DVD Collectors Online

Dark Water, a review by Rich

Title: Dark Water

Movie Count:32 
TV Ep. Count:17 

Runtime:103
Certificate:NR
Year:2005
Genres:Suspense/Thriller, Horror

Plot:Far more terrifying than what was seen in theaters, this special unrated version of Dark Water is a thoroughly absorbing, suspense-filled thriller starring Jennifer Connelly. Dahlia Williams (Connelly) and her five-year-old daughter are ready to begin a new life together. But their new apartment — dilapidated and worn — suddenly seems to take on a life of its own. Mysterious noises, persistent leaks of dark water and other strange happenings in the deserted apartment above send Dahlia on a haunting and mystifying pursuit — one that unleashes a torrent of living nightmares.

My Review:
Hollywood remake of a Japanese chiller, the pace is electric but sadly the hide behind the cushion moments were not as numerous as expected until the finale. The characters are well established, with Postlethwaite as always the stand-out performer, but the overall feel until the end is rather bland and lacking in atmosphere. In the end I did not care enough for the characters and their fates, and the eerieness took nearly 90 minutes to arrive.
When it did, Hollywood had laid it on a bit too thick and dumbed it down, but one scene did creep me out and bought the hairs on my neck up.
Worth a watch, and when I feel braver I may get to viewing the higher rated Japanese original.


(From Rich's October Horror Fest on October 25th, 2009)

Alice in Wonderland, a review by Danae Cassandra

Alice in Wonderland
Year of Release: 1951
Directed By: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson
Starring: Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway
Genre: Fantasy, Animation, Musical

Overview:
Experience the magic and majesty of this ultimate collector's dream. For the first time, Walt Disney's timeless classic bursts into brilliance in Blu-ray High Definition! Featuring Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, this remarkable digital restoration boasts pristine sound and unparalleled picture quality. Plus, bonus features including "Through The Keyhole: A Companion's Guide To Wonderland" and an exciting interactive game, "Painting The Roses Red," have been designed for this landmark release.

Join Alice as she chases the White Rabbit and journeys into a topsy-turvy world that gets "curiouser and curiouser" as her fantastical adventures unfold. Meet the Mad Hatter, March Hare, Tweedledee & Tweedledum, the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts and more unforgettable characters, all set against a backdrop of awe-inspiring splendor.

My Thoughts:
Aptly captures a lot of the nonsense of Carroll's work while ultimately ignoring the true whimsy of it. Still, Disney's film is a lot of fun - colorful, silly and creative. I do wish the film struck more of a balance between the world of logic and rules and the world of imagination and nonsense. That's the one thing that the newer Alice films do better than this one, IMO.

Bechdel Test: Pass
Mako Mori Test: Pass

Overall: 3/5

(From July Movie Marathon: Musicals (Yes... You read right!) on July 27th, 2016)

TV Time-Travel Marathon, a review by Tom

Alternate Reality
My Name Is Earl
Bad Karma: An Earl Misadventure

A bonus episode on the first season's DVD set. A retelling of the pilot episode: Instead of seeing Carson Daly talking about karma on TV, he sees Stewie from Family Guy talking about vengeance. A fun little episode playing with the premise of the series.

(From TV Time-Travel Marathon on January 12th, 2008)