DVD Collectors Online

Home for the Holidays, a review by Danae Cassandra

Home for the Holidays
Year of Release: 1995
Directed By: Jodie Foster
Starring: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Dylan McDermott
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Overview:
Director Jodie Foster dishes up a "heaping helping of holiday hilarity" (NBC-TV) with this laugh-out-loud comedy from screenwriter W.D. Richter about family, food and finding acceptance with the people you love. Home for the Holidays is a "wickedly funny" film that's "so true it hurts" ("Entertainment Today")!

In a span of 36 hours, Claudia Larson (Hunter) has managed to lose her job, make out with her boss and learn that her daughter (Danes) is planning to go all the way. But Claudia's fortunes actually take a turn for the worse when she flies home to endure an even more grueling trial: the family Thanksgiving! Beset by a neurotic mother (Bancroft), kooky father (Durning), eccentric brother (Downey, Jr.) and compulsively "normal" sister (Stevenson), Claudia struggles to maintain her calm. But as sparks fly, tempers flare and turkeys go airborne, Claudia manages to recapture the zaniness of her childhood and discover that the most important things in life are the memories she shares with family...and for that, she can only be thankful!

My Thoughts:
They say you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family.  And, if you could, would you pick the ones you have?  Often not, and that makes this film way more realistic than we generally want to admit to.  Too often filmmakers take the easy way out - the squabbling members realize how much they love each other and how important family is and hug it out.  That rarely happens in real life, and that makes this film an absolute gem.

Because everything doesn't work out.  At the end of the film all the problems in the family still exist.  Nothing miraculous occurs.  Even Claudia's romantic interest may not work out.  And that's okay.  We don't always need a happy ending and a fantasy story.  Maybe sometimes we need a dose of reality too.

Great performances from everyone in the cast, but RDJ steals every scene he's in.  (I may be biased here, he's a favorite of mine.)  Recommended for anyone with a crazy family for Thanksgiving.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 3.75/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on November 26th, 2015)

Life of Pi, a review by addicted2dvd

Life of Pi: 3-Disc Collector's Edition (2012/United States, United Kingdom, Taiwan) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Ang Lee Writing: Yann Martel (Original Material By), David Magee (Screenwriter) Length: 127 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
Suraj Sharma as Pi Patel
Irrfan Khan as Adult Pi Patel
Ayush Tandon as Pi Patel (11/12 years)
Gautam Belur as Pi Patel (5 years)
Adil Hussain as Santosh Patel

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers
• Closed Captioned
• Digital Copy

I found this film entertaining and beautifully made. While there might have been a part here and there that didn't make much sense to me the story line kept may full attention through-out. Everyone did a fine job with this one. I feel comfortable recommending it. Worth the time put in to watch it.



(From May Marathon - Animals on May 19th, 2016)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Midori no hibi
Year: 2004
Rating: PG-13
Length: 325 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo , Japanese: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English

Plot:
Seji "Mad Dog" Sawamura is the ultimate high-school punk. With his super-strong, invincible right hand, he can punch through cenemt walls and lay waste to entire street gangs. But street cred comes with a high price - every girl in the school is absolutely terrified of him! Just when he thinks he is doomed to fly solo forever, Seji's right hand becomes an actual girl! Midori Kasugano wished she could be by Seiji's side...but ended up somehow attached to his wrist. Seiji's fighting days may be over, but his girl-trouble days are about to begin!!

Extras:
Deleted Scenes
Original Audio Drama
Outtakes
Scene Access
Trailers

Great fun series! Have it seen three times so far, and it never gets boring.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on May 10th, 2008)