DVD Collectors Online

Old Boy, a review by Rich

Hiding behind a cushion in Korea...



A man is inexplicably kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years and his wife is brutally murdered. On his release, he is given a wallet full of money and a mobile phone. A stranger calls and asks him to try and figure out why he was imprisoned. A girl appears and promises to help him solve the enigma and seek vengeance for his cruel fate. As the search progresses, the man finally comes face to face with his kidnapper, who proposes a game: if the man discovers the reason for his imprisonment, his kidnapper will kill himself. If not, then the girl will be killed. He has only five days to unravel the mystery.

My prevailing image that remains from the film is the torture by means of removing the guys teeth with a claw hammer    man that was awful!
Stylish and entertaining, at times funny, a brilliant score, moving and haunting all at the same time. Again this is never going to be a high score because it isn't my favourite type of film, but I could fully appreciate the praise it has been given and would easily watch it again. Recommended 7/10

(From Around the World in 80 DVD's on March 7th, 2008)

The Thing, a review by Jon

The Thing
5 out of 5



In John Carpenter's update of a 50s b-movie classic, a research team in Antarctica are attacked by a shape-shifting alien that could be any one of them...

This is a gory and powerful update to The Thing From Another World and unlike most remakes, is more than a classic of the genre in its own right. The story bears a lot of comparison with Alien and the subtle mood is similar too, except instead of the team hunting an intruder, they're hunting themselves, because this particular parasite can imitate anyone perfectly.

Well, first it has to eat them and each sequence is a marvellously disgusting exercise in special effects and the modern benchmark for any anti-CGI debates. The invention of these horrible creations is astonishing; "You've got to be f***ing kidding me", says one character and your jaw will drop too. He was referring to a severed head growing spider legs and scuttling away, but there are several scenes like that!

Carpenter's lean and focused screenplay features distinct variations of food for the Thing, effectively brought to life by a first-class cast of character actors, led by Kurt Russell, Donald Moffat and Keith David. As I said before, Alien was a clear inspiration for the approach and they are all similarly weary and memorable, so you feel it as they get picked off. There is a stand-out moment with several of them tied together while Russell tests their blood.

The music by Ennio Morricone (as well as Carpenter's usual synthesiser motifs) is sombre and builds a tense, doom-laden mood from the off, matched by sharp cinematography. Carpenter makes the most of the bleak landscape, but breaks it up with contrasting sets and lighting. The moment the generator fails is brilliantly done. As a side note, I watched the Blu-Ray edition and the bits featuring fire are particularly fine.

This is a milestone in the horror genre. The nature of the story means the parasites forms are limited only by imagination, yet never appear gratuitous and only add to the atmosphere. Above all this a character piece as you see them quickly break down under the paranoia. And it's difficult to work out who has been assimilated and how, so this brilliantly puts you in the same position as the characters.

It makes you bite your nails, jump out of your chair and threatens to make you throw up too! You'll be in a hell of a mess by the end of this film, but that's what the best horrors do. 

(From Jon's Marathon of Horror! 2009 on October 11th, 2009)

Tom's Glee Marathon, a review by Tom

Glee
Season 1.22 Journey to Regionals
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Brad Falchuk (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 (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Josh Groban (Himself), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Idina Menzel (Shelby Corcoran), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Charlotte Ross (Judy Fabray), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Bill A. Jones (Rod Remington), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Olivia Newton-John (Herself), Carole Gutierrez (Nurse #1), Jennifer Saygan (Nurse #2)

The season one finale. I enjoyed it and it was a great conclusion for this season.
I liked that they lost the competition and only get another chance for a second year because Sue had a change of heart and shows compassion for the Glee club.

Brittana:
Linking pinkies during Will's performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Notable music:
Vocal Adreneline's performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was good, but cannot beat Queen's original. They just don't have any heart to it (which may be the point).

I enjoyed the Journey medley they perform at the competition. Especially their redux of "Don't Stop Believing" which they first sang in the first episode:

Another good song was the last one in this episode when Will is singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to the kids.

Rating:

(From Tom's Glee Marathon on September 22nd, 2012)