DVD Collectors Online

Still Walking, a review by Antares

Still Walking (2008) 85/100 - This was such a simple little film, but so hauntingly touching that although I'm filled with varying emotions, I'm kind of at a loss for how to describe just how this story moved me. It reminded me of Ozu's Tokyo Story, but with elements of Redford's Ordinary People mixed in to give the characters a bit more depth. At first, I felt as distant as Ryo did towards his father, as I had a similar relationship with my father. His mother comes across as a caring and doting mother, once again, just like mine. But then Kore-eda threw a curve at me, by having the mother's pain at the loss of her eldest son, take on the form of a cruel yearly ritual of guilt against the boy whose life the son saved. I didn't expect this and it changed my whole outlook on her. So much, that by the end of the film, I felt sorry for the father and only derision for the mother. It must be terribly gut-wrenching to lose a child you gave birth to, but to annually torment an innocent person because they survived and your good Samaritan child is gone, is evil. In the end, I could understand why Ryo only wanted to visit them just once a year.

This was my first film by Hirozaku Kore-eda and I now can't wait to dive into the rest of his oeuvre. If they are half as good as this film was, it will be a happy viewing experience.

What the color coding means...

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 March 5th, 2014)

My Summer of Love, a review by Tom

Title: My Summer of Love
Year: 2004
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Rating: 15
Length: 83 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Nathalie Press
Emily Blunt
Paddy Considine
Dean Andrews
Michelle Byrne

Plot:
Mona (Natalie Press)has just got hold of a brilliant moped that only cost a tenner. No engine but still dirt-cheap. She lives with her brother, Phil (Paddy Considine) who used to run a pub before he found God and poured away all the booze. Tamsin (Emily Blunt) is rich, spoilt and trying to live a life of seductive decadence.

They meet on the moors, above their quiet Yorkshire village and begin an intense, unlikely friendship.Tamsin and Mona want to escape their lives, but Phil wants to save them and save everybody else. Mona wants the old, dangerous, Phil back; the brother that she loved. Tamsin wants to see what it takes to break him.

Awards:

BAFTA	2004	Won	The Alexander Korda Award For The Outstanding British Film Of The Year	Tanya Seghatchian, Christopher Collins, Pawel Pawlikowski
British Independent Film Awards	2004	Nominated	Best British Independent Film
British Independent Film Awards	2004	Nominated	Best Director on an British Independent Film	Pawel Pawlikowski
British Independent Film Awards	2004	Nominated	Best Performance by a Actress in a British Independent Film	Natalie Press
British Independent Film Awards	2004	Nominated	Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film	Paddy Considine
British Independent Film Awards	2004	Nominated	Most Promising Newcomer	Emily Blunt
European Film Awards	2005	Nominated	European Actress	Natalie Press
European Film Awards	2005	Nominated	European Cinematographer	Ryszard Lenczewski
European Film Awards	2005	Nominated	European Director	Pawel Pawlikowski
European Film Awards	2005	Nominated	European Film

Extras:
Featurettes
Scene Access
Trailers

This movie is okay. Not really my kind of movie. The performances were good. Also the story has some merrit, but in general it is just another one of those lesbian movies which just have to have a tragic/sad ending, like "Lost and Delirious", "Heavenly Creatures" and countless others. Sadly it is hard to find lesbian movies which are upbeat and have a happy ending.

Rating:

(From Lesbian Movie Marathon on March 5th, 2010)

Tom's TV Finales marathon, a review by Tom

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Misfits: Series Three (2011/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia Channel 4 DVD (United Kingdom) Length: 368 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Subtitles: English

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Plot:Misfits
Season 3.08 Episode 8
Writer: Howard Overman (Writer), Howard Overman (Created By)
Director: Jonathan van Tulleken
Cast: Joseph Gilgun (Rudy), Iwan Rheon (Simon), Lauren Socha (Kelly), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Curtis), Antonia Thomas (Alisha), Robert Sheehan (Nathan), Matthew McNulty (Seth), Alex Reid (Sally), Jessica Brown Findlay (Rachel), Danny Sapani (Tony), Mark Heap (Jonas), Charlotte McDougall (Woman), Matthew Steer (James)

Not really the final episode of the series, but the last episode of the set I have. I plan to buy the rest also, but I feel that this episode works well for as a finale for the series. Especially as it is the last episode of most of the original main cast.
Thankfully we got some closure for these characters and I am happy that the storyline with Simon and Alisha came full circle.
So far, my favorite series is the second one, closely followed by the third.

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(From Tom's TV Finales marathon on November 22nd, 2013)