DVD Collectors Online

The Second Track, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are: East Germany
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Das zweite GleisOverview:
Filmed in menacing black and white, this rare noir classic from the legendary DEFA Film Studios is the East German answer to Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed's The Third Man. A train station inspector witnesses a robbery, and recognizes one of the thieves - but hides this fact from the authorities. Meanwhile the thief sets his partner after the inspector's daughter, setting in motion an explosive unearthing of dark secrets from the Nazi era.

My Thoughts:
This is a tightly scripted little film noir mystery.  The mystery isn't the usual sort, like a murder or crime, but the mystery of secrets and the past.  Why would a man not identify a man he recognizes as a thief?  What is he hiding, and why?  The film keeps you on the edge, wondering what it is until the reveal, though knowing the background and the years gives one a suspicion of what might be involved.  This is a thought-provoking film, and a film that wrestles with guilt - both the guilt of the individual and society, of what is done and what is not done, and how we cannot escape our guilt by burying it with lies.  Truth needs the light of day to conquer guilt.  Beautifully filmed in black and white, with excellent use of light and shadow, and with an eerie, dissonant soundtrack, Das zweite Gleis stands up nicely with the best film noir, and is recommended for any fans of the genre.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 4/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on November 12th, 2013)

A Millionaire's First Love, a review by Tom

A Millionaire's First Love (2006/South Korea) IMDb | Wikipedia Universe Laser & Video (Hong Kong) Director: Tae-Gyun Kim Writing: Tae-Gyun Kim (Writer) Length: 113 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: Korean: Dolby Digital 5.1, Cantonese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: Chinese, English

---

Stars:
Yong-joon Cho as Goo-ho
Bin Hyeon as Kang Jae-kyung
Do-hyeon Lee
Han-sol Lee as Myungshik
Yeon-hee Lee as Choi Eun-hwan

Plot:
An arrogant high school student who stands to inherit a fortune when he is 18 suddenly discovers the clause in his grandfather's will that he must graduate from a small high school in rural Kangwon Province. In this new school life, he finally meets a girl that he will love to...

Extras:

• Photo Gallery
• Scene Access

Seems to be the current trend of the South Korean movie I am currently watching: Another movie which starts more as a comedy and gets tragic by the end. The female lead is just adorable. Another movie I have enjoyed watching.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on November 6th, 2010)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Millennium
Retired serial-profiler Frank Black has moved his family to Seattle to escape the violence and horror he dealt with while working for the FBI in Washington, D.C. Although his uncanny and often unsetting ability to see into the twisted minds of serial killers has caused him much inner torment, Black knows his "gift" can still be used to help protect and save others. For that reason he has joined the Millennium Group, a team of ex-law enforcement experts dedicated to fighting against the ever-growing forces of evil and darkness in the world.

Pilot
Frank hunts for a murderer trying to fulfill an apocalyptic prophercy and discovers that his own past has followed him and his family to there new home in Seattle.

My Thoughts:
This is a great series starring Lance Henriksen. The pilot episode sets up the series well. After watching the pilot episode I fell like I could watch entire series again. But I think I better put that one off a while.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on April 20th, 2010)