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The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, a review by Tom

Title: The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
Year: 2008
Director: Peggy Holmes
Rating: G
Length: 77 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 , English: DTS 5.1 , French: Dolby Digital 5.1 , Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Jodi Benson
Samuel E. Wright
Jim Cummings
Sally Field
Tara Strong

Plot:
See how it all started for one of Disney's most beloved characters in the all-new movie, 'The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning'.

Imagine a time long before Ariel met Prince Eric and walked on land - a time when music was banned from the underwater kingdom of Atlantica. Torn between family duty and her love of music, Ariel must make the most difficult choice of her life. With the help of her friends, Sebastian and Flounder, and her six amusing sisters, will the young mermaid be able to restore music, friendship and love to the kingdom?

An all-star cast returns, including Jodi Benson (Ariel) and Samuel E. Wright (Sebastian) - plus meet the deliciously wicked villain Marina Del Rey - in a marvelous musical adventure teeming with surprises, breathtaking animation and all-new songs.

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Interactive Game
Scene Access
Trailers

I was a little disappointed with this outing. Previous Little Mermaid movies offered each a few memorable songs. This one hadn't even one memorable song in my opinion. The story is standard family movie fare. Nothing real original. Animation-wise it is better than the second movie and is good for a direct-to-DVD movie.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on October 18th, 2008)

The Call of Cthulhu, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Call of Cthulhu
Year of Release: 2005
Directed By: Andrew Leman
Starring: Matt Foyer, John Bolen, Ralph Lucas, Chad Fifer
Genre: Horror

Overview:
Written in 1926, just before the advent of "talking" pictures, The Call of Cthulhu is one of the most famous and influential tales of H. P. Lovecraft, the father of gothic horror. Now the story is brought richly to life in the style of a classic 1920s silent movie, with a haunting original symphonic score. Using the "Mythoscope" process ~ a mix of modern and vintage techniques ~ the filmmakers have worked to create the most authentic and faithful screen adaptation of a Lovecraft story yet attempted.

My Thoughts:
This is a modern film, made in the style of an old-fashioned silent film.  When this turned up at the store, I knew I had to have it. I adore Lovecraft, and this very short film (47 minutes!) is as authentic an adaptation of this story as will every be done. This is an ultra-low-budget picture, so don't expect high-tech effects, but the performances are solid and the film is eerie and altogether delightful. Recommended.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon on October 22nd, 2014)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Star Trek
1.19 Tomorrow Is Yesterday
Writer: D. C. Fontana (Writer), Gene Roddenberry (Original Characters By)
Director: Michael O'Herlihy
Cast: William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), Roger Perry (Major Christopher), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Hal Lynch (Air Police Sergeant), Richard Merrifield (Technician), John Winston (Transporter Chief), Ed Peck (Col. Fellini), James Doohan (Scott), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Mark Dempsey (Air Force Captain), Jim Spencer (Air Policeman), Sherri Townsend (Crew Woman)

The Enterprise accidentally ends up in the 1960s and transports an US Air Force pilot on board. Now they have to deal with him without changing the history.
Interesting episode. One of the better ones, which still holds up today.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on October 27th, 2011)