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The Strangers, a review by addicted2dvd

The Strangers: Unrated (2008/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Universal Studios Home Entertainment Director: Bryan Bertino Writing: Bryan Bertino (Writer) Length: 88 min. Rating: Unrated Video: Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, Spanish: DTS: 5.1, French: DTS: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Alex Fisher as Mormon Boy #1
Peter Clayton-Luce as Mormon Boy #2
Scott Speedman as James Hoyt
Liv Tyler as Kristen McKay
Gemma Ward as Dollface
Kip Weeks as Man in Mask

Plot:
Explore your worst fears imaginable with this shocking suspense thriller inspired by disturbing true events. After a 4 a.m. knock at the door and a haunting voice, Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) and James Hoyt's (Scott Speedman) remote getaway becomes a psychological night of terror as three masked strangers invade. Now they must go far beyond what they thought themselves capable of if they hope to survive.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• BD-Live

Maybe I went into this one with too high of expectations... but while a decent film...  I wasn't all that impressed with this one. One thing I found a little bothersome is the audio. the voices were lower then the rest of the sound effects in the film. So to hear everything I had to have it turned up pretty loud to her the (limited) talking in the film... which made everything else a bit on the loud side. Another problem I had was the fact that the video was overly dark. At times I couldn't tell what was going on in the scenes. Then there was the fact that the first part of the film wasn't that interesting so had a hard time keeping my attention on it. But once the home invasion happened it picked up... just as I said was a bit hard to understand/see everything going on. At least until morning hit. But by then the movie was almost over. All the this gave me a hard time on how to rate this film. I liked the subject matter... and there is good scenes in it. I guess I would have to go with...



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: The Blu-ray Experience on July 7th, 2013)

Zatoichi the Outlaw, a review by Antares

Zatoichi the Outlaw (1967) 56/100 - This, the sixteenth film in the successful Zatoichi franchise is loaded with many firsts for the blind swordsman series. For the first time we get to see some blood spurting when Ichi slices an opponent, which in my opinion, is what was finally needed to make the action more palpable. This film also marks the initial offering of its star, Shintaro Katsu, as producer, under the auspices of his newly formed company, Katsu Productions. Katsu also sings what will become the series' theme song and damn, if he doesn't have a fine voice too. The final first is personal, for this was the first film in this marathon that I did not like at all. It's badly directed, sloppily edited and has a confusing storyline that had me look at the clock a few too many times before it ended. And although it never materializes, you get a sense that there's going to be a bit of pinku creeping in down the line as the following films are made. There's a quasi rape scene in the middle of the film, which if it had been made a couple of years later, would probably have had some gratuitous nudity attached to it. You can tell that either Daiei or Katsu himself, are tossing the idea around in their heads.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on June 17th, 2014)

Birthday Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Episode Count: 16


Without a Trace: Season 1
Birthday Boy
For his eleventh birthday, Gabe Freedman is going to a baseball game at Yankee Stadium with his father. When the two get separated at the subway station, Bob is convinced he will meet up with his son at the next station, or at the park itself. After being unsuccessful in locating his son, Bob calls in the team who is convinced that the boy was abducted until evidence leads them to believe that Gabe may have run off on purpose.

My Thoughts:
This is a series I never knew of when it originally aired. I bought the first season set blind... I been wanting to pick up season 2 as well but never got the chance yet. Watching this episode makes me want to pick up the second season soon though. It is a very good episode. Of course it helps that I forgot the outcome from the first time I saw it.



(From Birthday Marathon on May 29th, 2009)