DVD Collectors Online

The Freshman, a review by Antares

The Freshman (1925) 4/5 - I'm ashamed to admit it, but I purchased all three volumes of the Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection, and up until today, had only watched his comedy shorts from those sets. Well, TCM was doing a birthday tribute to Lloyd who was born on this day back in 1893. I started to watch Lloyd's most successful feature The Freshman, without any thought of finishing it, but by the mid-point of the film, I was hooked. I now can understand Lloyd's popularity during the high times of silent slapstick. He was an amalgamation of the three other popular silent clowns of the time, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harry Langdon. From Langdon, you get the childlike naivete, from Chaplin, the pathos and from Keaton, the incredible physical agility. But whereas each of those performers plied their trade using those singular attributes predominantly in their work, Lloyd was able to move from mood to mood keeping this film fresh and rolling along. I'm now looking forward to finally putting those shiny discs into my DVD player and checking out his other feature films.

(From Antares' Short Summations on April 21st, 2011)

Psycho, a review by Tom

Title: Psycho
Year: 1960
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: 15
Length: 104 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Mono, German: Dolby Digital Mono, Polish: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: Dutch, English, Swedish

Stars:
Janet Leigh
Anthony Perkins
Vera Miles
John Gavin

Plot:
Alfred Hitchcock's landmark masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, whose old dark house and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No one knows that better than Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the ill-fated traveller whose journey ends in the notorious "shower scene". First a private detective, then Marion's sister (Vera Miles) searches for her, the horror and the suspence mount to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed. It took seven days to shoot the shover scene, seventy camera setups for the forty-five seconds of this now famous footage - and not an actual bare breast or plunging knife is to be found in the final cut, just illusion through montage.

Awards:

Academy Award	1960	Nominated	Best Art Direction, Black-and-White	Joseph Hurley, Robert Clatworthy (Art Direction); George Milo (Set Decoration)
Academy Award	1960	Nominated	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White	John L. Russell
Academy Award	1960	Nominated	Best Director	Alfred Hitchcock
Academy Award	1960	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress	Janet Leigh
AFI	1960	Won	100 Years... 100 Movies (1998)
AFI	1960	Won	100 Years... 100 Movies (2007)
AFI	1960	Won	100 Years... 100 Quotes (2005)	"Quote": A boy's best friend is his mother.
AFI	1960	Won	100 Years... 100 Thrills (2001)
AFI	1960	Won	100 Years... 25 Scores (2005)	"Composer": Bernard Herrmann
Directors Guild of America	1961	Nominated	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Alfred Hitchcock
Golden Globe	1960	Won	Actress in a Supporting Role	Janet Leigh
Writers Guild of America Awards	1961	Nominated	Best Written American Drama	Joseph Stefano

Extras:
Featurettes
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

This is the first time I have watched this classic (I have never watched a Hitchock movie before this marathon). The best Hitchcock movie I have seen so far. I enjoyed this one from beginning to end. I must admit it took longer figuring out the ending than I expected. I had an inkling at the time of the famous shower scene, but I wasn't convinced yet. I finally guessed it in the scene, where Bates carries his mother downstairs.
The only thing I knew about this movie is, that with the famous shower scene,
(the spoiler tag probably wasn't necessary here, as this has become such a public knowledge, that even I knew about it even though I have never watched this movie). I am glad that I avoided further spoilers before finally watching this movie.

Rating:

(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on November 15th, 2009)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Are You Being Served?

Pilot - Are You Being Served?
After a reorganisation, the Ladies Intimate Apparel and the Men's Ready To Wear departments are forced to share the same floor.





Classic British comedy, which I haven't seen for many years. This B&W pilot from 1972 introduces us to all of the characters from Grace Bros, and is full of the double entendres and gentle humour that saw this programme last 13 years. Even after so many years it is still extremely funny, in what would now be seen as a very innocent level of writing.
Excellent for reminiscing.
 

(From My PILOT Marathon on September 7th, 2009)