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Zatoichi in Desperation, a review by Antares

Zatoichi in Desperation (1972) 72/100 - One has to wonder if the title of the 24th film in the series is meant to describe the feeling in its star, that the end is near in this long franchise. After the lackluster offering that preceded this film, Katsu decided to take the reins of director upon himself and he makes a very striking film from a visual standpoint. Although at times, his framing dwells precipitously close to art school overindulgence. A lot of people consider this a weak sister when compared to the long extended family of films of the blind masseur, but I thought it was quite entertaining, and only in brief moments, did it lag. What I liked the most was that Katsu kind of returns to the roots of the franchise, when it wasn't all about action and comedic segments, with a bleak storyline and setting. Katsu also tosses in a few MacGuffin side plots, one which seems to pay homage to Kenji Mizoguchi's Sanshō dayū. One of the highlights of this film is when Ichi finally gets a bit of trim from a prostitute, whose mother, through a kindly act from Ichi, is accidentally killed in the beginning of the story. Alas, the prostitute is merely setting him up for his assassination. Finally, the climactic battle in the end is made more suspenseful when Ichi has his hands stabbed by whaling spears in exchange for the prostitute's life. The yakuza boss gives him back his cane sword and Ichi awaits his execution by the yakuza's brigands in the morning. But Ichi has one surprise left in his bag of self defense tricks, and although wounded seriously, he lives on to make the final film in the Toho run. It's not a great film, but it's worth a look if your a completest and dare I say, I'd probably watch this one again in the future.

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 December 20th, 2014)

The Expedition, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Expedition
Year: 2006
Director: Nigel Hartwell
Rating: NR
Length: 108 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: N/A

Stars:
Anthony Cortese
Jessica Brant
Bill Lucas
Nigel Hartwell
Tom Kring

Plot:
Five Canadian filmmakers set out on a supernatural expedition to film a documentary on the Saratoga Homestead Asylum. Unfortunately only four of the crew members exited the building the next morning.

Extras:
Scene Access

My Thoughts:
Taking a little break from Val Lewton... I thought I would see if I could find another winner in the Mortuary of Madness set. Going by the plot on this one I went into this movie expecting something like The Blair Witch Project or better yet... St. Francisville Experiment. This fake horror documentary thing is pretty good entertainment. And it is good for a change of pace (the 3 mentioned here is all I have). This one is entertaining... over all I did enjoy it. But it definitely could have been better. Not all... but some scenes the acting needed help. Especially the scenes that take place in the police station.



(From Addicted2DVD's November Alphabet Marathon on November 12th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Filmation's Ghostbusters: Volume One (1986/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 688 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
With the cry of "Let's go, Ghostbusters!," Jake Kong Jr., and Eddie Spenser Jr. are following in their fathers' footsteps and have teamed-up with the original gorilla sidekick, Tracy, to become the new Ghostbusters! From their base of operations in Ghost Command, the Ghostbusters are always ready to battle Prime Evil and his never-ending army of bewitching monsters who are out to haunt the Earth! With its spookily cool animation and imaginatively colorful cast of characters - voiced by some of the best voice talent from that decade, including Alan Openheimer, Maurice LaMarche, Brad Garrett, and more - Ghostbusters has haunted its way into the halls of history! Now on DVD for the first time ever, you won't need to call anyone... you can "Go Ghostbusters!"


GhostBusters
1.01 I'll Be a Son of a Ghostbuster

I used to love this series as a kid. But it is something which is clearly only enjoyable to kids and does not hold quite up as well as He-Man and She-Ra does. Also this is the first time that I have seen it in English and the voice-acting is really annoying. I never knew the GhostBusters are supposed to be teenagers. They had much more adult voices in the German dub, as far as I remember.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 26th, 2011)