DVD Collectors Online

Good Morning, Vietnam, a review by addicted2dvd

Good Morning, Vietnam


My Thoughts:
This one I have not seen in many years. I am a long time fan of Robin Williams... I enjoyed him every since Mork & Mindy. In this movie he brings a lot of that energy he is so well known for. But even with that said... I think there should have been more. I would love to see him just let completely loose... no holds barred... and see what he could really do. But this is definitely a good, fun movie. Well worth the 2 hours you put into it.


Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgvY4dlAiGU&feature=related

(From Movie Marathon on March 13th, 2009)

Blood and Black Lace, a review by Danae Cassandra

Blood and Black Lace (Sei donne per l'assassino)
Year of Release: 1964
Directed By: Mario Bava
Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Thomas Reiner, Ariana Gorini, Dante DiPaolo
Genre: Horror, Crime, Suspense/Thriller

Overview:
The Christian Haute Couture fashion house is a home to models... and backstabbing... and blackmail... and drug deals... and MURDER.

Having established a template for the giallo with The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Mario Bava set about cementing its rules with Blood and Black LaceBlood and Black Lace afresh and offers newcomers the ideal introduction to a major piece of cult filmmaking.

My Thoughts:
I've just started watching giallo films, and this reinforces my thus-far enjoyment of the genre. This is certainly a beautiful film. Bava has an eye for gorgeous visuals, with a rich color pallette, interesting use of light and shadow, and inventive and wonderful camerawork.

The technical aspects of the film are so good that it's a shame the characters are underdeveloped. The viewer doesn't care about any of the victims, nor do we really root for the police to solve the crimes. I found myself detached from the characters, instead absorbed in the beauty of the film. The story is good, and Bava skillfully takes you from kill to reveal to twist, but I didn't care about anyone.

That aside, this is a beautiful, influential film, and anyone interested in giallo, or in slasher films (of which this is considered the prototype) should definitely see it.

Watched For: Hoop-tober 3.0, Horror/Halloween Challenge 2016, Scavenger Hunt 19

Bechdel Test: Pass
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 3.5/5

Horror/Halloween Challenge Films: 36/52

(From Horror/Halloween 2016 Challenge on October 25th, 2016)

"In The Beginning" TV Pilot Marathon, a review by Rogmeister

Roger's "In The Beginning" TV Pilot Marathon

I've enjoyed reading the other TV Pilot marathons so I basically have decided to start my own...so here we go...



Everybody Loves Raymond

This popular sitcom starred Ray Romano as a married sportswriter with 3 children and his relationships with his parents and brother who live across the street from him and who constantly drop by uninvited.  This obviously infuriates his otherwise understanding wife (Patricia Heaton).  Ray's parents are played by Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle and his brother is played by Brad Garrett.

Today I watched the pilot to this series twice...listening to the audio commentary featuring Ray Romano and creator/writer Phil Rosenthal.  The plotline from the pilot could pretty much be any episode...it introduces the characters and we have a simple story of Ray's wife Deborah wanting to spend her birthday without Ray's always present parents showing up so Ray lies to his mother and tells them he's taking her away.  So they show up anyway as Ray is hiding in the house with his wife (unaware of his lie).  There's also a funny bit where Marie is very upset when Ray gives her a "Fruit of the Month" club...what's she going to do with 12 pears?  And there's more fruit coming next month???  And his dad Frank has again cracked their phone-answering machine code and is listening to their phone messages.  A funny first episode to a series that would wind up lasting nine years.

The audio commentary is informative, telling us about the changes such as recasting the twin boys, the changes to the set and how Brad Garrett wound up losing something like 50 pounds around the time of the 3rd season.

(From "In The Beginning" TV Pilot Marathon on October 25th, 2009)