DVD Collectors Online

The Thin Man, a review by goodguy

The Thin Man (1934) Written by: Albert Hackett & Frances Goorich, based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke Starring: William Powell, Mirna Loy DVD: R1-US Warner (2002)

Cover Blurb: Nick and Nora Charles cordially invite you to bring your own alibi to 'The Thin Man', the jaunty whodunit that made William Powell and Myrna Loy the champagne elite of sleuthing. Bantering in the boudoir, enjoying walks with beloved dog Asta or matching each other highball for highball and clue for clue, they combined screwball romance with mystery. The resulting triumph nabbed four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and spawned five sequels. Credit W.S. "Woody" Van Dyke for recognizing that Powell and Loy were ideal together and for getting the studios okay by promising to shoot this splendid adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel in three weeks. He took 12 days. They didn't call him "One-Take Woody" for nothing.

The movie is charmingly funny whenever the two main characters interact, but quite boring when they are not. The supporting cast plays a bunch of stock characters, typical for gangster movies and murder mysteries of that time. The murder mystery itself doesn't make much sense, which would be forgivable if the movie wouldn't spend too much time on it. So I fully agree with Nick, who at one point complains that the case puts him way behind in his drinking. Ah, and the drinking. The two leads drink heavily and continously throughout the movie, and mostly the hard stuff. But it is neither the hard-boiled, "noirish" anti-hero drinking, nor some kind of social commentary, it is just a quirky mannerism of *both* Nick and Nora. One has to admire the completely carefree attitude the movie has towards it.

The DVD was re-released in 2005 as part of Warner's Complete Thin Man Collection, containing all six "Thin Man" movies (1934 - 1947).


(From May 2008 Man/Men Marathon - Discussion Thread on May 19th, 2008)

Blackwoods, a review by Jimmy

                 
                  DVD Cover                                                Theatrical Poster       

Title: Blackwoods
Year: 2002
Genre: Thriller
Director: Uwe Boll (BloodRayne)         
Rating: Unrated
Length: 1h32
Video: Full Frame
Audio: English
Subtitles: No Subtitles

Stars:
Patrick Muldoon (Starship Troopers)
Keegan Connor Tracy (Final Destination 2)
Will Sanderson (BloodRayneEddie and the Cruisers)   
Clint Howard (Ice Cream Man)

Plot:
A tragic accident leaves a young girl dead. The man responsible goes free. But for the victim's family, no crime goes unpunished.

Pursued by a family thirsty for vengeance, Matt (Patrick Muldoon) tries to escape to the Blackwoods. But escape is never that easy.

don't read this if you want to see the movie, it's the end)
If you want to see a proof that he is a good director forgot the Boll-bashing and give this film a chance, by the way the price is really low

(From The little known movie review depot on February 12th, 2008)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Sam & Max: Freelance Police: The Complete Animated Series (1997/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Shout! Factory (United States) Length: 300 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
The adventures of 'SAM & MAX: FREELANCE POLICE!!!' is an edgy and often irreverent, impudent, insolent, impious and silly series about a pair of likeable law enforcement types who don't take crap (oops! we mean guff) from anybody. It's about the timeless struggle between good, evil and snacktime; the weekly mishaps of a six-foot dog-Sam and a three-foot rabbity-thing (though he prefers the term 'lagomorph')-Max-who have a mirthful time trying to resolve only the weirdest criminal cases of the day. Really.

For your own good, and the good of mankind, enjoy 'SAM & MAX: FREELANCE POLICE!!!'

Based on Steve Purcell's enormously popular underground comic. Original package illustrations by Steve Purcell.


Sam & Max: Freelance Police
1.01 The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It (1997-10-04)
Writer: Steve Purcell (Created By), J. D. Smith (Writer)
Director: Steve Whitehouse
Cast: Harvey Atkin (Sam (voice)), Robert Tinkler (Max (voice)), Tracey Moore (Geek (voice))

The 1993 "Sam'n'Max: Hit the Road" PC game is one of my all-time favorite games. I played it through countless of times, just because of the characters and the humor.
This TV series has partly the charm of the game. It is worth a watch. The first episode I didn't enjoy as much as some of the others though.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on July 1st, 2012)