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Lord of Illusions, a review by addicted2dvd

Lord of Illusions
From best-selling author and celebrated director Clive Barker comes a supernatural thriller that rips apart the boundaries between sanity and madness, between the art of illusion and the terrifying forces of magic. With heart-stopping suspense, "masterful visual effects" (Roger Ebert, 'Chicago Sun-Times') and non-stop terror, it's a riveting journey into the shadowy corners of the human soul.

Scott Bakula ("Quantum Leap") portrays Harry D'Amour, a private detective visiting Los Angeles on a routine investigation. Harry gets more than he bargains for when he encounters Philip Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor), a performer whose amazing illusions captivate the world. But are they really illusions? Harry isn't so sure as he is thrust into a nightmare of murder, deception and terrifying assaults from the dark beyond.

TV Star:
Scott Bakula (Sam Beckett on Quantum Leap, Capt. Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise)

My Thoughts:
This is the first time I ever watched this movie. I finished watching it... and I still don't know what the heck was going on! A good friend of mine recommended this movie to me. And she just told me that if I wasn't paying complete attention to it... I would definitely get confused so that may be why. As I was interrupted several times in the movie. So to be fair I definitely have to give this one another shot. But from what I understand.. Clive Barker's movies can be confusing anyway. So let me just warn you... if you go to watch this movie... be sure that you can devote the whole 2 hours to the movie without any distractions.

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: TV Stars in Movies on March 15th, 2008)

When The Daltons Rode, a review by Rogmeister

When The Daltons Rode (1940)  81 minutes
Director: George Marshall
Cast: Randolph Scott, Kay Francis, Brian Donlevy, George Bancroft, Broderick Crawford, Andy Devine, Stuart Erwin

Plot: Lawyer Tod Jackson (Randolph Scott), childhood friend of the Dalton family, stops by upon his arrival in Kansas.  Before long, circumstances conspire to put the Daltons on the wrong side of the law with Jackson having to decide on who to help while falling for Bob Dalton's girl.

As with most earlier movie westerns dealing with real historical figures of the Old West, this is a highly fictionalized account of the Dalton family.  Still, director George Marshall (who had directed the comedy-western Destry Rides Again the year before) keeps things lively with some light comedic touches (mostly in the person of Andy Devine) and with some excellent stunt work including such stunts as gunmen jumping in unison onto the top of a moving train, jumping from a railroad car while on horseback and falling under a moving stagecoach, grabbing hold of the back end and hauling himself back onto the top of it.

Surprisingly, Randolph Scott is not the stalwart hero with a six-gun in this film...I'm not sure if he even touches a gun during the entire picture.  He plays a lawyer and tries to help the Daltons in his own way (much of it happening offscreen) while we get a lot of the film concentrating on the doings of the Daltons themselves.  As in real life, the movie ends with the entire Dalton gang meeting their end while trying to pull off a daring daytime bank robbery.  The movie is bookended with Scott talking with a rambling wagon repairman played by Edgar Buchanan.

The DVD has a fine black & white print but there are no extras.

(From Roger's Ongoing Westerns Marathon on September 20th, 2009)

Emma's Sonic Underground Marathon, a review by Emma (snowcat)

Disc 2

Episode 7 - Underground Masquerade

Manic slips in to his old thieving ways when he meets a band of child thieves, meanwhile Sleet and Dingo collect taxes for Robotnik but plan to steal them framing Manic for the theft.

I found this episode boring, the episode is mainly about the group of child thieves Manic meets, and how the underground try to use them in there band for there next performance, on the way they meet a disguised Dingo, who dressed as a child thief makes Manic feel out of touch. this episode felt more like filler then a real episode.


Episode 8 - Tangled Webs

Sonic meets up with an his old friend Cyrus, who he believes is a freedom fighter, although he soon finds that Cyrus is working for Dr Robonik and is tricking Sonic. As Sonic leads Cyrus to "Sanctuary" the place where the resistance children are raised, Cyrus is suddenly struck with a sense of morality and destroys his communicator.

So as with a few of the other moral episodes I quite liked this one, Cyrus works for Robotnik as his father has been captured, if Cyrus disobeys Robotnik will roboticise his father, and kill him (although its never actually said that this will kill him) When Cyrus disobeys and helps Sonic, Robotnik kills Cyrus's father, which again is not mentioned although the final scene shows Cyrus sitting buy a river crying as the hedgehogs go to comfort him.


Episode 9 - The Deepest Fear

On a trip to Port Mobius the hedgehogs learn that a sea monster Moby Deep is sinking the ships, Captain Squeege arrives to tell the hedgehogs of Robtniks scam, charging the citizens or protections from Moby Deep when really it is Robotnik who is causing the ships to sink. Sonic must overcome his fear of water, to save the port.

This was a strange episode, it starts off in a dream sequence which gives away the end of the episode, its also fairly obvious that this is the end of the episode at this point. Moby Deep is strange character a whale who just wants to help people, he gives sonic a ride to his siblings and sonic still does not overcome his fear of water, which is starting to become a running joke, sonic does not bathe or drink water according to his sister. As the ending was pretty much told at the beginning I did not feel like watched the episode, but I did although I have to say its one I didn't enjoy so much.


Episode 10 - Who do you think you are?

The siblings arrive in Tashistan is search of there mothers journal, whilst there Sonya bangs her head and looses her memory, she is quickly saved by Raphi a local freedom fighter. but will Sonic and Manic be able to get her memory back?

Again, an episode that felt out of place, it seems around the episode 6+ mark they ran out of ideas for a while, Manic and Sonic seem to spend most of the time walking right past Sonya and not finding her, they finally play a song and she is reminded of who she is. Sonya almost gets the chance to see her mother but just as she catches up Raphi is pulled into the sewers and has to be saved by Sonya.




(From Emma's Sonic Underground Marathon on December 21st, 2009)