Bitty Schram (Sharona Fleming), Ted Levine (Captain Stottlemeyer), Stanley Kamel (Dr Kroger), Gail O'Grady (Miranda St. Claire), Michael Hogan (Warren St. Claire), Ben Bass (Gavin Lloyd), Jason Gray-Stanford (Lt. Deacon), Kane Richotte (Benjy), Rob Labelle (Sheldon Burger), Vincent Gale (Jesse Goodman), Fred Ewanuick (Jake), Shawn Reis (Ian Sykes), Dion Johnstone (Lieutenant Gitomer), Chris Shyer (Carl), Edmond Wong (Cop at Kindergarten), Alexis (Elevator Gal), J.B. Bivens (First Cop), Dax Belanger (Second Cop), Esme Lambert (Angry Old Lady), Stellina Rusich (Trudy), Carmen Aguirre (Uniform Cop), Ray Galletti (Cop at Rally), Doris Chillcott (Jason's Mother), Michelle Addison (Nicole Vasques), Dean Marshall (Cop in Lobby), John Sampson (Jason Rondstadt), Guyle Fraizer (Detective)

Monk is a series I enjoyed watching, but I thought it stayed on air too long. The series got a little tired later on.
Nice surprise: There is an actor I revcognized here which I didn't know the first time around. Fred Ewanuick, who plays Hank on "Corner Gas".

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 9th, 2012)