DVD Collectors Online

The Quiet Man, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Quiet Man
Year of Release: 1952
Directed By: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy

Overview:The Quiet ManThe Quiet ManMy Thoughts:
This is a wonderfully entertaining film. It's light and breezy, romantic and filled with colorful characters and some darn good performances. John Wayne is atypically just a normal guy here, not a cowboy or a soldier, and he does a great job with it. Given his reputation, the subtlety he brings to his performance here can be surprising. Maureen O'Hara is as lovely as ever, and the cinematography is stunning.

I'd like to recommend this for anyone, but it isn't very PC, especially viewed with a modern gaze. Parts of this film would be very different if made today. You'd never see the casual treatment of wife-beating, for instance. But don't mistake that casual treatment by the locals for the film endorsing it. Both times Sean is offered a stick to beat his wife with he discards it. As he's the moral center of the film, his refusal tells us really doesn't condone marital violence. Sean offers violence (the dragging, the fight) only to appease local tradition ("It's your custom, not mine"). Yet you wouldn't see it made this way today. The subtlety of that statement (simply discarding the stick) would be to easily lost.

A great film, and my personal favorite of Wayne's oeuvre.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on March 19th, 2015)

Paradise Road, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:Paradise Road
Year: 1997
Director: Bruce Beresford
Rating: R
Length: 132 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Glenn Close
Frances McDormand
Pauline Collins
Cate Blanchett
Jennifer Ehle

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned


It's been a long week (considering it's only Wednesday!) for me and an even longer day at work today and I came home beat. I was reclining in my chair after dinner, feeling sleepy but I decided to put in this movie and watch a little bit before I would inevitably doze off. Didn't happen.   

What an excellent movie! I was completely fascinated by this true story about a group of women P.O.W.'s in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. An outstanding cast led by Glenn Close and including Frances McDormand, Julianna Margulies and Cate Blanchett, these remarkable women persevered and kept themselves alive largely through the spirit of song. Many of the women and children died due to the deplorable treatment by their captors who believed women to be inferior but a core group of them beat the odds.

A must watch! 

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on August 5th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

She, the Ultimate Weapon (2002/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia (United Kingdom) Length: 435 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: DTS 5.1, Japanese: DTS 5.1 Subtitles: English

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Plot:
SHE, the Ultimate Weapon is the story of Shuji and Chise, a couple of typical high school students living in a Hokkaido City, Japan at a time of war. As with most first romances, the pair must deal with peer group pressure, gossip, intense emotions, feelings of ambivalence and the fact that Chise is a secret military weapon capable of levelling a medium-sized city!

Created by Studio Gonzo (Burst Angel, Full Metal Panic, Hellsing and Trinity Blood) She The Ultimate Weapon Box Set gathers together for the first time all 13 episodes of the TV series and the "Another Love Song" feature length OVA in one beautiful deluxe art box.


Saishuu Heiki Kanojo
1.01 We Fall in Love

The premise is good. I also enjoyed the episodes I have seen so far, but for some reason I never finished watching this series. But I definitely will some day.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on July 2nd, 2012)