DVD Collectors Online

Batman Begins, a review by DJ Doena

April, 28th


Christian Bale    ...    Bruce Wayne / Batman
Michael Caine   ...    Alfred
Liam Neeson   ...    Henri Ducard
Katie Holmes   ...    Rachel Dawes
Gary Oldman   ...    Jim Gordon
Cillian Murphy   ...    Dr. Jonathan Crane
Tom Wilkinson   ...    Carmine Falcone
Rutger Hauer   ...    Earle
Ken Watanabe   ...    Ra's Al Ghul
Morgan Freeman    ...    Lucius Fox

Synopsis: When he was a kid, his parents were shot by a mugger. When he had the chance to take revenge he missed it. For seven years he wandered around the globe to study crime. But it's only when he meets Ra's Al Ghul that his life gets a purpose again. Back in Gotham City at day he is a (drunken) billionaire who parties too much while at night he becomes the greatest fear the underworld ever had: Batman.

My Opinion: Great restart of the franchise. I always liked the first Batman movie and since I've never read any Batman comic I imagined that was the way Batman was supposed to be: noir and serious. Oh, I liked the 60's show with Adam West, but one couldn't take it seriously ("anti-shark repellent" anyone?). And I like comics in general - I don't have that many, but I can certainly see their charm. But when it comes to a comic-to-movie adaptation I expect a bit more seriousness. I can accept super-powers of any kind and have no problems with their origin but the characters have to be "well drawn". They have to feel like real people and not behave like a Saturday morning cartoon show. And it that regard the old Superman movies (except maybe part 2) and also Batman 3 & 4 failed.
Batman Begins then was great. The background of Bruce Wayne hasn't really changed but the way it was told was great. I also liked that Gordon had become a three-dimensional character (no surprise when played by Gary Oldman). This is certainly a movie that doesn't try to make puns for puns's sake. I love it.
Let's just hope that the third movie (that is hopefully coming) isn't a letdown like the third parts of the recent X-Men and Spider-Man trilogies.

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2009 on April 29th, 2009)

Clerks, a review by DJ Doena

May, 20th


Brian O'Halloran    ...    Dante
Jeff Anderson   ...    Randal
Marilyn Ghigliotti   ...    Veronica
Lisa Spoonhauer   ...    Caitlin
Jason Mewes   ...    Jay
Kevin Smith   ...    Silent Bob
Scott Mosier   ...    Willam the Idiot Manchild

Synopsis: Dante is a convenient store clerk who isn't supposed to work today but has to come in anyways. Together with his friend Randal who works at the neighbouring video store he philosophizes through the entire spectrum of topics while unwillingly "serving" customers. When they don't work (which they mostly don't) and don't philosophize they play hockey or drive to a wake or talk to friends and girlfriends. And so the day goes by...

My Opinion: I got the idea of watching this again when I stumbled across the "ABC" dance video of Clerks II. It's funny how a movie is able to not to have an actual story and still be very entertaining for 92 minutes. I have always loved the part where they discuss the morality of destroying a Death Star while it's still under construction and thus having a lot of external contractors like roofers and plumbers are on board.

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2009 on May 20th, 2009)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

FRIENDS - SEASON 1 - PILOT



First aired: 9/22/1994   
This is the one where it all began... Rachel leaves Barry at the altar, meets the gang, and moves in with Monica. Monica, meanwhile, sleeps with Paul the Wine Guy, and Ross is reeling from his divorce from Carol, who has become a lesbian.

Great to go back after all these years to see where it all began. The show did not stray too far from the format of this first episode, and the characters matured with all 10 series. The jokes in this pilot are ok and the acting average, but the chemistry is perfect and indicates why this became such a monster hit series.



(From My PILOT Marathon on May 17th, 2008)