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The Fog (remake), a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Fog: Widescreen Unrated Version
Year: 2005
Director: Rupert Wainwright
Rating: NR
Length: 103 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Tom Welling
Maggie Grace
Selma Blair
DeRay Davis
Kenneth Welsh

Plot:
From producer John Carpenter comes the all-new retelling of his terror classic, THE FOG. Tom Welling (TV's "Smallville"), Maggie Grace (TV's "Lost") and Selma Blair (Hellboy) star in this sense-shattering tale of demonic retribution, directed by Rupert Wainwright (Stigmata) with screenplay by Cooper Layne.

Trapped within an eerie mist, the residents of Antonio Bay have become the unwitting victims of a horrifying vengeance. One hundred years ago, a ship carrying lepers was purposely lured onto the rocky coastline and sunk, drowning all aboard. Now they're back, long-dead mariners who've waited a century for their revenge. Seeking out the decedents of those responsible for their deaths, they lurk enshrouded within a supernatural fog of terror. Beware, any and all who stand in their way.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I chose the remake of The Fog for this marathon because of Tom Welling who is Clark Kent on Smallville and for Lost's Maggie Grace. This is one remake that kinda disappointed me. It is nowhere near as good as the original. And it seemed so strange to see Tom Welling in a part other then Clark Kent. Speaking of Tom Welling... he just didn't pull this role off. He seemed so stiff... so wooden in the role. They really didn't pull off the characters that well... as most of them I just couldn't get myself to care about. I thought the effects of the fog rolling in at the beginning of the movie could have been done better as well. But with that said there was some good parts... some pretty cool kill scenes and such... especially towards the end of the movie. While it is not a movie I can see watching often. There will be times I can see watching it. For different themed marathons and such.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Mystery Marathon on January 29th, 2010)

Brick , a review by Achim

Brick (Spotlight Series) (2005/United States) Universal Studios Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Rian Johnson Writing: Rian Johnson (Writer) Length: 110 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brendan
Nora Zehetner as Laura
Lukas Haas as The Pin
Noah Fleiss as Tugger
Matt O'Leary as The Brain

Plot:
Brendan Frye is a loner, someone who knows all the angles but has chosen to stay on the outside. When the girl he loves turns up dead, he is determined to find the "who" and "why" and plunges into the dark and dangerous social strata of rich girl Laura, intimidating Tug, drug-addled Dode, seductive Kara, and the ominous Pin. But who can he really trust? These are the ingredients of Brick, a gritty and provocative thriller that critics describe as "a clever, twist-filled whodunit!" (Claudia Puig, USA Today)

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes

It had been a while since I read the reviews by Matthias and Jon. So I was just going by the synopsis on the cover when I sat down to watch this film. I am not really sure4 what I was expecting, but I certainly didn't get it (again, going by the cover ). Instead I got this awesome Film Noir, where I occasionally had to remind myself that it is actually playing out with high school kids! (I know, had I a better memory I should have known this from the other reviews .)

While parts of the ending let me down a little bit (the reason for the murder and the retelling of the motives at the end, although the latter is clearly typical film noir tropes), I was engaged by the story with all its twists and turns all the way through. In big parts this was due to the acting and the greatly written characters (Brendan, Tugger and Laura).

Rating:

(From The Movies from Within My Lifetime on July 14th, 2011)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Accidentally Chloe has been transported to the Arctic where the united stones have just built the "Fortress of Solitude" for Clark. Clark is allowed to rescue her and to fight a new enemy that has arrived with the meteor shower but he has to return until sunset. Meanwhile Lana and Lex meet these newcomers.

My Opinion: Sure, they were lazy, but I still thought that it was too easy for Clark to get rid of those two(!) Kryptonians. I really would have liked a scenario where Lana wouldn't have been knocked out and would have witnessed the entire scene (with or without Clark's knowlegde). But maybe the writers thought it to be too soon to let yet another person in on Clark's secret.
I wonder - if this were for real - whether Chloe and Clark have recapitulated their past, unfolding all the events where only Clark knew the whole truth, or if he told her that she already knew his secret (Rush).

Synopsis: Three patients can escape from Belle Reve and they take Lana, Martha and Jonathan hostage. They force Clark - who has lost his powers because he disobeyed his father - to break into LuthorCorp and steal an experimental Kryptonite-based drug. In the past this wouldn't have been much of a problem, but this time it turns out to be a good thing that he doesn't have his powers.

My Opinion: It's always funny to hear Clark saying, that he's not to keen with heights. I also liked the comparison of Pete and Chloe in their role as "sidekick".
But I also think, that the concept of "Belle Reve" and Lex's influence there is a bit of a plot hole. Lex may not believe one particular loony in there but if he really has spoken with a few of them and promised them something and they would have told him all the same story about Clark Kent's abilities (and there are quite a few in there that could tell such a story) then he wouldn't need to resort to such crude investigation methods - especially when he adds his own experiences with Clark.

Synopsis: Clark is still human and he and Lana have slept together and are very happy. Can it get any better?
In 60 minutes Smallville gets nuked and Clark lies in the hospital, dying from a gunshot wound. Can it get any worse?

My Opinion: Lionel takes up the role of Jor-El. In a weird way, Lex and Clark are now actually brothers. This episode marks the climax (pun intended) of Clark's and Lana's relationship. From now on it will go downhill.
What's even more interesting about this episode, are the discussions on the internet about it. For example, people were seriously offended that he didn't tell her about his true nature before they were sleeping together, because he is an alien. There were sentences like "If Lana were my child I would want to know that she's sleeping with an alien.".

Synopsis: Lois is back in Smallville and she moves back to the farm. On a warm sunny day she, Chloe, Lana and Clark go swimming in the Crater Lake. Suddenly Lois nearly drowns and gets rescued - by Arthur "AC" Curry. AC can swim fast, even faster than Clark. But his motive to be in Smallville is not to rescue drowning girls but to save the oceans from a terrible weapon, created by LuthorCorp.

My Opinion: After the events in Arrival Lex has gone into full defense mode. It's pretty ironic that he who wants to defend this planet from aliens will become the planet's greatest threat by the end of the season.
I really liked the appearance of "Aquaman" and the hints they implanted in the script, especially when AC proposes the foundation of a "Junior Lifeguard Association" and Clark replies that he isn't ready for the JLA yet.
And Tom seriously has to reshape his washboard abs, he looked pale in comparison to Alan Ritchson (AC) and he is supposed to be Superman.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 8th, 2008)