DVD Collectors Online

Tadpole, a review by Rich

Tadpole



Fifteen-year-old Prep student Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford) feels that girls his own age haven't lived enough, which is why he's coming home to Manhattan's Upper East Side for Thanksgiving to profess his love to his stepmother, Eve (Sigourney Weaver)--whose marriage to his professor father (John Ritter) has become routine and uninspiring. Unable to find the right moment to express himself, Oscar slips out to a bar after dinner and finds himself drunk and missing his wallet. Walking home, he bumps into Eve's best friend, Diane (Bebe Neuwirth), a sexy chiropractor who offers to take him home to detox. A backrub leads to a kiss, which results in Oscar and Diane spending the night together. Oscar, feeling he has betrayed his true love, must now prevent Diane--who laughs at the whole situation--from telling Eve what has happened between them.

Disjointed tale with low-budget digital production values, it is too far a stretch of the imagination to assume so many beautiful middle aged women would fall for a nerdy pretentious academic 15 year old. There are some elements of quite good wry humour, but it is lost in what can best be described as a boring immature Graduate clone.
 

(From Riches Random Reviews on April 5th, 2009)

A Face in the Crowd, a review by Antares

A Face in the Crowd





Year: 1957
Film Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, Newtown Productions
Genre: Drama, Classic
Length: 126 Min.

Director
Elia Kazan (1909)

Writing
Budd Schulberg (1914)...Story
Budd Schulberg (1914)...Screenplay

Producer
Elia Kazan (1909)

Cinematographer
Gayne Rescher (1924)
Harry Stradling Sr. (1901)

Music
Tom Glazer (1914)...Composer

Stars
Andy Griffith (1926) as Larry 'Lonesome' Rhodes
Patricia Neal (1926) as Marcia Jeffries
Anthony Franciosa (1928) as Joey DePalma
Walter Matthau (1920) as Mel Miller
Lee Remick (1935) as Betty Lou Fleckum
Percy Waram (1880) as Gen. Haynesworth
Paul McGrath (1904) as Macey
Rod Brasfield (1910) as Beanie

Review
       In 1976, the movie Network shocked audiences with its dark and cynical message about corporations using the mass media to sway and influence the mass population. Critics praised it for being a prophetic statement of the times that we were living in. Forgotten through all this hype, was that a film which had been released almost twenty years earlier, had basically told the same story.

       A Face in the CrowdOn the Waterfront to justify his position before the committee; now in 1957 he took aim at the apparatus, which had stoked the fires of paranoia and fear across the country.
 
       To make the story more believable, he decided to use a newcomer to movies to play his main character. Andy Griffith had been playing on Broadway in the comedy No Time for Sergeants and was known only to a small minority who had heard his comedy record. Lonesome Rhodes would be the character that would prove that Griffith was no country bumpkin, but a talented dramatic actor. Three years later he would shoot to fame and find immortality on TV as Sheriff Andy Taylor from the pastoral hometown of Mayberry.

       If you only know Andy Griffith from this role or from his stint as Ben Matlock, then you need to check out his first foray in the film world. His performance will shock and delight you and hopefully get you to appreciate the underused talent that could have propelled him to fame as a versatile dramatic actor.


Ratings Criterion4 Stars - Historically important film, considered a classic.

(From A Face in the Crowd (1957) on February 11th, 2010)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: An asteroid closes in on Earth from a strange direction and it will hit Earth. SG-1 tries to repair a crashed Tel'tak (cargo ship) and then to land on the asteroid and to blow it up with the help of a Naqahdah-enhanced nuclear bomb.

My Opinion: Great moment, when Jack comments "I've seen that movie!" in the beginning, obviously referring to Armageddon. They nonetheless found a good, typical Stargate solution to the problem.

Synopsis: On a planet that isn't ruled by a Goa'uld is a base of Jaffa. Some of their "gods" have been killed, some Jaffa simply deserted. Their leader is K'tano, former First Prime of Imhotep, who killed his "god". But the ways of the Jaffa and the Tau'ri are different and Jack cannot recommend an alliance as long as K'tano is in charge.

My Opinion: This episode shows, how convincing charismatic leaders can be. It also shows that they haven't necessarily the best for their followers in mind. I also liked the Matrix-like fight sequence.

Synopsis: On a planet whose population has been wiped out, SG-1 finds a disabled android in the forum of a young woman. After she's been reactivated they find out that she doesn't know about her artificiality and her state of mind is that of a child. But then she builds a present and toy for Daniel that is terribly familiar to SG-1.

My Opinion: Another episode where Jack and Daniel crash into each other about the way they should handle a very dangerous situation. But I honestly didn't know whith whom I should've agreed.

Synopsis: A planet that is supposed to have a protection mechanism is attacked by the Goa'uld. Obviously the inofficial NID commando broke it when they visited the planet 2 years ago. Now they have to accompany SG-1 to fix it.

My Opinion: What I didn't like about this episode was that they were killed in the end. That was to forseeable. And the fact that the Colonel sacrificed himself to save Jack didn't match with the facts we learned about him in this very episode.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on April 6th, 2008)