DVD Collectors Online

The Muppet Christmas Carol, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Year of Release:  1992
Starring:  Michael Caine, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, The Great Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat
Directed By:  Brian Henson
Genre:  Comedy, Drama

Overview:My Thoughts:
I love A Christmas Carol, and I remembered enjoying the Muppets years ago, so I thought I'd pick this up this year, making this the sixth version of Dickens story in my collection.  I'm very glad I did too.  While this doesn't top my favorite version of the story (that would be the 1951 film with Alastair Sim), I think this might be my second favorite.  I loved Michael Caine's performance as Scrooge.  He did a wonderful job in the character and her really brought a lot of believably to Scrooge's transformation and redemption.  Kermit makes a great Bob Cratchet and the rest of the Muppets add a lot of charm to the film.  Given VirtualScot's posts about it over at Invelos we chose to watch the fullscreen version (which includes the song "When Love is Gone") and I'm very glad we did.  I really feel the song adds a lot to the film and Scrooge's character and it was a shame to cut it.  Great film, recommended for anyone looking for a good Christmas film for the whole family.

Bechdel Test:  Fail

Overall:  4/5


(From Danae's Yuletide Marathon on December 18th, 2012)

Terminator Salvation, a review by addicted2dvd

Terminator Salvation: Director's Cut (2009/United States) Wikipedia |IMDb |Trailer | Warner Home Video Director: McG Writing: John Brancato (Writer), Michael Ferris (Writer) Length: 118 min. Rating: Rated R : Some Violence and Brief Nudity Video: Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Christian Bale as John Connor
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright
Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams
Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Serena Kogan
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese
Jadagrace Berry as Star

Plot:
In the aftermath of Judgement Day and the takeover by the machines, John Connor (Christian Bale), the destined leader of the human resistance, must counter Skynet's devastating plan to terminate mankind. As he rallies his underground street fighters for a last, desperate battle, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a mysterious loner from the past, challenges him with an impossible choice that will determine the future of the human race.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Featurettes
• Storyboard Comparisons
• Picture-in-picture
• BD-Live
• Digital Copy
• Maximum Movie Mode

I decided to check this one out next. This is the first time I ever seen this film. Every since the very first movie I have always wanted to see more on the actual war with the machines. And now we have an entire movie that takes place in that time. I was wondering why the actor that played Kyle Reece in this film looked so familiar to me... turns out he played Charlie in the "Fright Night" remake. As for the movie itself. It is I enjoyed it quite a bit. There was a couple parts of the storyline I didn't care for as much as the rest of the film... but over-all I definitely enjoyed it... especially all the action scenes!



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: The Blu-ray Experience on July 8th, 2013)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by goodguy

2x13 Earthlings Welcome Here
Synopsis: At a conference on UFOs, Sarah gets a clue that puts her on the trail of the three dots.  Riley has second thoughts about her mission.
My Rating:

And thus begins Sarah's quest into the desert. Her first guide is a woman who was a man, whose transformation was caused by circumstances out of his control, but who embraced them to free himself. His transformation is both a mirror and a question to Sarah. Beautifully done. And even if a little too on the nose, I really liked the small flashes of Waitress Sarah and Warrior Sarah.

But what I loved most about this episode was Sarah driving towards the desert warehouse while listening to Eileen/Alan's recording. Wonderfully shot (the sprinklers hitting the car window, just one example), with an excellent score, vaguely foreboding something inevitable, and with the slightly strange tone of Eileen's voice, culminating in that chuckled "I'm a waitress" as Sarah packs the explosives. That was breathtaking.

As Achim noted, the back-story of Riley and Jesse was handled almost en passant. A tunnel scene, a hotel room scene, a car scene - that's it. Elliptical story telling at its finest, fleshing out the characters and their relation with a few words and gestures. And now here she is, out of her depth. Jesse slaps her around, Cameron is on to her, paradise doesn't look so bright anymore.

Ellison didn't sleep after Weaver showed him the monster in the basement. But he still carries on, talks to John Henry about God's creation and human life being sacred. Yet what's left behind on Sarah's path seems to be only death.

"Checkmate. I win. Would you like to play again?" That's the Terminator plot in a nutshell.

So the episode ends with two major characters bleeding to death - and an UFO? Those who watched the original airing had to wait two months for the next episode. Bummer.


(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 18th, 2010)