DVD Collectors Online

Octaman, a review by Jimmy

Title: Octaman (1971)

Genre: Horror
Director: Harry Essex
Rating: NR
Length: 1h19
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:78.1
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Pier Angeli   
Kerwin Mathews
Jeff Morrow
David Essex
Jerome Guardino

Plot:
A scientific expedition to a remote fishing village discovers high levels of radiation as well as a strange mutant-like small octopus that walks on land and has bizarre human-like eyes. The leader of the expedition teams up with a circus owner who wants to exploit the weird creature but trouble ensues when the two men discover their crew has been slaughtered and the mutant is missing. Tales from the villagers come to light describing the local legend of a half-man, half-sea serpent, but what the expedition finds is an astounding seven-foot-tall walking octopus that has a lust for human blood! Now, the hunters have become the hunted and the race is on. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

This one was directed by the man who wrote the screenplay for Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space amongst other thing, so he knows how to write 50s creature movie. But this film lack something really important for that type of movie, a good creature costume. Not that it wasn't created by future famous FX artists (Rick Baker and Doug Bestwick began their career designing it), but it lack a feeling of reality because the head is a mask (the eyes have no expression and the mouth is a hole) and the tentacles doesn't move. The story also isn't that interesting and hard to follow (mexican accent without subtitles are sure hard to understand).

Nothing to write home about, I've seen better. but the remastering works is good.

Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 8th, 2013)

Twilight, a review by goodguy

Twilight (2008) Written by: Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson DVD: R1-US Summit (Mar 21, 2009) My rating:

Cover Blurb: Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) doesn't expect much when she moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, until she meets the mysterious and handsome Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) - a boy who's hiding a dark secret: he's a vampire. As their worlds and hearts collide, Edward must battle the bloodlust raging inside him as well as a coterie of undead that would make Bella their prey. Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling sensation by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight adds a dangerous twist to the classic story of star-crossed lovers.

Well, this movie probably doesn't need another review. I'm only putting it here to show that it gets a higher rating from me than the previous one. And I'm only half-joking, because as far as the purely subjective enjoyment of both movies goes, those ratings give a pretty accurate reflection. If you will never take me seriously again after that, so be it.

I haven't been subjected to all the obsessive craziness that apparently surrounds Meyer's books and the movie. Maybe if I had been, I would lash out against it too. But the only reason it popped on my radar were Hardwicke and Stewart.

Neither of them disappoints. They hit the right tone, especially in the early stages: the portrayal of Bella's relationship with her father, her introduction to the new school, her first encounters with Edward are all done pretty well. Stewart plays Bella with intelligence and wariness, even a little snarky, and although that should work against it, it also sells the more swoony moments.

I'm probably more forgiving than I should be and I can easily agree with a lot of the criticism against the movie, but the fact remains that I enjoyed it even on second viewing. The beautiful and lush photography helps, even if the camera gets more and more swirly towards the end. No cinematic masterpiece, but as far as escapist mainstream entertainment goes, this isn't so bad.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on December 1st, 2009)

"Big Bang Theory" Marathon, a review by Rick

7. The Dumpling Paradox
Synopsis: Wolowitz gets a girl. Penny beats Sheldon at Halo. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

My Thoughts:Penny walks into the apartment8. The Grasshopper Experiment
Synopsis: Rajesh flips over his gorgeous blind date. But she only has eyes for Sheldon. Sheldon?!

My Thoughts:
My least favorite episode so far. The most enjoyable parts were those involving Sheldon and Penny regarding his virgin Cuba Libres.

Favorite line: [Howard imitating Raj and making the date for him]


9. The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization
Synopsis: Leonard and Sheldon go from physics to fisticutts when tempers flare at the symposium.

My Thoughts:10. The Loobenfeld Decay
Synopsis: Sheldon cannot tell a lie. He has to tell at least seven. And they are all "un-unravelable!"

My Thoughts:
One word to describe this whole episode

Un-unravelable 


11. The Pancake Batter Anomaly
Synopsis: Everyone knows to head to the hills when Sheldon gets sick. Everyone except Penny, that is.

My Thoughts:11. The Jerusalem Duality
[b[Synopsis:[/b] When a child prodigy arrives on campus, Sheldon graciously sets out to destroy him.

My Thoughts:

(From "Big Bang Theory" Marathon on October 5th, 2008)