DVD Collectors Online

Inception, a review by Silence_of_Lambs

Summary:
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.

My Thoughts:
What a hype, what a nothing of a movie.
This could have been really great, people maneuvering through the subconsciousness and there encountering the strangest dangers ever.
Instead Nolan directed a "Mission: Impossible in Dreamland" with a complete lack of "Dreamland". Instead of using fantasy supported by CGI he completely reduced to CGI. The whole concept for this film screams: "Place your ideas here!", possibly someone even did this, but obviously Nolan forgot to use those.
Sad, after the Batman movies I expected much more.
Even the main cast is remaining totally flat, DiCaprio is playing the same role as in "Blood Diamond" even though he has proven in "The Departed" and "Shutter Island" that he's absolutely capable of presenting us the haunted, hunted and lost individual. Maybe he should stick with Scott and Scorsese, because they obviously get the best from him. Nolan didn't, maybe because he didn't demand it. Strange how the director that made Heath Ledger immortal can be satisfied with the extremely average performance of DiCaprio in this movie.

Movies trying to capture the realms of fantasy should be left to Tarsem Singh or Gilliam, hell, even Burton would have made a better movie out of this concept. Nolan obviously was overstrained here.

My Rating: (out of possible 5)

(From Michael's random reviews on December 8th, 2010)

The Paradine Case, a review by Dragonfire

The Paradine Case My Thoughts This movie had potential with the main idea of the plot - a lawyer, or barrister, is defending a beautiful somewhat mysterious woman accused of poisoning her husband and falls for her.  Unfortunately, the movie fails to meet the potential, and it ends up being rather dull and not suspenseful in any way. Maddalena's husband is already dead when the movie begins and she is arrested within the first few minutes.  At that point, very little is shared about the death of her husband.  It doesn't take that long for more to be shared about it.  Most of the movie is focused on Anthony - the attorney - working on the case and developing feelings for his client.  They aren't shown together that much, so it doesn't make much sense for him to have fallen for her, especially since he is happily married when he takes the case.  Several scenes don't really add much to what is going on and seem more pointless than anything.  I'm guessing that they were supposed to be suspenseful.  The big revelation late in the movie is probably supposed to be shocking, but it isn't.  Maybe it was more shocking when the movie first came out.  Once the trial actually starts, a lot of it is shown.  During those scenes, Hitchcock did do something different by using four different camera aimed at different characters.  The footage was then put together during the editing. None of the cast really stands out to me.  No one was bad, but no one was great either.  Ethyl Barrymore was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar and she is barely in the movie.  The few times she is on screen, her character is made out to be a bit loopy.  Maddalena had potential to be a really interesting character, but it isn't fully explored. This is the last movie that Hitchcock made with Selznick.  I have learned about the trouble the two men had working together and there was more of it with this movie as well.  Selznick even wrote the screenplay because he decided the adaptation that was done wasn't good enough.  New pages were sent to the set every day.  He also insisted on all kinds of reshoots that caused the filming to take longer and go way over budget.  The final amount spent was almost as much as spent on Gone With the Wind.  Hitchcock's cut of the movie was almost three hours long.  Selznick then decided to edit the movie himself and cut it down a lot.  I think the fact that Selznick did the editing is at least part of why the movie doesn't work. The story had the potential to be interesting, but it just didn't work out that way.  The movie ends up being rather dull with no suspense. It is a very different sort of Hitchcock movie in my opinion.  Fans of Hitchcock might find something to like about the movie, but they really aren't missing anything by not watching the movie either. I did get a review posted on Epinions. The Paradine Case

(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on June 15th, 2010)

The Rifleman, a review by addicted2dvd

The Rifleman: Classic TV Series (1958) Lucas McCain can fire a round with his specially modified Winchester in 3/10 of a second. That and his resolve enables him to help the sheriff maintain order while raising his son on the ranch. Episodes: 1. Mail Order Groom 2. Outlaw's Inheritance 3. Day of the Hunter

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Stars:
Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain
Johnny Crawford as Mark McCain


Extras:

• NONE

This is a series I remember seeing a handful of episodes of years ago. I enjoyed watching this 3 episode best of disc quite a bit. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed this series when I was a kid. Though how this is not how I remember the series. I could have sworn I remembered this series in color. Now this could be because the series started out in B&W and then went to color at some point within the series. Or I could have possibly seen colorized versions of it on TV. But I could have sworn I also remembered this to be an hour long show... but it seems I am remembering wrong as each episode on this disc was just under half an hour each. All the episodes on this disc was very good... enjoyed them all. But if I had to pick a favorite episode on this disc... I guess I would have to go with Mail Order Groom... as it was a plain fun episode that even had a touch of comedy mixed in with it.




(From Addicted2dvd's Random TV Series Watched on June 19th, 2012)