DVD Collectors Online

Friday the 13th, a review by RossRoy

What they say

Terror and suspense abound in this 24-hour nightmare of blood. Camp Crystal Lake has been been shuttered for over 20 years due to several vicious and unsolved murders. The camp's new owner and several young counselors are readying the property for re-opening despite warnings of a "death curse" by local residents. The curse proves true on Friday the 13th as one by one each of the counselors is stalked by a violent killer.This film is widely acclaimed for its horrifying and creative murder sequences.

My Thoughts

Suspense? Where? They don't take the time to build the suspense. All they do is to have the story make the kids get isolated, only to be promptly killed, without much build up. The movie gets so easily predictable because of it (not that there's a whole lot of unknown to begin with in a slasher movie). But, the movie does get interesting once the killer is revealed. Then you actually get the cat and mouse chase that finally builds up some tension. Maybe I did go into the movie with too much expectation. After all, it is the "classic" that spawned a whole franchise and defined a genre. But I'm a bit disappointed by it, I was expecting more. I did enjoy it, that's not the problem, but it didn't tick the way I hoped it would. Maybe it'll click with one of the sequels. We'll see.

Rating:

(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on October 11th, 2009)

The Reader, a review by goodguy

The Reader (2008) Written by: David Hare, based on the novel by Bernhard Schlink Directed by: Stephen Daldry Starring: Kate Winslet, David Cross, Ralph Fiennes DVD: R1-US Weinstein/Genius (Apr 14, 2009) My rating: -

Cover blurb:

The Reader isn't as bad as I feared it to be, but it isn't a good movie either. Why did I buy it, despite my low expectations? Well, I happen to like Kate Winslet and she did win an Oscar for her role here - btw, as predicted by herself in that Extras episode three or four years ago.

But while the Best Picture nomination was a joke, Winslet's nomination at least seems to be warranted. I can't say if she deserved to win, since I haven't seen all of the other nominees, and I slightly suspect the combination of Holocaust theme, being nude and handicap acting was in her favor.

Still, especially in the early and middle parts of the movie Winslet is great, while David Kross as her young lover is pretty solid. Ralph Fiennes on the other hand hasn't much to do except looking thoughtful and torn.

The movie itself unfortunately hasn't much to say. It dutyfully poses the "big moral questions" and then slaps easy (non)answers on them in a painfully obvious way. And if that isn't annoying enough, the movie also hedges the small bets it makes with a closing statement from one of the survivors.

Somewhere in all of this are glimpses of a good movie. One cannot help but think that, without the Holocaust backdrop, it could have been more honest and meaningful.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on June 3rd, 2009)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The combined fleet attacks the Dominion. It's a brutal battle with many losses but the Dominion has made a fatal mistake. In retaliation for Damar's sabotages the Jem'Hadar destroyed an entire cardassian city and now the cardassian ships on the front switch sides. The Dominion has no choice but to retreat to Cardassia Prime but they are followed and they have nowhere else to go. On the ground the rebels around Damar, Kira and Garak decide to storm the Dominion Headquarters and after a bloody struggle they manage to capture the female Founder. But the ships in orbit will fight until the bitter end. Or they would if Odo wouldn't have made an offer the Founder couldn't resist. He offers the cure for an unconditional surrender. The war is over.
But not on all fronts. Winn and Dukat have managed to awake the Pah-Wraiths in the fire caves and they will bring destruction to the galaxy if Sisko doesn't stop them. And he will.

And that's the end of the story: Martok is the klingon chancellor. Rom is the Great Nagus. Damar has fallen in battle. Garak has killed the last Weyoun and has finally ended his exile. The Founder will stand trial for her crimes. Odo will return home and join and heal the Great Link. Worf will become the Federation ambassador on Qo'noS. O'Brien and his family return home to Earth where he will teach at Starfleet Academy. Julian and Ezri are finally a couple. Winn was killed by Dukat who in turn was sent to the Pah-Wraiths by Sisko. Sisko's journey is now over, he has joined the Prophets. And Morn? Morn sits at Quark's bar.

My Opinion: It is a good conclusion to the series although not perfect. There are some thing that bothered me. For example: Even though Weyoun sent out most of the guards, it should be impossible for half a dozen people to storm the headquarters of the Dominion in the Alpha Quadrant. And I wished that Damar would have survived. Cardassia has suffered so much (the Dominion killed 800 million Cardassians in retaliation for their betrayal on the front line) and they need a strong leader now who's willing to rebuild their society and bring change to it. I also didn't like that so many people left the station at the same time: O'Brien, Worf, Odo and Sisko. It really felt like an end and not like "life goes on...". What I really disliked was that Worf wasn't allowed to remember any moment with Jadzia when he recollected his memories about the past four years.
But enough complaining. It was still a good conclusion with many emotional moments (especially the flashbacks).

The Season - My Opinion: This season was not as good as the seasons before but it wasn't as bad as I remembered. One gets used to Ezri over time and the final arc was very thrilling. I just wish they had cut back on that entire Prophets storyline both on Sisko's and on Dukat's side. There should have been a better solution.

But it was fun to watch the entire show again. The characters and the story are great even though the special effects may not be up2date anymore. But the TV world has changed since the mid-90s. Story arc series aren't the exception anymore, they are the rule. Let's see what else is out there...


The End.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on March 7th, 2009)