DVD Collectors Online

Thir13en Ghosts, a review by addicted2comics

Title: Thir13en Ghosts
Year: 2001
Director: Steve Beck
Rating: R
Length: 91 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Tony Shalhoub
Embeth Davidtz
Matthew Lillard
Shannon Elizabeth
Alec Roberts
JR Bourne

Plot:
What a house! It's all steel and glass and elegance - and it all belongs to Arthur Kriticos and his family as an unexpected inheritance. You could say it's their dream home. Especially if the dreams are nightmares.

Awesome ectoplasmic specters populate THIRTEEN GHOSTS, an effects-rampant remake of the 1960 William Castle haunted-house film from producers Gilbert Adler, Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis, who conjured up the equally terrorific HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1999). Tony Shalhoub as Arthur leads a cast that includes Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth, Rah Digga and F. Murray Abraham. The house itself is a design marvel and a mysterious puzzle-cube whose eerie corridors, sliding walls, spinning floors and phantasmic fiends may allow no escape.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Production Notes
Interactive Games
Music Videos
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

I actually saw bits and pieces of this at my grandmother's house, so I was curious. It was a lot different than the William Castle "13 Ghosts"!! Very nicely made, may I say. The stories all tie in with each other. Pretty scary, got the chills a few times. Definitely something worth seeing!



(From Doing the ABC's Movie Style!! on July 27th, 2010)

Fail Safe, a review by Jon

Fail Safe
3 out of 5

First shown live on television, this remake of the 1964 film is a serious spin on Dr. Strangelove. American bombers heading for Russia with a nuclear payload have just passed the "fail safe" point and can't be recalled as they are trained to ignore all radio communication in case the enemy are trying to fool them. A malfunction means they have orders to bomb Moscow. The President and his generals work desperately to rectify the mistake, going so far as to help the Russians shoot them down. Should all else fail, the President has a terrible price to pay to prove it was a mistake and avert war.

This is an oddity. I haven't seen the original, but of course I am very familiar with Kubrick's wonderfully black comedy. The story is just about strong enough to take serious in a genuine "What if?" scenario, except I really hope our leaders have better contingency plans than this. I found the ending a little too contrived and noble to take seriously, but up until that point, it was a well played exercise in how paranoia will undo us all. Overall Kubrick highlighting the absurdity makes a stronger impression, but this is still worth seeing.

Being shown live means it can't escape being stagey and frequently dull, but the cast is fantastic and mostly from film and TV so their unusual one-take chance gives the whole thing an edge. So it both succeeds and fails by the same decision to go live. All the actors do well, especially Harvey Keitel, Sam Shepard, Brian Dennehy, Noah Wyle and Hank Azaria, but I think George Clooney as the bomber pilot and in particular Richard Dreyfuss as the President excel in arguably harder roles.

It's short at 85 minutes so if you enjoy Strangelove, give it a chance.

That's "enjoy Strangelove", by the way, as in "Dr.". Not "enjoy strange love" as in... something else...

(From Jon's Random Reviews on January 28th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Just Shoot Me!: Seasons One and Two (1997/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 689 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
Your favorite Must-See TV is now a must-have DVD, as JUST SHOOT ME! SEASONS ONE AND TWO delivers all 31 hilarious episodes from this long-reigning fixture of NBC's classic comedy lineup. Nominated for six Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes, this acclaimed ensemble comedy spanned the hilarious gamut from catwalk to casting couch, chronicles the daily grind of the magazine's quirky staff, serving up all the laughter that's fit to print. Arriving on digitally remastered DVD for the first time.


Just Shoot Me!
1.01 Back Issues
Writer: Steven Levitan (Created By), Steven Levitan (Writer)
Director: Philip Charles MacKenzie
Cast: Laura San Giacomo (Maya Gallo), George Segal (Jack Gallo), Wendie Malick (Nina Van Horn), Enrico Colantoni (Elliott DiMauro), Chris Hogan (Wally), David Spade (Dennis Finch), Emily Procter (Anchorwoman), Dave Clark (Anchorman), Scott N. Stevens (Young Father), Shannon Maureen Brown (Lorena), Donna Ponterotto (Receptionist), Raphelle Hink (Raphelle), Joel Traywick (Intern)

I enjoy watching this series. I like the snarky one-liners, like the ones David Spade's character comes up with.
The first two seasons of this series were released in 2004. The third season five years later. I am still waiting for further seasons to be released.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 3rd, 2012)