DVD Collectors Online

The Amityville Horror, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Amityville Horror: Widescreen Special Edition Year: 2005 Director: Andrew Douglas Rating: R Length: 89 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:Plot:
From Michael Bay, the producer of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, comes the true story of Amityville. In November 1974, a family of six was brutally murdered. Now, a year later, an unsuspecting young couple, George (Ryan Reynolds, Blade: Trinity, The In-Laws) and Kathy Lutz (Melissa George, TV's "Alias"), and their children move into the house that was the site of the horrific event and is now haunted by a murderous presence. What follows is 28 days of unimaginable terror. With demonic visions of the dead and relentless screams of terror, this is the haunted house story that isn't just a movie - it's real.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
When I first heard that they were remaking "The Amityville Horror" I was rather worried that they would not do the original justice... or that they would make the same mistake they made with the "Psycho" remake.. and make it a carbon copy of the original just changing the actors. But this remake... I must admit... was done in the right way... kept enough the same to pay homage to the original... but changed enough to make it it's own movie.

For the most part I do not like to compare a remake to the original... as I like to judge every movie on it's own as a stand alone movie. But this is hard sometimes... especially when I enjoy the original movie as much as I do "The Amityville Horror." In this case though... I really enjoyed this remake... possibly as much as I liked the original. I think they did a wonderful job with it... and I really enjoy the actors that took over... I am a fan of both Melissa George and Ryan Reynolds. This is one remake that is definitely worth giving a chance... I don't think you will be sorry.




Count:
Movie Count: 55
TV Ep. Count: 20
Other Count: 8 I Made It! (10/15)

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2010 on October 15th, 2010)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, a review by Dragonfire

I went to see Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian today.  This is definitely a family friendly movie, though I think adults can enjoy it as well if they are in the mood for a light hearted, somewhat silly movie.  The movie can stand alone fairly well, but some things will make more sense if the movies are watched in order.

Larry has moved on from working as a night guard at the Museum of Natural History and now owns his own company.  He is becoming more focused on his work, though it does seem like his relationship with his son Nick is still strong.  Larry is surprised when he goes to visit the museum for the first time in several months and he finds out that most of the exhibits are being replaced new, high tech holographic type displays.  The original exhibits are going to be stored in the Federal Archives at the Smithsonian.  Larry finds out that things are not going well once the exhibits get there and he heads to the new museum.  He has to deal with Kah Mun Rah, an Egyptian plotting to rule the entire world. 

My Thoughts

I enjoyed this movie overall, though it is a bit silly and won't appeal to many people.  The movie has a fun adventure and a decent amount of humor that makes for a fun, entertaining movie overall.  The movie isn't as funny as the trailers made it seem, but it is still funny.  Several things made me laugh.  There are new characters thanks to new exhibits at the Smithsonian coming to life.  The plot isn't that different from the first movie, but there are a few new twists because of the new setting.  The movie is predictable, which may turn off some viewers.  There are lots of special effects, but they don't overtake everything. 

There are several new characters in this one thanks to the new setting and only a few of the previous characters return and have much to do.  Several of them are just shown in a few scenes, which is disappointing in some cases.  I really liked Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt in the first movie, and in this movie, Teddy only turns up in a few scenes.  Some of the new characters are interesting and I did enjoy seeing Oscar the Grouch turn up briefly. 

Overall, this is a fun, entertaining family friendly adventure movie.  I really enjoyed it, though I know it won't appeal to many.  People that liked the first movie may also like this one.  People that didn't like the first one should probably stay away from this one.

 

I did get a longer review posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

(From Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian on May 23rd, 2009)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Tom

4.13 Call of the Wild - Part 2 (1999-03-14)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Paul Gross (Writer), R.B. Carney (Writer)
Director: Steve DiMarco
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Dean McDermott (Constable Turnbull), Anne Marie Loder (Stella Kowalski), David Marciano (Detective Ray Vecchio), Bo Svenson (Holloway Muldoon), Kenneth Welsh (Cyrus Bolt), Leslie Nielsen (Buck Frobisher), Martha Burns (Caroline Fraser), Peter Ferri (Delmar Huggins), Tony Munch (Jerry Smith), Chaz Thorne (Tony), Isolde Oneill (Tina)

Not as good as the first part. But nice that the series got the chance for a conclusion instead of just having it end. Although the fate of the characters may be unsatisfying for first time viewers I think, viewed as a resolution between the two Rays and Fraser it worked okay.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on January 5th, 2011)