DVD Collectors Online

Whisky, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are:  Uruguay
wikipedia

What We Watched:


WhiskyOverview:
The deadpan style of Jim Jarmusch meets Aki Kaurismaki's wry sensibility in this perversely funny story set in Montevideo, Uruguay.  When Jacobo, a lonely sock factory owner, hears about the impending visit of his irritatingly cheerful brother, who he hasn't seen in years, he enlists his faithful assistant Marta to pretend to be his wife.

My Thoughts:
This is another low-budget film.  In fact, Whisky is so minimalist, you could call it a no-budget film.  It is quiet, droll and subtle.  It's a deceptively simple film - a few days in the lives of three people who mostly go through the routines of their days.  But nothing is given to the viewer, who must decide for themselves whether this is comedy or tragedy, where to laugh, where to feel sad, what happens afterward.  This is a fine little film, about real life and real people, but it's for art film fans only.

Bechtel Test:  Pass 

Overall: 4/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on October 1st, 2012)

Jab Tak Hai Jaan, a review by Tom

Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012/India) IMDb | Wikipedia Rapid Eye Movies, Alive (Germany) Director: Yash Chopra Writing: Devika Bhagat (Screenwriter), Aditya Chopra (Screenwriter) Length: 175 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Hindi: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Subtitles: German

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Stars:
Shah Rukh Khan as Samar Anand
Katrina Kaif as Meera Thapar
Anupam Kher as Meera's father
Anushka Sharma as Akira Rai
Rishi Kapoor as Imran

Plot:
After finding and losing his true love in London, Samar Anand defies death by becoming a bomb disposal expert for the Indian Army. Returning to London after 10 years, he suffers amnesia after an accident. Will he be reunited with his love?

Awards:
Won:

Filmfare Awards (2013)		Best Lyricist (Gulzar)
Filmfare Awards (2013)		Best Supporting Actress (Anushka Sharma)

Nominated:

Filmfare Awards (2013)		Best Actor (Shah Rukh Khan)
Filmfare Awards (2013)		Best Lyricist (Gulzar)
Filmfare Awards (2013)		Best Playback Singer - Female (Neeti Mohan)
Filmfare Awards (2013)		Best Playback Singer - Female (Shreya Goshal)
Filmfare Awards (2013)		Best Playback Singer - Male (Rabbi Shergill)

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes

This movie has a lot of milestones. It is Yash Chopra's first film after an eigth year pause (his last film was the great Veer-Zaara, also with Shah Rukh Khan). It marks his 50th anniversary of his Bollywood career. And sadly it was also his very last film, because he died shortly after filming it. Another milestone in this movie: Shah Rukh Khan's first on-screen kiss. Kissing in Bollywood movies has been a taboo which only has been broken more and more in recent years. Even though, Shah Rukh Kan was still holding out. I had read an interview of him, where he said he would never do it. So imagine my surprise, that he did in this movie.
I bought this movie on the day of the release, even though the price was quite high, because I really wanted to see another Shah Rukh Khan movie, which was more like his older movie and not like the ones in recent years. It promised to be more like Veer-Zara, and it almost kept this promise. It is not quite as great, but still a lot of fun and at times touching. Both love interests did a great job. I really happy to see Anushka Sharma and SRK together in another movie since Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is one of my favorite movies. Katrina Kaif also did a good job. Though it would have been fun to see SRK reunite with Preity Zinta for this movie (who starred with SRK in Veer-Zara and Kal Ho Naa Ho).

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on March 8th, 2013)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by Achim

11. Self Made Man
Cameron never sleeps, so what does she do at night? Chase a T-888 that?s been lost in time.

My comments:
This episode concentrates entirely on Cameron investigating the past. We get a little of John and nothing of anyone else. Cameron has apparently paid regularly visits to the local library, where she bribed the night watch (with donuts) to let her in. She uses her time there to find someone in the past and looks for the connection to the future.

I mostly enjoys crime films where the story slowly unravels to eventually reveal the big picture and on occasion give as a moment. No exception here. There is quite a bit witty dialog (two of Cameron's bon mots made me laugh out loud) and the detective work runs along at a steady pace. But here's the rub, which happens often with this kind of stories: the "timing" is off. By that I mean that the entire investigation (plus Cameron's "problem solving at the end) happens in one single night. Going through records, finding film clips, having conversations, connecting the dots (no pun intended) and all they need is a couple of hours...? Fail (this is where I deduct one notch in the rating). Another problem is that I felt lots of lag, where I thought the story could speed up a bit and move along; luckily those are moments never lasted very long.

John's story is merely a side note and shows him getting closer to Riley. I did not like this section at all and him suddenly bursting put and almost beating the crap out of a guy who is already down felt out of place to me.



(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 11th, 2010)