DVD Collectors Online

Unknown, a review by DJ Doena

(german title: Unknown Identity)

Actors:
Liam Neeson
January Jones (Mad Men)
Bruno Ganz (Der Untergang / Downfall)
Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds)
Frank Langella (Masters of the Universe, Dave)

Plot:
Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) and his wife (Jones) arrive in Berlin to attend a bio-tech conference. He has to return to the airport because he left a briefcase there and his cab has a crash. When he wakes up in the hospital four days later he's not Dr. Harris anymore. Someone else is Dr. Harris and even his wife doesn't recognize him anymore. What the hell is going on?

My opinion:
I watched this in the theatre (german dubbing) yesterday. I liked that the whole picture took place in my hometown (Berlin) and that it actually was Berlin (and not just a canadian stand-in ). I found it amusing that in the dubbed version the only person speaking with an accent was Gina (Kruger) - a german actress.

When I first saw the character played by Bruno Ganz (I never saw Downfall and didn't recognize him) I immediately said "I bet he was with the Stasi" (former east-german secret service) and I was proven right that very minute. What I also liked about this character was that he pointed out that the whole plot didn't make much sense - until the reveal.

The Germans were a bit "too german" sometimes, like when Dr. Harris had to ID himself just to get into the conference room, even though he was on the guest list. The same thing with the cheap hotel just to keep him from getting a place to sleep. And the nurse: "Gretchen Erfurt". Seriously?

When I saw Langella I also instantly knew that he was the baddie. Except for Superman Returns (Perry White) I can't remember him not playing a baddie (He was Skeletor AND Nixon!!!).

The plot reveal had his ups and downs, for example
The other big plot holes I noticed where these:

I found Jones' character in general rather useless, which is kind of the same way I feel about her Mad Men character Betty Draper.

Everything considered it was an OK movie which I will watch on DVD again, mainly to watch it in english and check how they did the whole english/german mix.

And for us Germans: The doctor is Stockinger from Kommisar Rex.

(From Unknown on April 2nd, 2011)

Edge of Tomorrow, a review by GSyren

Edge of Tomorrow (aka Live Die Repeat) (5-051892-163484)

United States 2014 | Released 2014-10-13 on Bluray from Warner Home Video

113 minutes | Aspect ratio 2.40:1 | Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1

Directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong

An alien race, undefeatable by any existing military unit, has launched a relentless attack on Earth, and Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) finds himself dropped into a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage is thrown into a time loop, forced to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again and again. Training alongside warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), his skills slowly evolve, and each battle moves them one step closer to defeating the enemy in this fun action thriller.

My thoughts about Edge of Tomorrow (aka Live Die Repeat):

Tom Clancy supposedly once said "The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense". I don't know if he actually said that, but I like it. And this is one of the points where Edge of Tomorrow fails. It doesn't make sense, especially not the ending. The documentary reveals that the script wasn't written when production started. They made it up as they went along. I suspect that this is a major contributing factor to the sloppy ending. I'm sorely tempted to buy the book ("All You Need is Kill") that the story is based on, just to learn how it should have ended. Also, time travel is a tricky subject for me. I find that it works best in comedy or full on fantasy. In a sci-fi movie that tries to emulate the feeling of WWII, albeit in the future, it feels a bit out of place. Then, of course, there is the matter of the CGI effects.  Too many movies today suffer from "too-much-ities", and this one is no different. This just takes me out of the story. For me, less is more. As for the actors I really liked Bill Paxton as Master Sergeant Farrell. And Tom Cruise is just Tom Cruise. Anyway, what could have been a great film was reduced to a rather mediocre experience by the script and the CGI.

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on June 6th, 2015)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Rick

Catch up time. Been a rough week...

They Eat Horses, Don't They?

Have I said how much I like all the guest stars they have on this show?  Another 2 great additions to the cast this episode. Ruichard Moll (Bull from Night Court) as a collector of poop. Reminds me of the Simpsons episode with the "retirement grease" 

I've always enjoyed Teri Polo. Possible because I enjoyed her in Northern Exposure and Sports Night, two of my favorite TV shows ever. (Either one would make a great Marathin  )

It's cool to see Ray completely trust Fraser. Something as out there as smelling the meat and Ray is behind his partner 100%. 

Rating

(From "Due South" marathon on July 6th, 2009)