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The Tin Star, a review by Rogmeister

The Tin Star (1957)  92 minutes
Cast: Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer, Neville Brand
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Directed by Anthony Mann

As this movie begins, bounty hunter Morg Hickman (Henry Fonda) comes to town with a dead man draped over one of his horses. When he gets there, he finds a new tenderfoot of a sheriff (Anthony Perkins) who's not had his badge long and he winds up getting versed by Morg in lessons on being a successful lawman. Morg also becomes involved with a local widow (Betsy Palmer) and her son.

Though this film did get an Oscar nomination for it's story and screenplay, I've always considered this an overlooked little gem of a western. I like it's spare look with it's fine black & white photography and the character-driven story peopled with fine actors, even if Anthony Perkins is the last person you'd expect to find in the genre. I try to watch this film at least once a year...it's a film I never seem to tire of. The print on this DVD is sharp and clear but there are no extras, not even the ever-popular trailer.

(From Roger's Ongoing Westerns Marathon on June 29th, 2009)

Mallrats, a review by Tom

Title: Mallrats
Year: 1995
Director: Kevin Smith
Rating: R
Length: 95 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Shannen Doherty
Jeremy London
Jason Lee
Claire Forlani
Ben Affleck

Plot:
From Kevin Smith, the acclaimed director of Clerks, comes this outrageous story of two loafers, Jeremy London (The Babysitter) and Jason Lee (Kissing a Fool), who spend way too much time hanging out at the mall.

When Brodie (Lee) is dumped by his girlfriend, Shannen Doherty (Heathers, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun), he retreats to the mall with his best friend T.S. (London), whose girlfriend has also left him. Between brooding and visits to the food court, the unmotivated twosome decide to win their girlfriends back with the help of the ultimate delinquents, Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) and Jay (Jason Mewes), whose continuing adventures take the word "nuisance" to a whole new level.

Extras:
8 Page Booklet
Closed Captioned
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Multi Angle
Music Videos
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

The most underated Kevin Smith movie (even by Smith himself). There are a lot of laughs in this one. And the Stan Lee cameo is great. This movie was the first acting role of Jason Lee and one of the first roles for Ben Affleck.
Also fun to see Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee together in a scene. Ten years later they play brothers on the TV series "My Name Is Earl".

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on June 8th, 2009)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Caused by the explosion of the sun and the activated Hyperdrive SG-1s Ha'tak has been catapulted into another galaxy. But Apophis is also there with his huge motherhip. But as soon as they have arrived another ship is apporaching that attacks Apophis's ship. It is the Replicators.

My Opinion: Nothing against a good deus ex machina now and then, but this time they've overdone it. First they land in a remote galaxy, then the Replicators arrive, then Teal'c has been brainwashed somehow and in the end the Replicators kindly bring SG-1 back home. Honestly! At least Apophis has breathed his last breath.

Synopsis: Teal'c is still brainwashed. According to Bra'tac, the only way to get him out of this, is to remove the larva and bring him to the brink of death.

My Opinion: Even though the events that led to this were rubbish, this was a very good compensation. It showed us how Teal'c became the man he is and how Bra'tac tought him all this. A great character drawing.

Synopsis: SG-1 discovers a device that could be a powerful weapon. But then Sam faints and has to be brought back to the SGC. When she is put on leave and comes home, she is awaited by a non-corporeal being. It declares that it comes from the planet Sam has just been to.

My Opinion: The most important information in this episode was the fact, that Teal'c has watched Star Wars nine times while Jack has never watched it. That aside this episode was a goof examply why in Star Trek a Prime Directive exists: Because it is not predictable, what happens if one interfers with the developement of a culture. But the extinction of that entire planet was also over the top, they simply could have taken the Stargate away.
The appearance of John de Lancie (Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation) was also nice, especially because it won't be the last.

Synopsis: Sam, Teal'c and Daniel return to the SGC under heavy fire while Jack and Lieutenant Tyler are grounded. But the real problem is: In the SGC no one knows this "Lieutenant Tyler". Only SG-1 can remember this man.

My Opinion: I liked this episode, too. Another fact has cought my eye here: Stargate SG-1 has found a good balance regarding the number of alien races. The universe isn't as crowded with non-humans as the Star Trek universe. But it is also not as empty as the Battlestar Galactica universe. While most of the aliens are still humanoid they aren't simply knobbly-nose-aliens but really alien-aliens.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on March 30th, 2008)