DVD Collectors Online

Mary Reilly, a review by Rich

Title: Mary Reilly

Movie Count:17 
TV Ep. Count:13 

Runtime:108
Certificate:R
Year:1996
Genres:Horror, Suspense/Thriller

Plot:The classic horror story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde gets a chilling new twist when seen through the eyes of Dr. Jekyll's devoted maid, MARY REILLY.
JULIA ROBERTS, JOHN MALKOVICH and the writer and director of DANGEROUS LIAISONS take terror to a new level as the immortal conflict between good and evil is played out in the soul of one man. Equally attracted to her kind employer, Dr.Jekyll, and his mysterious assistant, Mr. Hyde, Mary Reilly must confront her own dangerous desires if she is to survive humanity's greatest evil.

My Review:
Interesting viewpoint on the age old classic of Jekyll and Hyde, only the high calibre of the support cast (George Cole and Kathy Bates) dragged this from being too mundane. Why this would have a horror genre is beyond me, it is purely a drama with a couple of gruesome attachments.
The backdrops and direction give it an authentic feel, only spoilt by Roberts intermittent attempts at pulling off an Irish accent (it might even have been an attempt at cockney!). The introduction of romance in the story gave it a new twist, but strayed too far away from Stevensons original for my liking.
An okay film to pass the time, but not one to recommend as a purchase.




(From Rich's October Horror Fest on October 12th, 2009)

2012, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:2012
Year: 2009
Director: Roland Emmerich
Rating: PG-13
Length: 158 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
John Cusack
Amanda Peet
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Thandie Newton
Oliver Platt

Plot:
From Roland Emmerich, director of The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, comes the ultimate action-adventure movie, exploding with groundbreaking special effects. As the world faces a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions, cities collapse and continents crumble. 2012 brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.
Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover and Woody Harrelson.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos


Kiss your ass goodbye!   

Given that I am in the midst of a mini Elvis marathon, which most of his movies were disasters I thought I would keep with that theme and watch 2012... a movie about a disaster.

Well... I know where I want to be when the world is ending... wherever John Cusack is because apparently he is the luckiest sumbitch on the entire planet!

Great action, superb effects, beautiful destruction, but after awhile I started to feel like I was watching the 5th installment of the Final Destination franchise as Cusack and his family cheat death by mere nanoseconds for a good hour and half straight. I'm sure even die hard action junkies were groaning 'Awww, c'mon...' Somebody please tell Roland Emmerich that reality does not have to be sacrificed in order to achieve thrills.

What is scary is that a good deal of this vision of Armageddon could potentially happen. I don't buy into any of that Mayan calender crap but the massive quakes, California sinking into the Pacific Ocean, monstrous tsunamis... gonna happen some day. I just hope I am long gone before it does. 

I enjoyed this and I think it has great rewatchability.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on September 8th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Life On Mars: Series One (2006/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia Contender Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Length: 487 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
Sam Tyler (John Simm) is an ambitious young detective determined to keep the streets of 21st Century Manchester safe. However, the hunt for a serial killer becomes a personal vendetta when Sam suspects his girlfriend has been kidnapped by the very man he's tracking down.

But after a near fatal car accident, Sam wakes up, dazed and confused, in 1973, struggling to understand what's real. Has he gone back in time? Is he in a coma? Or has he simply gone insane? His new boss is hard-nosed DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), a man who gets results by trusting his gut instinct and using a 'fists first, question later' policy.

Thrown head-first into this new world, Sam faces some of the hardest cases he has ever known. He has no idea why he is in 1973, but maybe if he can work out the reason, he can get home...


Life on Mars
1.01 Episode 1
Writer: Tony Jordan (Created By), Ashley Pharoah (Created By), Matthew Graham (Created By), Matthew Graham (Writer)
Director: Bharat Nalluri
Cast: John Simm (Sam Tyler), Philip Glenister (Gene Hunt), Liz White (Annie Cartwright), Dean Andrews (Ray Carling), Marshall Lancaster (Chris Skelton), Tony Marshall (Nelson), Archie Panjabi (Maya Roy), Sam Hazeldine (Colin Raimes), Henry Cox (Young Lad), Caroline Harding (Raimes' Lawyer), Parvez Qadir (Raimes' Psychiatrist), Orla Cottingham (Raimes' Social Worker), Tom Charnock (Police Officer), Christopher Harper (Neil), Richard Sinnott (TV Presenter), Jane Riley (Dora Keens), Andy Abrahams (Sid), Mags Gannon (Mrs Raimes), Rae Kelly (June), Timothy Platt (Leonard (uncredited))

An interesting premise, but this series just never really clicked with me. This is why I haven't picked up the second series yet.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 5th, 2012)