DVD Collectors Online

No Country for Old Men, a review by Rich

looking to getaway in USA...



Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, No Country for Old Men is a faithful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's best-selling novel. McCarthy took the title from the beginning of the poem "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats. The film defies genre classification, artfully mixing violence and suspense with dark humor and contemplativeness.

As with a lot of Oscar winners, one is often left disappointed. Best supporting actor for Javier Bardem is a no-brainer - he portrays the relentless unemotive hired gun superbly. But the rest of the film I found rather plodding, with TLJ as the sheriff always one pace behind the action and trying to solve the riddle without fuss. Would I recommend this film - no, unless you go into it with low expectations, then you may feel happier than I did when I finished watching it today. 5/10

(From Around the World in 80 DVD's on March 11th, 2008)

Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within, a review by KinkyCyborg

Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within



Title:Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Year: 2001
Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Moto Sakakibara
Rating: PG-13
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Commentary

Stars:
Ming-Na
Alec Baldwin
Ving Rhames
Steve Buscemi
Peri Gilpin

Plot:
The year is 2065 AD. The Earth is infested with alien spirits, and mankind faces total extinction. Led by a strange dream and guided by her mentor, Dr. Sid, scientist Aki Ross struggles to collect the eight spirits in the hope of creating a force powerful enough to destroy the alien presence and pure enough to protect the planet. With the aid of the Deep Eyes Squadron, Aki must save the Earth from its darkest hate and unleash the spirits within. FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN is the groundbreaking new CGI film from the creators of the Final Fantasy Video Game Franchise.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
Multi-angle
Music Videos
Storyboard Comparisons
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned
Scene Editing Workshop


Film adaptation of the immensely popular gaming series, I did not see much of a resemblance between the two either in characters or story. It is however cutting edge CGI animation and it is stunning to behold.

I've never been a fan of the anime genre. Actually I shouldn't say that... I've never really given it a chance. If all anime were like this, life like in appearance with characters that look like real people I would likely watch more of it. I have no interest in watching the anime where all the 'toons' have big saucer moon eyes and triangular heads.    Just not my thing.

I found the story of this confusing, even when it was being explained to me near the end I still wasn't entirely sure what was happening. Something to do with indigenous earth Spirits clashing with alien 'phantom' Spirits with the solution being to collect 8 roaming spirits and channel them through the lead female in order to dissolve the alien 'ghosts'. Again very confusing but the spectacular imagery more than makes up for it.

I always have fun trying to identify the voice talent in animated movies. I was able to pick out Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, James Woods and Keith David. It was bugging me who was doing the voice of Aki Ross and was surprised that it was Ming-Na and not a more recognizable actress.

Had they stuck with a less complicated plot I think they could have hit a home run with this but if you leave the viewer puzzled it can detract from planned sequels (Advent Children).

I still haven't watched Titan A.E. and I'm curious to see how it stacks up to this.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on December 10th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Samurai 7: The Complete Series (2005/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia FUNimation Entertainment (United States) Length: 600 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English

---

Plot:
Set in a futuristic world that has just witnissed the end of a massive war, scores of villages are terrorized by Nobuseri bandits. But the Nobuseri are no normal bandits. They were once Samurai, who during the war integrated their living cells with machines to become dangerous weapons now appearing more machine than man. Absolute power corrupts, and their reign of terror is increasing its hold on the countryside. But one group of villagers has had enough, deciding to hire samurai to protect their village. Kirara is a young priestess who travels to the city seeking out protection. One by one, she encounters brave samurai that the war has left behind. These man of skill and valor are each unique and not without their quirks. But can they come together as one to defend the helpless village?


Samurai Sebun
1.01 The Master
Writer: Akira Kurasawa (Original Material By), Atsuhiro Tomioka (Screenwriter)
Director: Toshifumi Takizawa
Cast

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on July 1st, 2012)