DVD Collectors Online

Psycho, a review by dfmorgan

Psycho

Year: 1960
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
Overview: After 50 years the ultimate nightmare returns in stunning high definition on Blu-ray, with superior picture, spine-chilling sound plus a host of extras. More chilling than ever before, Alfred Hitchcock's landmark masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, whose old dark house and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No one knows that better than Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the ill-fated traveller whose journey ends in the notorious shower scene. First a private detective (Martin Balsam), then Marion's sister (Vera Miles) search for her as the horror and suspense mount to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed.

Watched: 7th. Aug 2010
My Thoughts: OK this is only the second Hitchcock film I have seen all the way through, the other being The Birds although that was many years ago, and to be honest this film has left me feeling underwhelmed. I knew about the infamous shower scene from this and also via the many spoofs of it, maybe that is what did it for me or maybe I had my expectations set too high. It was nice and suspenseful up to murder one and then built up again nicely to murder two but then seemed to tail off to its conclusion.

My Rating: Although I can't say I enjoyed this I will watch it again so I will mark it a 3

Dave

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on August 8th, 2010)

The Miracle Worker, a review by Tom

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Title: The Miracle Worker
Links: IMDb | Wikipedia

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Year:	1962 / United States
Director:	Arthur Penn
Writing:	William Gibson (Screenwriter), William Gibson (Original Material By)
Rating:	PG
Length:	102 Min.
Video:	Widescreen 1.66
Audio:	English: Dolby Digital 1, German: Dolby Digital 1, French: Dolby Digital 1, Italian: Dolby Digital 1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1
Subtitles:	Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Greek, Romanian

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Stars:
Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan
Victor Jory as Captain Arthur Keller
Inga Swenson as Kate Keller
Andrew Prine as James Keller
Kathleen Comegys as Aunt Ev

Plot:
Starring in what is quite possibly the most moving double performance recorded on film, Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke are remarkable in their Oscar-winning portrayals of Annie and Helen. Ennobling and uplifting, this inspirational story of courage and hope is one of the finest works of arts in the history of motion pictures.

Locked in a frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness since infancy, 7-year-old Helen Keller has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston arrives. Having just regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch - the only tool they have in common - and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Awards:

Academy Award	1962	Won	Best Actress	Anne Bancroft
Academy Award	1962	Nominated	Best Costume Design, Black-and-White	Ruth Morley
Academy Award	1962	Nominated	Best Director	Arthur Penn
Academy Award	1962	Won	Best Supporting Actress	Patty Duke
Academy Award	1962	Nominated	Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay	William Gibson
AFI	1962	Won	100 Years... 100 Cheers (2006)
AFI	1962	Nominated	100 Years... 25 Scores (2005)	"Composer": Laurence Rosenthal
BAFTA	1962	Nominated	Film And British Film
BAFTA	1962	Won	Foreign Actress	Anne Bancroft
Directors Guild of America	1963	Nominated	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Arthur Penn
Golden Globe	1962	Nominated	Actress in a Leading Role - Drama	Anne Bancroft
Golden Globe	1962	Nominated	Actress in a Supporting Role	Patty Duke
Golden Globe	1962	Won	New Star of the Year - Female	Patty Duke
Golden Globe	1962	Nominated	Picture - Drama	Fred Coe
National Board of Review Awards, USA	1962	Won	Best Actress	Anne Bancroft
Writers Guild of America Awards	1963	Nominated	Best Written American Drama	William Gibson

Extras:
Scene Access

I bought this movie to see how much of the movie Black is taken from here. The early scenes in Black with the young Michelle show a lot of similarities to this movie. Though I enjoyed it more in Black. Here it stretches too long. This movie ends with the "water" scene, which in Black is the first big breakthrough and after that follows the life of a now adult Michelle.
I also thought that the teacher-pupil relationship has a much bigger weight in Black.
But in itself, "The Miracle Worker" is a good movie with great performances by its stars. My favorite scene is the ten minutes battle between them when Annie is trying to teach Helen table manners.



Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on August 11th, 2010)

Tom's Glee Marathon, a review by Tom

Glee: Season Two (2010/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Length: 940 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Subtitles: English

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Plot:
Bring home the complete second season of TV's most exhilarating series! Despite their loss at Regionals, the kids in New Directions are more motivated than ever. And whether it's Will doing a sexy tango with a substitute teacher, Sue joing the Glee Club or everyone catching Bieber fever, the excitement at William McKinley High School is keeping everyone on their toes. With more incredible musical numbers, hugely popular guest stars like John Stamos, Carol Burnett and Kristen Chenoweth, and lots of behind-the-scenes special features, Glee Season 2 hits all the right notes.



Glee
Season 2.01 Audition
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ian Brennan (Writer)
Director: Brad Falchuk
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Artie Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Cheyenne Jackson (Dustin Goolsby), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Dot Jones (Shannon Beiste), Charice (Sunshine Corazon), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Chord Overstreet (Sam Evans), Josh Sussman (Jacob Ben Israel), Dustin Ingram (Pizza Guy), James Earl (Azimio), Max Adler (Karofsky), Lauren Potter (Becky Jackson)

A good start into a new season.
This is also the beginning of the traditional recap of the previous season where Glee pokes a little fun at itself. They mention some stuff in character which the audiences where complaining about the season before. Like Will's rapping and song choices. There also some new characters. I think Shanon Beiste, the new football coach, is a great addition.

Finn-competent:
Finn gets kicked from the football team and now tries out for the cheerleading team, because he needs something to keep him in the popular crowd. Besides that he cannot dance to save his life, he is bracking about his (non-existing) leadership skills.

Tina-Watch:
Over the summer, Tina broke up with Artie and is dating Mike now. This dooms here character to being Mike's girlfriend instead of a character of her own. And Mike is only a secondary character who only had a few lines in the first season.

Notable songs:
I enjoyed the songs in this episode. I liked "Telephone", sung by Rachel and Sunshine (an exchange student), best:


Rating:

(From Tom's Glee Marathon on September 30th, 2012)