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Miss Congeniality, a review by addicted2dvd

Miss Congeniality: Deluxe Edition (2000/United States) Warner Home Video Director: Donald Petrie Writing: Marc Lawrence (Writer), Katie Ford (Writer), Caryn Lucas (Writer) Length: 110 min. Rating: PG-13 Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Sandra Bullock as Gracie Hart
Michael Caine as Victor Melling
Benjamin Bratt as Eric Matthews
Candice Bergen as Kathy Morningside
William Shatner as Stan Fields
Ernie Hudson as McDonald

Plot:
Legs waxed. Lips glossed. Gun ready. Special Agent Gracie Hart is going undercover as a hopeful eager to be the next Miss United States. But Gracie doesn't have a beauty-pageant bone in her body.

Sandra Bullock stars as an operative posing as a pageant contestant in order to ferret out a terrorist targeting the event. Michael Caine deliciously plays the frustrated consultant hired to turn Dirty Harriet into a poised beauty. And Benjamin Bratt, Candice Bergen, William Shatner and Ernie Hudson also score points for hilarity in this box-office smash. From big laughs to sly quips, Miss Congeniality hits.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Interactive Games
• Closed Captioned

I enjoy watching this movie so much that I have now watched this DVD 6 times since I got it. And before that I had a bare bones edition DVD... which I watched who knows how many times. And of course I get teased about this all the time. And yes... I couldn't help but to watch it again. I have seen it so many times though... that this time I decided to watch it with the commentary track on. It has a commentary with Sandra Bullock so I listed to it. Made it more fun after watching it so many times.




(From Tuesday Mini-Marathon: Happy Birthday Sandra Bullock! on July 27th, 2011)

Blue Velvet, a review by Rich

Blue Velvet



Beneath the surface of small-town serenity lies a dark domain where innocents dare not tread and unpredictability is the norm. It is the haunting realm of  Blue Velvet. Spawned from the mind of David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, "Twin Peaks"), Blue Velvet is a "shocking, deeply disturbing...startling mixture of the heartfelt and the horrific" (Newsweek).
Clean-cut Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) realizes his Mayberry-like hometown is not so normal when he discovers a human ear in a field. His investigation catapults him into an alluring, erotic murder mystery involving a disturbed nightclub singer (Isabella Rossellini) and a drug-addicted sadist (Dennis Hopper). Soon Jeffrey is led deeper into their depraved existence... to the point of no return.

David Lynch is like the marmite of directors, you either love him or hate him. Unfortunately I fall into the second camp, only ever previously enjoying one of his movies.
My opinion has not changed after viewing Blue Velvet. Certainly there is a shock value to the film, albeit dated after 2 decades, it subtly hits you on the bonce like a sledgehammer, your senses are tickled as if with a taser, and seedier elements of the film will stay with me.
Dennis Hopper as the vicious psycho was superb, but the rest of the cast just didn't work for me in this, Laura Dern was too old for the role, and MacLachlan a feeble lead. Lynch's style is not my cup of tea, very slow and arty, brooding looks, pans to a tree, or to a specific prop, just doesn't work for my simple brain.
I am sure the cardigan and pipe brigade will tell me how wonderful this movie is, exploring the dark side and sexual frustrations of human nature, with the backdrop of suburban America. But I just found it too pretentious, empty, depressing and confused.
 


**Laura Dern mini-marathon


(From Riches Random Reviews on August 27th, 2009)

"View Askewniverse"-Mini-Marathon, a review by Tom

Clerks: Uncensored
Based on Kevin Smith's cult comedy classic, this outrageous anthology brings together every hilarious episodes of 'Clerks: Uncensored' - including 4 never before seen anywhere! It's the continuing adventures of clerks Dante and Randal, two guys just trying to make the best of menial labor! With constant interference from the outlandish Jay and Silent Bob - follow the clerks' wildly improbable antics from one riotous episode to the next! Filled with big laughs and hysterical jabs at popular culture - anyone who enjoys fun, irreverent comedy won't want to miss it!

My thoughts:http://youtube.com/watch?v=F-ReoBPl4mM

(From "View Askewniverse"-Mini-Marathon on February 3rd, 2008)