DVD Collectors Online

The Times of Harvey Milk, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Times of Harvey Milk
Year of Release: 1984
Directed By: Robert Epstein
Starring: Harvey Fierstein (narrator)
Genre: Documentary

Overview:
A true twentieth-century trailblazer, Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world. The Oscar-winning The Times of Harvey Milk, directed by Robert Epstein and produced by Richard Schmiechen, was as groundbreaking as its subject. One of the first feature documentaries to address gay life in America, it's a work of advocacy itself, bringing Milk's message of hope and equality to a wider audience. This exhilarating trove of original documentary material and archival footage is as much a vivid portrait of a time and place (San Francisco's historic Castro District in the seventies) as a testament to the legacy of a political visionary.

My Thoughts:
This excellent documentary about a courageous pioneer in human rights ought to be required viewing. If for no other reason than people need to hear about real heroes, true heroes, people who stand for something, and admire people for their character and their actions, rather than admire their fame. Milk did what he believed was right, even in the face of knowing he would be hated, knowing he might be assassinated. He still stood for something greater.

It's also a very well-constructed documentary, very informative and enlightening. I'm knocking the 1/2 star off for getting one detail about Milk's assassination wrong, but other than that, stellar film and highly, highly recommended.

Bechdel Test: N/A

Overall: 4.5/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on June 12th, 2015)

Planet 51, a review by dfmorgan

Planet 51

Year: 2009
Director: Jorge Blanco
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott, John Cleese

Overview: When Chuck the astronaut (Dwayne Johnson) lands on a distant planet filled with little green people, he is surprised to discover that we are not alone in the galaxy. He gets the shock of his life when the residents of Planet 51 mistakenly believe that his presence is the start of an alien invasion of the human kind! Luckily Lem (Justin Long) quickly realises that Chuck is friendly and makes it his personal mission to help him return safely to his ship - with the help of Chuck's trusty pal Rover.

Watched: 1st Apr 2010
My Thoughts: A rather enjoyable animated science fiction comedy. There were lots of references to other science fiction films throughout this film, my favourite was the pet alien. There were no real surprises and nothing really spectacular just generally enjoyable. I thought the voices came over well in their roles although I failed miserably to recognise a couple.

My Rating: An enjoyable 3

Dave

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on April 1st, 2010)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon, a review by Tom

2. Gnothi Seauton (2008-01-14)
Writer: Josh Friedman (Created By), Josh Friedman (Writer), James Cameron (Original Characters By), Gale Anne Hurd (Original Characters By)
Director: David Nutter
Cast: Lena Headey (Sarah Connor), Thomas Dekker (John Connor), Summer Glau (Cameron), Richard T. Jones (Agent James Ellison), Sonya Walger (Michelle Dixon), Tony Amendola (Enrique Salceda), Jesse Garcia (Carlos), Omid Abtahi (Sumner), Sasha Roiz (Police Officer), Jonathan Sadowski (Sayles), Dean Winters (Charley Dixon), Brian Allen (Highway Guy), Ambrit Millhouse (Receptionist), Sabrina Perez (Chola), John Henry Whitaker (Chet), Lisa Wilhoit (Sales Assistant)

After the pilot episode, I had feared that they couldn't hold, what the pilot episode promised. Because it is hard to have as much action as in the pilot on a television budget and time constraints. Unlike in a pilot, where usually the budget is higher.
So I knew going in, that the action will be probably be toned down for the rest of the series, but I am glad to see, that they could still provide some action while keeping the story interesting.
But one peeve I have about this episode:
They made it perfectly clear in the movies, and even made a big point about it in the pilot episode, that only living tissue could travel through time. This is why they sent back guys from the future, to build weapons and a time machine to hide it in the bank vault, and why they arrive naked in the future. But why was the Terminator metalic skeleton sent through time?
And I also didn't like it, that the skeleton walked around without a head. For one thing, as far as remember, the CPU of the Terminators is in the head. And for another thing, I had always had the impression, that they had visual perception only through the eyes.
I found it ridiculous and unnecessary. They could have just kept his head and the body together. The reason for these obvious errors was, that they wanted to send the Terminator back in time for the series, but at the time of shooting the second episode, they had replaced the actor. So they couldn't send the Terminator back in one piece (living tissue intact) because they didn't have the original actor available and they had to find a way to have the Terminator looking for another human "suit".

Rating:

(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon on January 13th, 2009)