DVD Collectors Online

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), a review by samuelrichardscott

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) Cinema

Overview:
Death stalks the dreams of several young adults to claim its revenge on the killing of Freddy Kruger. Chased and chastised by this finger-bladed demon, it is the awakening of old memories and the denials of a past of retribution that spurns this hellish vision of a dreamlike state and turns death into a nightmare reality.

My Thoughts:
The original movie directed by Wes Craven in 1984 is one of the most well known movies ever made and Freddy Krueger is one of the most iconic movie characters of all time, maybe even the most iconic in the horror genre. Unlike others, I'm not that weary when it comes to remakes. We've had some great ones like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, some good ones like The Hills Have Eyes and Last House on the Left and some below par ones like Prom Night. Despite the potential for this remake, it is unfortunately quite mediocre. Whilst the gore and death scenes are OK despite some poor CGI at times, the problem lies with Jackie Earl Haley who plays Freddy. Unfortunately, he hasn't got the screen prescence, and when you're playing such an evil character it's an important thing to be missing. I'm going to go with a generous 3/5.

(From Never Ending Movie Marathon (short reviews) on May 28th, 2010)

The Pursuit of Happyness, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Pursuit of Happyness
Year: 2006
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Rating: PG-13
Length: 117 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Will Smith (1968)
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith
Thandie Newton
Brian Howe
James Karen
Dan Castellaneta

Plot:
Will Smith stars in the inspirational true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman who's struggling to make ends meet. When his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out, Chris is left to raise their 5-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith) on his own. Chris' determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker-training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. But without a salary, Chris and his son are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the streets, in homeless shelters and even behind the locked doors of a metro station bathroom. With self-confidence and the love and trust of his son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstacles to become a Wall Street legend.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Featurettes
Music Videos
Interviews
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Watching this today for Will Smith's birthday.

This is one that I never seen before. Going by the trailer alone I had concerns about this one as I don't normally care too much for the pure drama stories. But this one was good... it was very easy to get into the storyline. Both Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith (who play father and son in the movie) did a great job. While I enjoyed every minute of it... it is not a movie I could watch often as it can get you down.  But if you haven't seen this one yet... I urge you to give it a chance.



(From Addicted2DVD's September Birthday Marathon on September 25th, 2010)

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Buffy has decided to run for Homecoming Queen in order to prove that "she's still got it". But she runs against Cordy and it won't be easy since both Willow and Xander are helping Cordy out of a feeling of guilt for kissing one another. But Mr. Trick has also something planned: He creates "SlayerFest '98", a hunt where both Humans and demons are the hunters and the Slayers are the hunted.

My Opinion: I liked the assortment of hunters because everyone hunted in his own way (but naturally they all lost), especially the mix of the types "Daniel Boone" and the german high-tech hunters. And I loved it when the "second Slayer" (Cordy) scared the Vampire off just by threatening him. It's a talent she will use in Angel again.

Synopsis: Principal Snyder forces everyone to sell candy bars to finance new uniforms for the school band. But suddenly all the adults start to behave like teenagers and don't acknowledge their proper age. As it turns out, Ethan Rayne is the producer of the bars - but he's only a subcontractor for Mr. Trick who works for the mayor now.

My Opinion: Ethan is back and the episode is fun. Snyder reminded me a lot of Quark when he tried to chase after the women and couldn't be discouraged in any way. And Giles and Joyce were also great in reliving their youth. What we've learned so far about the mayor also explains some of the put-it-under-the-rug events of the second season.

Synopsis: Faith has gotten a new Watcher, a stiff english woman who expects nothing less than the best. And Buffy is still hiding the fact that Angel has returned. And a new demon is in town and he wants the Glove of Myhnegon, a very powerful artefact. In the end, all their paths will cross in Angel's hideout place. And Xander and Willow have a hard time denying their feelings or refrain from showing affection to each other.

My Opinion: Xander has never really liked Angel, even before he knew that he was a Vampire. But in episodes like this he shows pure hatred towards the guy and except for the Angel-Buffy thing I never understood why his emotions towards Angel are that strong. But it was great to once again see a real Slayer vs. Slayer fight. They both kicked ass!

Synopsis: Spike is back in town, but he's a wreck. Dru has left him for a chaos demon and he wants her back. Buy chance he runs into Willow who is just buying ingredients for an anti-love spell for Xander and her and he considers the general idea of a love spell a good one. So he kidnaps her and Xander and forces her to make one for him and Dru. Meanwhile the rest of the Scooby gang is looking for them.

My Opinion: Spike - Phase II has just begun. First he was the villain, now he will be the comic relief for quite some time. But in the end, he will take his rightful place as one of the heroes. Too bad this will be his only appearance in this season. And from a retrospective POV I liked Xander's and Willow's little affair. First of all because it didn't feel forced, there have been hints towards this since the pilot. And second of all it ultimately leads to the introduction of Anyanka in the next episode. I also liked how Spike could look right through Angel's and Buffy's we-are-only-friends charade.

(From "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon on June 27th, 2009)