DVD Collectors Online

Next of Kin, a review by Rich

Next of Kin



Next of Kin's action blasts through Chicago right from the get-go. The mob wants to muscle in on a local business but they make two mistakes. They kill a youth whose brother is a cop. And that cop is Truman Gates (Patrick Swayze), transplant from Appalachia's backwoods to Chicago's mean streets.

For a break from pilot episodes, I thought I'd pay homage to the late Patrick Swayze. This and Roadhouse were my 2 favourite films of his, and IMO is pretty underrated and relatively unknown.
Vigilante flick that sees redneck cop Swayze pitted against some gangsters, it is a bit corny, specifically his marriage somehow to a concert pianist, but he is fairly convincing in the lead role, with Liam Neeson playing his brother with predictable bad accent. Having seen this originally on vhs, the dvd quality was not a major improvement, thankfully nostalgia for the movie saw me through.
No surprise that Swayze ends up throwing his badge away and reeking some bloody revenge, but like Roadhouse can guiltily be enjoyed despite its more obvious flaws.
 

(From Riches Random Reviews on September 25th, 2009)

Psychomania, a review by Jimmy

Title: Psychomania
Year: 1974
Director: Don Sharp
Rating: Unrated
Length: 1h26
Video:  Widescreen 1.33:1
Audio:  English Dolby 2.0
Subtitles: No subtitle

Stars:
George Sanders - Shadwell
Beryl Reid - Mrs. Latham
Nicky Henson - Tom
Mary Larkin - Abby
Roy Holder - Bertram

Plot:
Motorcycle, violence, the occult and suicide extremes - all in one movie ! Tom is a nihilistic leader of a motorcycle gang who decides to explore just how much chaos he can trigger. With the help of his occultist mother, he finds a way to bring the dead back to life. He and his gang are determined to be the first live test subjects of this theory. They all decide to commit suicide - each biker picking a more bizarre way to die than the last - and wreak havoc in a peaceful pre-punk English countryside when they are resurrected !
Extras:
No extra (not even a menu)


This movie like many others in my colection was a blind buy, but 2 things had told me that I've to own this movie : The first phrase of the synopsis and Ann Michelle is in it. This is a good film, but not as good that the plot indicate (normal it's a seventies movie, I can't count how many time a trailer of this period fools me). The basic idea is good, but the results aren't that good. Just one exemple : One of the biker kill himself on a skydiving accident and is body have not a single scratch.

Even if it is not perfect this is a movie that I've appreciate. The major problem is the fact that the Geneon release of this film is cut (10 minutes are missing), but I have read that a region 2 edition will be release somewhere in 2008 by the BBC who now owns the international rights. So it will be to buy again if this is a complete version.

Finally the print use for the DVD is not so bad, there are some scratch on the picture but nothing dramatic for a budget release of a movie made more than 30 years ago. The sound is corect.

Rating : 3/5 (because the movie is cut by 10 minutes)

(From My review - unseen and unwatched january marathon on January 12th, 2008)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

MADtv: Season One (1995/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United States) Length: 806 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Plot:
Relive the MADness of the first complete season of 'MADtv', dubbed by TV Guide as "the most mercilessly acute TV parody of the decade, perhaps of all time." It's wall-to-wall pop culture sendups in 19 trailblazing hours plus hilariously MAD-to-the-bone Special Bonus Features.

You'll find brilliant movie parodies, irreverent Madvertising spoofs and political smackdowns. Plus favorites like the Vancome Lady; UBS Guy; 'That's My White Mama'; the animated 'Spy Vs. Spy', Don Martin classics and 'Raging Rudolph'; and TV sendups of 'ER', 'Baywatch', 'Oprah' and 'Star Trek'. No wonder USA Today stated "No show is better than 'MADtv' at mocking TV."


MADtv
1.01 Season One

When I first saw this, I only knew three of the main cast: Orlando Jones, Phil LaMarr (mainly as voice actor, but also his role in Pulp Fiction which he reprises in this episode in a parody sequence) and Nicole Sullivan. It's her which I think brought in the best performances in this episode. And also the only laughs I had.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 9th, 2012)