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The Monster Squad, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Monster Squad: Two-Disc 20th Anniversary Edition Year: 1987 Director: Fred Dekker Rating: PG-13 Length: 82 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:Plot:
You know who to call when you have ghosts, but who do you call about monsters? Whether it's a bat in your belfry or a mummy in your microwave, THE MONSTER SQUAD ain't afraid of no ghouls!

Count Dracula has until midnight to retrieve an ancient amulet that will give him final control over the delicate balance between good and evil in the world. To help him, the creepy count calls on some old friends: the weird Wolfman, grotesque Gill-Man, mildewed Mummy and freaky Frankenstein. As the ghoulish group gets closer to the amulet, it's up to THE MONSTER SQUAD, headquartered in the local tree house, to pool its questionable resources and stop the monster mayhem!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Interviews
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I felt like watching something that is just plain fun next. So I pulled out The Monster Squad. This one is an old favorite of mine. Always good for a few laughs... the lines "the Wolfman has nards!" and "Well Steve... but he doesn't count!" gets me laughing every time I watch this movie. I like how they have most all the classic monsters in this movie. They made the story fun and interesting at the same time. This movie would make a good introduction for kids that are curios about horror movies. If by chance you never seen this movie I would definitely recommend it to all.




Count:
Movie Count: 85
TV Ep. Count: 48 I Made It! (10/20)
Other Count: 8 I Made It! (10/15)

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2010 on October 24th, 2010)

Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed, a review by Danae Cassandra

Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed)
Year of Release: 1926
Starring: no one
Directed By: Lotte Reiniger
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure

Overview:
When The Adventures of Prince AchmedThe Arabian NightsMy Thoughts:
This is a marvelous film.  Created with silhouette cutouts and color tinting, it depicts a magical world where a prince must battle an evil sorcerer and hoards of fierce demons to win a beautiful princess. 

Even without considering the year this was made, the silhouettes are exquisitely detailed, with the ladies looking like they are wrapped in lace, the monsters having suitably fierce expressions, and even lips moving in closeup.  When one thinks about the date - 1926! - one is even more impressed by the work and craftsmanship that went into this film.

But this isn't just for silent film buffs!  I have plans to show this to my friends, all of whom are very average, run-of-the-mill movie viewers.  The story is exciting, the animation enchanting, and it has a powerful, heroic witch!  I love the witch!  Highly recommended.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed) on August 25th, 2013)

Farscape Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Moya and what remains of her crew can't return to the asteroid field as long as the Command Carrier is there. But she wants to go back to her son who is still hiding there and is now under the command of Crais. Fortunately Aeryn has found D'Argo and John floating in space and has brought them to an asteroid that has an atmosphere. There they're biding their time in the hope that they will somehow get out of there.

My Opinion: Until short before the end of the episode it remained unclear where Crais's loyalties really lie and whether Aeryn's loyalties may have shifted (it's a new season after all). I also liked how John taught D'Argo rock-paper-scissors and how the latter insisted that rock should defeat paper. But at the end if the episode everything returned to the way it was before the Gammak story. Ok, not everything, Crais and Talyn will go their own way but they will cross paths with Moya and their crew again, but not for a while.

Synopsis: D'Argo has the great honour to meet an Orican - a holy woman of the Luxans. She's the only one of their race there and she will die soon. After Ka D'Argo has proven his strength he's allowed to participate in the Ritual of Passing. But when she senses how powerful he is she changes it to the Ritual of Renewal and is suddenly young and strong again. But something must have gone wrong because Moya's systems begin to break down and Pilot is dying.

My Opinion: A rather uninteresting story. And it didn't happen much either.

Synopsis: Chiana was just informed that her brother has died but no one takes the time to comfort her. In her grief she leaves the ship and flies to a planet. John and Aeryn follow her but when they find her she seems to be a different person. And there seem to be no elders there, nobody older that 22. As it turns out everyone participates in a ritual of "taking the stone" where one jumps down an abyss and is caught by a sonic net enabled by one's own voice. But that's a trickery business and if one fails, one is dead. And Chiana is planning to make that jump herself.

My Opinion: I really like it how John tries to keep the crew together and how he tries to care for each and every one of them - this time for "Pip". That's of course because he's the main character, but I still really like it. Everyone contributes their strength and his strength is to keep them together even if that means that he has to eat weird drug mushrooms.
But sometimes I wonder where the Australians find so many strange people to let them be seen on Mad Max or Farscape.

(From Farscape Marathon on March 29th, 2009)