DVD Collectors Online

Tooth and Nail, a review by addicted2dvd

Tooth and Nail: After Dark HorrorFest Year: 2007 Length: 94min. Director: Mark Young Stars: Rachel Miner Rider Strong Robert Carradine Vinnie Jones Michael Madsen

Plot:
A small group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world take refuge in an empty hospital with plans on rebuilding society. They rescue a young girl who is the victim of a brutal attack, but soon discover that they were followed by a savage band of cannibals known as Rovers. The Rovers begin to kill them one by one, and the trapped survivors must find a way to outwit their stalkers.

My Thoughts:
This is a movie I originally bought for my October Horror Marathon... but never got around to watching. These After Dark Horrorfest releases are a bit on the hit or miss side... but out of 15 releases that I own... I had a hard time sitting through only one of them. In the case of this movie. It isn't a bad movie... but it really could have been much better. The twist of the movie was really obvious. So obvious in fact that I had the twist figured out the moment I seen the character it involved. That alone brought my score of this movie down. This is the second After Dark Horrorfest release of this past year that has Rider Strong in it. If you recognize the name but just can't place who it is... he played Shawn (Corey's friend) on the '90s sitcom Boy Meets World.




(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 11/28 - 11/30 on November 28th, 2008)

An Education, a review by goodguy

An Education (UK 2009) Written by: Nick Hornby, based on a memoir by Lynn Barber Directed by: Lone Scherfig Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard DVD: R1-US Sony (Mar 30, 2010) My rating:

Cover Blurb: From acclaimed writer Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) comes this inspired coming-of-age film Rolling Stone magazine calls "a miracle of a movie." When Jenny (Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Carey Mulligan), a bright young school girl who longs for adulthood, meets David (Peter Sarsgaard), a dashing older man, he introduces her to his vibrant world of glamorous friends, chic jazz clubs and her own sexual awakening. Will she let this affair ruin her dreams of attending Oxford, as her headmistress (Emma Thompson) fears? This captivating film sparkles with wit, charm and style of 1960s Britain.

I have just one thing to say: How could Carey Mulligan not win the Oscar for this? The movie itself is a bit of a mixed bag, to eager to portrait the parents and some other characters as dull, clumsy and uneducated. A bit more subtlety would have been appreciated. That's also true for the safely played wrap up that ends the cautionary tale with the proper morale. However, all that is forgiven because of the way Mulligan lights up the screen as the bright young girl in love not so much with that older guy, but with a world full of possibilities.

(From goodguy's Watch Log on November 15th, 2010)

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

What's the show about?
Michael Westen used to be a spy. But one day he got "burned" and was dumped in Miami. Ever since he tries to find out why he was burned and by whom. In the meantime he helps people the normal police can't or won't help. He has help, though: A trigger-happy ex-girlfriend, who used to rob banks for the IRA; another retired spy who has settled down in Miami and makes his "special lady friends" happy; and his mother!

"Pilot"
Michael Westen was about to finalize a deal with a local crime lord to protect a certain piece of land in Africa, but when he tries to get the money wired he's informed that the deal is off because he got burned. Although they beat the crap out of him he manages to escape. The next time he regains full consciousness, he's in Miami and his "emergency contact" (his ex-girlfriend) Fiona is sitting by his bed. He tries to find out why he got burned and how his mother had fount out that he was in town. Since his credit cards won't work anymore he takes a small job to find out who stole a number of paintings from a rich man's house.

My Opinion
In the beginning it was just OK, but it got better with every episode, especially when the "burn notice" arc fully kicked in. The characters are all great, especially when Michael's mother Madeline becomes more and more involved in Michael's cases and he has to deal with her and Fi at the same time. The show is very humorous but it's still an action show and people get killed all the time - but usually not by any of the good guys: Michael is a master "chess player", he usually manages to make the bad boys kill each other, thus solving the problem.


So, that's all folks, no more pilots in the pipeline...

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on September 28th, 2009)