DVD Collectors Online

Zazie dans le metro, a review by Danae Cassandra

Year of Release: 1960
Directed By: Louis Malle
Starring: Catherine Demongeot, Philippe Noiret, Hubert Deschamps, Carla Marlier, Annie Fratellini, Vittorio Caprioli
Genre: Comedy

Overview:
A brash and precocious ten-year-old (Catherine Demongeot) comes to Paris for a whirlwind weekend with her rakish uncle (Philippe Noiret); he and the viewer get more than they bargained for, however, in this anarchic comedy from Louis Malle, which rides roughshod over the City of Light. Based on a popular novel by Raymond Queneau that had been considered unadaptable, Malle's audacious hit , made with flair on the cusp of the French New Wave, is a bit of stream-of-consciousness slapstick, wall-to-wall with visual gags, editing tricks, and effects.

My Thoughts:
This is a very funny, very French kind of film.  It's fun kind of anarchy - colorful, filled with slapstick, sight gags and camera tricks, like a live-action cartoon.  Catherine Demongeot, our 10-year-old lead, gives one of the most authentic child performances I've seen on screen.  At no point does she seem artificial.  The rest of the cast does a good job too, but her performance really anchors the film. 

Not for everyone - there's a lot of absurdity and whimsy to the film, imagination and magical realism rule the day, so if you can let yourself go and enjoy that, the film is a lot of fun.  If you expect pure reality, prepare to be disappointed.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall:  3.5/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on June 7th, 2015)

The Burning Bed, a review by addicted2dvd

The Burning Bed (1984/United States) Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Kino Lorber (United States) Director: Robert Greenwald Writing: Rose Leiman Goldemberg (Screenwriter), Faith McNulty (Original Material By) Length: 96 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78:1, Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English

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Stars:
Farrah Fawcett as Francine Hughes
Paul Le Mat [Paul LeMat] as Mickey Hughes
Richard Masur as Aryon Greydanus
Grace Zabriskie as Flossie Hughes
Penelope Milford as Gaby

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers
• Interviews

I kinda remember this from when it came out in the mid 80s but not sure I watched it back then... at least all the way through. A pretty decent true story film though I found it to be a little on the slow side. It is one I found at the library that I will probably eventually add to my own colection if I find at a decent price.



(From The Burning Bed on July 23rd, 2023)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Worf is missing in action after his ship was destroyed near the Badlands. The Defiant searches for him but has to abort when the Jem'Hadar are closing in on her. Ezri takes matters into her own hand and continues the search in a runabout. Meanwhile Benjamin proposes to Kasidy and she accepts. And on Cardassia the Founder gets more and more ill due to the plague that has infected the Great Link a few months ago. And Dukat reappears and asks Damar for a favour.

My Opinion: Now the story is marching toward the end and these ten episodes form one continuous arc. There are now multiple parallel storylines and some of them are more interesting than others.
Even though it puts Ezri in the center agin, I mostly enjoyed this episode. It was a good start to this conclusion of the series.

Synopsis: Sisko takes the warning of the Prophets seriously and isn't sure anymore that he really should marry Kasidy. He beasically un-proposes to her and she doesn't take it lightly. Worf and Ezri - who had crashed on a planet and were captured by the Breen - are on a Breen ship and are being brought to an unknown destination. And Dukat - now surgically altered to look like a Bajoran - meets with Kai Winn who got a vision from the Prophets in which they instructed her to work with him (although she doesn't know who he really is).

My Opinion: These Prophets and their prophecy. They are a bit of a PITA. But I am glad that Ben made up his own mind and married Kasidy. They are a nice couple and they deserved it. I didn't care much about Worf's and Ezri's argument though. But it didn't bother me either. What did bother me was the Winn/Dukat storyline. Dukat was a brilliant villain character before they made up this religious storyline. I guess it's a bit like with The Lord of the Rings. In order to watch the great battles and the interesting characters around Aragorn you have to endure Frodo's march to Mount Doom.

Synopsis: The Dominion and the Breen have signed a treaty that makes the latter part of the Dominion. Ezri and Worf are now prisoners on Cardassia. Damar becomes more and more uneasy and when Weyoun sacrifices half a million cardassian soldiers in a pointless battle he finally comes around and decides to do something about it. Meanwhile Kai Winn learns that the vision was not sent by the Prophets but by the Pah-Wraiths but when she seeks forgiveness the Prophets don't answer her.

My Opinion: I really liked it that Worf and Ezri talked things out. They couldn't behave awkwardly around each other forever. And I liked it how Worf snapped Weyoun 7's neck and how Damar enjoyed seeing this even though he knew that there would be a Weyoun 8. And I loved it when Martok and Sisko dicussed marriage and Martok compared it to wars and battles. He's a typical Klingon.

Synopsis: Ezri and Worf are back on DS9 and they bring the news about the Breen with them. But they didn't have to. The Breen have just launched an orbital attack on the Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. And now they try to re-take the Chin'toka system. A combined fleet tries to prevent that but it ends in disaster. Meanwhile Winn and Dukat (still disguised as Anjohl Tennan) study the old books about the Pah-Wraiths in order to find a way to release them in order to bring restauration to Bajor.

My Opinion: Damar's troops destroyed the cloning facilities of the Dominion. It seems that Weyoun is going to be OOP. What I liked about this episode was that they didn't show only fighting and war but also that all these people still have a private life, that life goes on despite the war. And I loved that huge "The Alamo" model of Miles's. Too bad they had to give up the Defiant. She was a fine ship.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on March 6th, 2009)