DVD Collectors Online

The Blues Brothers, a review by DJ Doena

John Belushi    ...    'Joliet' Jake Blues
Dan Aykroyd   ...    Elwood Blues
James Brown   ...    Reverend Cleophus James
Cab Calloway   ...    Curtis
Ray Charles   ...    Ray
Aretha Franklin   ...    Mrs. Murphy
Steve Cropper   ...    Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper
Donald Dunn   ...    Donald 'Duck' Dunn
Murphy Dunne   ...    Murphy 'Murph' Dunne
Willie Hall   ...    Willie 'Too Big' Hall
Tom Malone   ...    Tom 'Bones' Malone
Lou Marini   ...    'Blue Lou' Marini
Matt Murphy   ...    Matt 'Guitar' Murphy
Alan Rubin   ...    Alan 'Mr. Fabulous' Rubin
Carrie Fisher   ...    Mystery Woman
Henry Gibson   ...    Head Nazi
John Candy   ...    Burton Mercer
Kathleen Freeman   ...    Sister Mary Stigmata (a.k.a. The Penguin)
Steve Lawrence   ...    Maury Sline
Twiggy   ...    Chic Lady
Frank Oz   ...    Corrections Officer
Jeff Morris   ...    Bob
Charles Napier   ...    Tucker McElroy
Steven Williams   ...    Trooper Mount

Synopsis: Jake has just been released from prison when he and his brother Elwood visit Sister Mary who asks them for a favour. She needs 5,000 dollars or the city will close the orphanage where Jake and Elwood had grown up. And now both are on a mission from God: They put the band back together to raise the money. And now starts one of the best music road trips of all time.

My Opinion: Great movie. Great music. Great car crashings. Great guest appearances. Great movie. Everyone who likes good music (that excludes addicted ) should have seen this one. And the story is really funny, too, especially Carrie Fisher's character. Did I mention "great movie"?

Early in the nineties I used to get up real early on saturdays because at 5.50 a TV show called Rawhide used to run where a Mr. Favor was the trail boss and he brought a herd of cattle from A to B and one of his cowboys was Rowdy Yates, played by a certain Clint Eastwood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP2mcVwQ2as

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WArD9zfwjMY

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2009 on January 8th, 2009)

Horror of the Blood Monsters, a review by Jimmy

Title: Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970)

Genre: Science fiction
Director: Al Adamson (I Spit on Your Corpse!)           
Rating: PG
Length: 1h26
Video: Full Frame
Audio: English
Subtitles: No Subtitles

Stars:
John Carradine (The Howling)
Robert Dix (Forbidden Planet)
Vicki Volante (Brain of Blood)
Joey Benson (Blood of Ghastly Horror)
Jennifer Bishop (Impulse)   

Plot:
One of cult movie director Al Adamson's most popular films, known for its use of weird color effects by "Spectrum-X," stars horror icon John Carradine as scientist Dr. Rynning, who leads a space journey to a distant planet of blood-sucking vampires intent on contaminating Earth. While exploring the planet, the crew becomes entrapped by warring tribes of primitive vampire-like men and, in order to escape bloody death, must battle snake-men, bat-demons, and the other hideous denizens of this evil world!


Al Adamson in vampire make-up 

The movie really start with a spaceship expedition to another planet. The expedition will arrive on the planet and explore it. At this point we will learn that there was a nuclear incident who happens on the planet and that's why all the image are tinted (red, blue, yellow,...). That's how Adamson had incorporated the Tagani footage and I think that it was a really brilliant idea.


As seen on Robot Monster

This is a prehistoric planet and 2 tribes fight each other the Taganis and the Tubatons. The Taganis are human and the Tubatons are bat-man (not Batman, but some kind of vampire humanoids), by the way this is the Filippino movie. So the expedition will encounter a member of the Tagani tribe on the run and implant her brain with some kind of translating device.


Do you find the Tagani lovely?

The story will continue they will encounter crab monsters, Bat-man and caveman untill they will have to quit the planet urgently.

So, how I've found the movie? Quite good to be honest. It makes me think at another sixties sci-fi movie (Women of the Prehistoric Planet), but it's much better. John Carradine does a good job in one of his rare leading role (he had made more than 300 movies, but a lot of them are just small parts). The rest of the cast is so-so, but none of them are really bad. As I've said I like the idea of the tinted colour, really clever and original. This is a small budget movie, so it shows : bad miniature for the spaceship, bizarre editing (they use the same footage when the spaceship arrive and quit the planet), ...

I don't know if all the film of Al Adamson are that good (probably not), but expect a massive addition of his movies in my collection soon. I recommand this one, this is really a good little drive-in sci-fi movie (it is market as an horror movie, but I don't see it as one at all).

Usually I don't comment on the extra on the DVD, but the commentary track by Sam Sherman (the producer of the movie) is one of the best that I've listen. It is very informative about the film and the making of a low budget movie in the seventies.

Rating :

Movie Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj-78jRaWJ4

(From The little known movie review depot on March 21st, 2008)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

10. Amends (1998-12-15)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Created By), Joss Whedon (Writer)
Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), David Boreanaz (Angel), Seth Green (Oz), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Saverio Guerra (Willy), Shane Barach (Daniel), Edward Edwards (Travis), Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy (Margaret), Robia LaMorte (Jenny Calendar), Eliza Dushku (Faith), Mark Kriski (Weatherman), Tom Michael Bailey (Tree Seller Guy)

In the past, I didn't like this episode very much. But this time around, I really enjoyed it. We have flashbacks to Angel's past and Willow and Oz making up. Probably I didn't like the twist at the end in the past. But now it makes total sense. That Power That Be play a more vital role in the Angel series, but here we already learn, that they are responsible for Angel's return and also save him at the end of this episode. I like it, that not Buffy's pep talk saved him, like you would expect. Angel would have really died here, when TPTB would not have intervened.

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on March 3rd, 2009)