DVD Collectors Online

The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming
Year of Release: 1966
Directed By: Norman Jewison
Starring: Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin, Brian Keith
Genre: Comedy

Overview:
When a sightseeing Soviet commander runs his submarine aground off the New England coast, the crew's attempts to find a boat to dislodge them almost start World War III!.  Alan Arkin leads an all-star cast - including Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Keith and Jonathan Winters - in this "riotous, uproarious [and] side-splitting" (Cue) comedy!

Russian Lt. Rozanov (Arkin) and his crew hit the beaches of Massachusetts unaware of the panic they're about to start.  Despite the Russian's harmless intentions, the folks in town think a full-scale Soviet invasion has been launched!  What's worse, their police chief (Keith) has left his hysterical assistant (Winters) in charge...and the one man who knows the truth (Reiner) is only stirring up more chaos!

My Thoughts:
This is a pretty good piece of Cold War satire, both humourous and serious simulaneously.  It's a funny film - but it's also got its point to make.  I was struck by how news in the film travels like the telepone game you played as a kid.  One person says one thing, another mishears or misconstrues, and suddenly you have a complete panic on your hands.  If the film seems like a farce - exaggerated and improbable - it doesn't seem so to me.  Sadly, the reactions of the locals seems all to likely in real life.  Absurd?  Absolutely.  But not unrealistic.

The performances are good, especially Alan Arkin as Rozanov.  It's also well filmed - you wouldn't know that the Cape Cod style town was constructed in Mendocino, or that the submarine wasn't real unless you were looking for that specifically (the US military refused to loan or allow them to use the one the Russians would have).  It's a bit long, and might not play so well to modern audiences, even though the message is still valid.  I liked it quite a bit though.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 3.75/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on November 19th, 2015)

Sky High, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:Sky High
Year: 2005
Director: Mike Mitchell
Rating: PG
Length: 99 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Michael Angarano
Kurt Russell
Kelly Preston
Danielle Panabaker
Chris Wynne

Plot:
A super adventure of heroic proportions, this crowd-pleasing hit from Walt Disney Pictures stars Hollywood favorites Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston! The son of legendary heroes Commander (Russell) and Jetstream (Preston), young Will Stronghold carries huge expectations as he enters a high-tech high school known for molding the heroes of tomorrow. With no apparent superpowers of his own, however, Will seems destined to grow up a mere sidekick. But as he discovers his true strengths, he'll also learn that it takes loyalty and teamwork to truly become a hero!

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos
Outtakes/Bloopers


Fun Disney film about a family of superheroes with Kurt Russell as the patriarch. Was interesting to see Russell return to the Disney fold where he basically got his start in the biz as a young kid in a plethora of movies in the late 60's early 70's. The movie was ok, but nothing terribly original. Kelly Preston was my hero in that skin tight outfit!!

I talked my daughter into watching this with me and she was out like a light before the trailers preceding the movie were finished.  Gotta teach her stamina now! 

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on August 24th, 2010)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

What's the show about?
It's the third show in the Whoniverse (after Doctor Who and Torchwood). In the UK Doctor Who itself is aimed at (older) children ("The story and the monsters for the kids, the Doctor for the mums and the companion for the dads" as the saying goes) but The Sarah Jane Adventures is aimed at young children (and those who stayed young ). Sarah Jane used to be a companion to the Third and Fourth Doctor in the 70s and she had a few adventures with the Tenth Doctor. Now she has adventures of her own with her adopted son and his friends and the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor visited her on her own show.

"Invasion of the Bane"
The kids of the neighbourhood start to notice that something weird is going on in Miss Smith's backyard because she's visited by what looks like fairies. Sarah Jane - she is a newspaper reporter by day - on the other hand investigates a factory that gives away free soft drinks to all the children that visit the factory. When she discovers that there's a young boy who appears to have been created in that factory, she knows that something otherworldly is going on.

My Opinion
I enjoyed the show. It took existing aliens from the Whoniverse and adapted them for the show (e.g. where the Doctor has to deal with adult Slitheen, Sarah Jane gets to deal with their offspring). But it also invented their own races and told stories about them.


Sadly the show came to an end when Elisabeth Sladen died from cancer a few years ago.



(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on April 4th, 2013)