DVD Collectors Online

Juno, a review by DJ Doena

Ellen Page    ...    Juno MacGuff
Michael Cera   ...    Paulie Bleeker
Jennifer Garner   ...    Vanessa Loring
Jason Bateman   ...    Mark Loring
Allison Janney   ...    Brenda 'Bren' MacGuff
J.K. Simmons   ...    Mac MacGuff
Olivia Thirlby   ...    Leah

Synopsis: Juno is 16 and pregnant. And although she thinks about an abortion she decides against it. But she also doesn't want to keep the baby. Thus she's looking for adoptive parents who will take her child after it is born. And she finds the seemingly perfect couple. But there are still a few months left until the birth and some things aren't meant to be.

My Opinion: This was a blind buy for me after it got good critics. Ellen Page played the role wunderfully. But I have to say one thing: Although I would love to have children, I wouldn't have wanted one with Vanessa either. She felt to overwhelming to me. Her entire world did spin around that baby and I'm not sure I could have borne that weight. And in my opinion Michael Cera's role could have been a bit bigger, it's his child after all and he loves Juno. All in all an interesting movie but another one that one has to be in the mood for.
One additional remark: Juno says she's named after Zeus's wife. But Zeus' wife is Hera. Only in the roman mythology they are called Jupiter and Juno. But then again, Zeus's son is not Hercules, but Heracles and no one ever cared.

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2009 on January 4th, 2009)

Delirious, a review by Tom

Title: Delirious
Year: 1991
Director: Tom Mankiewicz
Rating: PG
Length: 92 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Surround, German: Dolby Digital Surround, French: Dolby Digital Surround, Italian: Dolby Digital Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Spanish

Stars:
John Candy
Mariel Hemingway
Emma Samms
Raymond Burr
Dylan Baker

Plot:
Writer Jack Gable's (John Candy) soap opera has it all: deceit, trickery, sex, sex and more sex...and that's just behind the scenes! Candy (Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Splash) is hilarious in this laugh-a-minute daytime serial spoof which co-stars Mariel Hemingway (Manhattan), Emma Samms ("Dynasty"), Raymond Burr ("Perry Mason") and David Rasche ("Nurses").

When Jack clumsily bumps his head, he wakes up in the small town of Ashford Falls, the setting of his popular soap opera. But what begins as a nightmarish scenario turns into the opportunity of a lifetime as Jack finds he can control the events around him...by writing them! With typewriter at hand, Jack attempts to win the love of the show's beautiful "bad girl" (Samms) but while scripting his destiny with her, he keeps running into - literally - an accident-prone "good girl" (Hemingway). Will he able to win the coveted woman of his dreams? Will he win the coveted Daytime Emmy? Only one thing's for certain: his attempts to write his own ticket will leave you laughing Deliriously!

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers

Even though this is not a particularly good movie, I always enjoyed it since I first saw it.
We have Sledge Hammer as a soap actor playing a doctor. We have B5's Talia Winters as the hot nurse. And Clark Kent's date from Superman 4 as the romantic interest of John Candy's Jack. And a nice cameo by Robert Wagner.
This movie feels more like a TV movie than a theatrical release.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on March 29th, 2009)

Babylon 5: Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: A human man arrives on the station who was on the outer territories for the last couple of years. And in turn he sets up a meeting with every ambassador and asks one simple question "What do you want?". When this man called Morden encounters Delenn and later Kosh it gets darker as if shadows were moving. Meanwhile Mollari aquired an ancient piece of jewlery that belonged to the very first emperor of the Centauri Republic and tries to bring it back to Centauri Prime.

My opinion: It's the name-giving episode to the entire season and what an episode it is. Many important things are set in motion although one doesn't really know it. I found it quite fascinating how the different people answered to a simple question like "What do you want?". It's one of the key episodes of the entire series.


Synopsis: A rabbi and a boxer arrive at the station. The rabbi sets out to seek Susan Ivanova and sit shiva (a jewish mourning ritual) for Susans father who died in "Born to Purple". And the boxer tries to enter an alien martial arts kombat known as "Mutai" which is forbidden for humans.

My opinion: Even with the Mutai it's a rather quit episode.  It shows that not all aliens are pleased with the behaviour with the average human because they behave as they do on earth: mocking about the rituals and traditions of foreign cultures. But there is hope, they are able to learn.


Synopsis: On the station arrives a human man who is treated with utmost reverence by the Minbari. This man searches for the Holy Grail. Sinclair can't really take him seriously but for the Minbari it doesn't matter if the object of the search really exist but only that one is a true seeker.On the station he meets Jinxo, the "curse of Babylon 5" who had helped building all five Babylon stations and every time he left, the station was destroyed or got lost. And so he never left Babylon 5.

My opinion: The search for the Holy Grail should have always been a spiritual journey and not one for riches and/or power. I was moved when Aldous (the seeker) died and Jinxo promised to continue the search.


Synopsis: A colonel and a Psi Corps enter the station and start an investigation against Cmdr. Sinclair which soon turns to be a witch hunt. All command staff shall be questioned and scanned by the Psi Corps agent. But Ivanova won't allow a scan by any teep.

My opinion: I felt reminded of the Star Trek TNG episode "The Drumhead" in which Cpt. Picard said the memorable quote "With the first link, a chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."  (Did I mention I love quotes?), which also turned out to be a witch hunt. I liked it because it showed the strong loyalty between the command staff.

(From Babylon 5: Marathon on August 5th, 2007)