DVD Collectors Online

The Life of Oharu, a review by Antares

The Life of Oharu (1952) 89/100 - There's a moment in Kurosawa's Shichinin no samurai, when a coolie who's sharing the barn with the farmers proclaims..."I'd rather be dead than live a farmer's life". Well, after watching The Life of Oharu, I can say that I'd rather be dead than live the life of a woman in feudal Japan. Objectified, subservient and without any rights of property, a woman's life in medieval Japan was no better than a dog's. Kinuyo Tanaka gives a memorable performance, but probably should have shared the leading role with a younger, teenage actress for the early scenes in Kyoto and Edo. As great an actress as she was, she really can't pull off 15 - 18 years old, when she herself, just passed 40 years of age. As with other Mizoguchi films, the cinematography is gorgeous and his use of a 'floating camera' style, gives the film a haunting sadness and beauty at the same time. I would have loved to give it a higher rating, but the transitions between certain parts in Oharu's life are not smooth, making the film seem a bit episodic. I was also a bit unmoved by the ending of the film. Through the breadth of this film, Oharu goes from lady-in-waiting, to courtesan, to concubine, to prostitute and finally beggar nun. In a society where disgrace and losing face are treated just as horrifically as murder or treason, Oharu accepts these injustices as fate. I would have loved to have seen her race past her son's retainers and proclaim to him that she was the woman who gave him life, and in keeping with the film's theme, having him disavow himself of her. Thus, finally broken by this last indignity, she takes her life in the garden of her son's palace. The last thought in her mind being that she is now free to join Katsunosuke in eternal love in the afterlife.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on February 28th, 2014)

Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog, a review by addicted2dvd

Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog: Family Feature (1995/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Phillip Borsos Writing: Phillip Borsos (Writer) Length: 81 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1, Pan & Scan 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
Mimi Rogers as Katherine McCormick
Bruce Davison as John McCormick
Jesse Bradford as Angus McCormick
Tom Bower as John Gale
Joel Palmer as Silas McCormick

Plot:
Set against the backdrop of the Canadian wilderness, this heartwarming adventure about a young boy and his dog is perfect entertainment for the whole family.

When their boat capsizes in turbulent waters off the Pacific Northwest, John McCormick's (Bruce Davidson) 14-year-old son Angus (Jesse Bradford), and newly adopted Golden Lab are swept ashore. As his terrified mother (Mimi Rogers) and father never give up hope that he will be found alive, Angus and his faithful friend struggle to survive in the rugged wilds. In the process they forge a special bond that neither time nor distance can break in this special story of love, loyalty and perseverance.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Closed Captioned

This one is a good story that I enjoyed quite a bit. Sure I found it to be a bit on the predictable side... but they still made it work. I liked that they portrayed the kid as smart and knew how to take care of himself out in the wilderness. But at the same time making Yellow essential to the story. Definitely worth the time put in to watch.



(From May Marathon - Animals on May 3rd, 2016)

Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Xena intervenes in an old feud between two kingdoms that is fuelled by the weapons dealer profiting from it. He kidnapped the princess and blamed it on the other kingdom. Within his ranks Xena finds Marcus, an old friend of hers who still travels the road she's left.

My Opinion: It was an OK episode, but Marcus's sacrifice at the end was a bit unconvincing. Granted they prepared for it in that conversation between him and Xena, but he was just fighting her because he did not want to change his way of living.

Synopsis: Ares, God of War, slaughters some innocent villagers and blames it on Xena. The surviving villagers want to bring her to trial and then execute her. Ares could help her - if she comes back to him. Gabrielle tries to defend her and prove her innocence but is being sabotaged in her efforts.

My Opinion: Even though the episode introduced the cool Kevin Smith (they are both cool, but this is not the fat one! ) as Ares, the episode didn't work for me. Even though she was innocent she surrendered to this trial just because she has a dark past. And it looked like as if she might have let them kill her. That's BS in my eyes.

Synopsis: Gabrielle inadvertently releases three of the Titans when she recites and old chant in a huge cave hall. Amongst them is Hyperion, the Sun Titan, who is not very fond of Humans. At first they follow Gabrielle's command since they believe that only a powerful god could have released them. But Hyperion is impatient...

My Opinion: This episode I liked. It was cool to see Crius (one of the Titans) to follow Gabrielle's every wish and constantly calling her "the virgin goddess" and her getting annoyed by it (especially the "virgin" part ). I also thought they did the handling of the height difference pretty decently. The special effects in the show aren't the best but here they managed it to look pretty convincingly.

Synopsis: Hera, wife of Zeus and mother of the gods, has put Prometheus in chains. This means that mankind will slowly lose all gifts Prometheus has given them. Starting with the ability to heal and the ability to utilize fire. Both Xena & Gabrielle and Hercules & Iolaus try to free him again.

My Opinion: This was a cool episode, seeing the four of them together (I think it's the only time it ever happens). And while it was unlikely (due to the time frame) that Hercules told Xena about Prometheus and his chains I didn't care. I liked how they found "a solution" to free him without the need to sacrifice one of them and I liked how Iolaus and Gabrielle came closer.

(From Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon on December 2nd, 2009)