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One Frightened Night, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: One Frightened Night
Year: 1935
Director: Christy Cabanne
Rating: NR
Length: 65 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: N/A

Stars:
Charley Grapewin
Mary Carlisle
Arthur Hohl
Wally Ford
Lucian Littlefield
Regis Toomey

Plot:
An aging eccentric millionaire gathers his heirs and informs them that he intends to give his fortune to his granddaughter, if she appears before midnight, otherwise the five of them will split the estate. Two women arrive claiming to be the long-lost granddaughter, which upsets all of the other relatives. When one of the women ends up dead, suspicion falls upon everyone who potentially would benefit form the elimination of the other heirs.

Extras:
Scene Access

My Thoughts:
This is another one of the movies from the Horror Classics: 100 Movie Pack boxset. Though much like War of the Robots I have no idea why it is in this boxset as it is in no way horror. In this case it is a decent murder mystery. Not the best I ever seen... but worth the time put in to watch it. This one has a bumbling police detective for a little comic relief. Well not only him... the main character of the old man gave me a few chuckles as well. Unfortunately the print on this one leaves a bit to be desired. It is watchable... but it is far from pristine. I would probably buy a good print of this one if I could get it cheap enough.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVDs on June 19th, 2010)

Mr. Popper's Penguins, a review by Dragonfire

When I first saw the trailers for Mr. Popper's Penguins, I thought it had the potential to be cute, though I wasn't sure I wanted to see it.  I ended up going to see it with a friend and I liked it overall.  It is a fun, cute, family friendly movie, though it does have some problems.

The plot is silly and not at all believable, but it does make for an entertaining movie.  I know it was based on a book, but I haven't read the book.  From what I read about the book, it seems like the plot has been changed a lot for the movie.  There are a lot of funny moments, though some of the humor is a little gross, dealing with penguin poo and things of that nature.  There are a few sweet moments in the movie as well.  A lot of what happens is just silly, but it works for the movie.

The penguins are really cute.  Jim Carrey can be hit or miss, depending on if he goes too over the top.  I think he did pretty good with this movie.  The other actors are fine in their parts. 

Not everyone will like this movie, but as a family friendly choice, it isn't that bad.  I would have gone with 3.5 stars at Epinions if I had the option.  Since I didn't, I ended up rounding up to 4 stars.

Mr. Popper's Penguins


(From Mr. Popper's Penguins on July 16th, 2011)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Tom

2.17 Red, White or Blue (1996-05-16)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Paul Gross (Story By), John Krizanc (Story By), Paul Gross (Screenwriter)
Director: George Bloomfield
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), David Marciano (Detective Ray Vecchio), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Catherine Bruhier (Elaine), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Kenneth Welsh (Randal Bolt), Raye Birk (Francis Bolt), Alex Carter (Agent Ford), Gary Reineke (Judge Brock), Ellen Dubin (States Attorney), Mark Melymick (Agent Deeter), Shawn Wright (Mountie Trainee), Norm Spencer (Agent Shorren), James Allodi (Asst. States Attorney), Maria Ricossa (Vivian Richards)

A good episode. I love the scene, where Ray and Fraser have a conversation with each other without being in the same room. It's a throwback to an earlier episode. This shows how well they know each other and can tell exactly what the other would be saying to them. I also find it nice that they have some small moments between Fraser and Thatcher showing us, that their "contact" on the train is not entirely forgotten.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on September 1st, 2009)