DVD Collectors Online

Rio Lobo, a review by Antares

Rio Lobo (1970) 40/100 - There is nothing sadder than when a film maker doesn't know when to stop making films and retire. Almost every great director has suffered this malady and Howard Hawks was no exception. Rio Lobo is Hawks' swan song and instead of mirroring the symphonic sagebrush set pieces of his glorious past, it plays like an out of tune saloon piano. It's said that "the third time's the charm", but not in this case. All the freshness of the two previous incarnations of this story (Rio Bravo, El Dorado) are long since past the expiration date. As I was re-watching this film, I wondered what John Wayne must have been thinking when he arrived for the shoot and realized what a train wreck he was about to embark on. Jennifer O'Neill, the leading lady of the film, is such a bad actress, she makes Angie Dickinson's performance in Rio Bravo look like an Oscar winning performance by Meryl Streep. Jack Elam, who just two years earlier, had an iconic, short lived performance in Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, is instead forced to recreate the drunken, crazy kind of character he played in Support Your Local Sheriff. Jorge Rivero, who was a star in Mexico, seems to be out of his league in his first Hollywood production. But what really lets this film down, is the rather cheap looking sets. There's one scene where Rivero is talking to O'Neill, and the film cuts back and forth between the two. In the background, behind Rivero, are painted clouds on a canvas. Rivero is standing still, yet the clouds never move. The film is peppered with these cheesy looking moments and you can't help but think, that the studio didn't want to invest too much money on what they must have known, was going to be a dud.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on February 23rd, 2015)

Ocean's 13, a review by Eric

Ocean's 13




Summary: Most probably not required.

My Thoughts:  Not much to say except that I think it's the best of the three.

My Score: and a half.

(From Eric's DVD watching. on May 25th, 2008)

Tom's TV Finales marathon, a review by Tom

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Blackadder 2 (1984/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia BBC Worldwide (United Kingdom) Length: 175 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles: English

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Plot:
The Historic Second Series

England 1558-1603. The filthy genes of the Blackadder dynasty bubble back to the surface of the melting pot of history as Lord Edmund, arrogant peer-about-town, swaggers back with a big head and small beard in search of grace and favour from stark raving mad Queen Bess. Accompanied by a small rabble of be-ruffed riff-raff - bottom-breath Baldrick and pea-brained Percy - the serpentine Lord Blackadder lower the whole tone of England's Golden Age.


Black Adder
Series 2.06 Chains
Writer: Richard Curtis (Writer), Ben Elton (Writer)
Director: Mandie Fletcher
Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Edmund Blackadder), Tim McInnerny (Lord Percy), Tony Robinson (Baldrick), Miranda Richardson (Queen Elizabeth I), Stephen Fry (Lord Melchett), Patsy Byrne (Nursie), Hugh Laurie (Prince Ludwig), Max Harvey (Torturer), Mark Arden (1st Guard), Lee Cornes (2nd Guard)

This is probably my favorite Blackadder series. And also the final episode is great. It also has an unexpected twist at the end.
This episode guest-stars Hugh Laurie, you will become a regular in the third series.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Finales marathon on February 17th, 2013)