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Mallrats, a review by Tom

Title: Mallrats
Year: 1995
Director: Kevin Smith
Rating: R
Length: 95 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Shannen Doherty
Jeremy London
Jason Lee
Claire Forlani
Ben Affleck

Plot:
From Kevin Smith, the acclaimed director of Clerks, comes this outrageous story of two loafers, Jeremy London (The Babysitter) and Jason Lee (Kissing a Fool), who spend way too much time hanging out at the mall.

When Brodie (Lee) is dumped by his girlfriend, Shannen Doherty (Heathers, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun), he retreats to the mall with his best friend T.S. (London), whose girlfriend has also left him. Between brooding and visits to the food court, the unmotivated twosome decide to win their girlfriends back with the help of the ultimate delinquents, Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) and Jay (Jason Mewes), whose continuing adventures take the word "nuisance" to a whole new level.

Extras:
8 Page Booklet
Closed Captioned
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Multi Angle
Music Videos
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

The most underated Kevin Smith movie (even by Smith himself). There are a lot of laughs in this one. And the Stan Lee cameo is great. This movie was the first acting role of Jason Lee and one of the first roles for Ben Affleck.
Also fun to see Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee together in a scene. Ten years later they play brothers on the TV series "My Name Is Earl".

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on June 8th, 2009)

The Last Airbender, a review by Dragonfire

The Last Airbender

I have heard of the carton, but I haven't seen it.  I really have no idea what was changed for the movie - though I'm sure some stuff was..it always is.  I also don't know why the decision was made to make it a live action movie instead of animated like the cartoon.

The story is interesting.  It seems like it will be rather complicated after a few things are set up, but it really isn't.  Too many scenes drag on too long.  That doesn't just happen early in the movie when characters are introduced and the situation is set up.  Some of scenes fairly late in the movie drag too much as well.  Things do pick up every so often, but as soon as the action is done - courtesy of some fights between the various benders - the pace slows back down.  The pacing is very uneven.  I enjoyed the movie overall and didn't get bored, but I do think the pace is a bit too slow overall.  For what happens in this movie, there isn't a need for a slow build up.

The action scenes are done well and it does look cool when the water or fire is being controlled by a bender and used in a fight.  There don't seem to be any lingering effects to the elements though.  Characters hit by the water aren't wet..characters hit by the fire aren't burned or singed.  I have no idea if that is how it worked in the cartoon, but it is a bit odd.  The fighting is done with the different elements, so there really isn't much in the way of violence. 

Character development is lacking for all the characters.  A little more is shared about Aang, but it isn't enough.  Katara is a bit better, but her brother Sokka really suffers, seeming to just be tagging along.  The Fire Lord is just trying to further the Fire Nation's domination.  Prince Zuko has a bit more motivation, but he still comes across as a flat character. 

From what I've read after seeing the movie, it is based on the first season of the animated series.  I've also read that this is supposed to be the first movie in a trilogy..though I've heard that about other movies before and the other movies still haven't been made.  So who knows.  I would see the other movies if they get made because I think the story is interesting even though the pacing is messed up. 



I did get a review posted on Epinions.

The Last Airbender

(From The Last Airbender on July 11th, 2010)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

JAG



What's the show about?
The JAG ist the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Navy. They are charged with the defense and prosecution of military law as provided in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We follow the cases of Lt. Harmon Rabb jr., a former fighter pilot and his partner Maj. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie all around the world.

"Pilot"
The CAG of the aircraft carrier USS Seahawk and his female Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) shoot down two MIGs over the Adriatic Sea. In the night after that the RIO is being thrown overboard and killed. Lt Rabb and Lt. jg. Pike take over the investigation of the missing RIO...

My Opinion
This show had its highs and its lows. Being not an US-american the patriotism was sometimes a bit to much for my taste, especially when it came to the Iraq war. Also that "we are the best of the best of the best"-attitude was an overdose at times. But in the big picture I liked the show.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 5th, 2008)