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Frances, a review by Eric

Frances




Summary: Jessica Lange delivers the performance of her career as Frances Farmer, the notorious 1930's movie star whose impassioned opinions and outspoken behavior created scandal throughout the industry. But when she was betrayed by the studio system and committed to an insane asylum by her domineering mother, Frances descended into a madness that revealed the most horrific abuses of mental illness and exposed the cruelest consequences of Hollywood fame.

Kim Stanley and Sam Shepherd co-star in this tragic true story that shocked the world. FRANCES is now presented in a stunning new transfer from original film materials and is packed with startling new bonus features exclusive to this edition.

My Thoughts: This is the typical story of a woman who was born in a time where she couldn't settle for what society allowed her to be.  Truly beautiful, intelligent, opiniated and strong minded, she became an actress in a Hollywood who wanted nothing else from women than be beautiful and do as they were told.  Unfortunately for her, Frances was not of that type and she lived a life full of frustrations and deceptions.  Child of a controlling mother, probably schizophrenic, who wanted to live through her daughter the life that she never had, the only place where Frances could ever seek refuge ended up to be the most damaging to her.  Unable to control her emotions, she often had outbursts of rage which got her labeled as mentally sick and institutionalized.  After receiving monstrous treatments that were common in her time she had a lobotomy and was released from the institution.  She worked in television and died in 1970.

That is a very good movie, for me it was one of those blind buys that turn out to be such a nice choice.  Jessica Lange and Kim Stanley both give extremely good performances.  Some of their scenes together are shockingly good.  I really really liked that movie and very strongly recommend it.

My Score: 10/10, I want use my regular scoring system because this movie is worth much more than just a stupid smiley with a thumb up (But that comment is worth a stupid smiley with an eye closed).


A featurette on the DVD shows pictures of Frances Farmer, the film doesn't when painting her a very beautiful woman, see for yourself.





(From Eric's DVD watching. on June 2nd, 2008)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, a review by Dragonfire

I went to see Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  I really enjoyed the first two movies and I've been wanting to see this one for a while.  It is in 3D in some theaters, and that is the version I saw.  There weren't as many images used to take advantage of the 3D images, but it was still done well.  The animation is wonderful overall.  The hair on the animals was done really well.  Ellie looks so soft and cuddely.

The plot isn't that complex, but it is entertaining.  Manny and Ellie are preparing for the birth of their child.  Diego is thinking that he needs to head off on his own and Sid is feeling left out.  He ends up in a cave where he finds 3 eggs that he believes have been abandoned.  He decides to take the eggs to raise as his children.  It turns out they are dinosaurs and they don't get along well with the other children.  Then Mommy dinosaur tracks down her babies, and is not pleased that Sid has them.  She takes the babies and Sid back through the cave.  Manny, Ellie, Diego, Eddie, and Crash decide to to after Sid and they discover another world where dinosaurs are still alive.  They meet Buck, a sort of crazy weasel who has been living in the jungle a long time.

While all that is going on, Scrat the squirrel is still chasing his precious acorn.  He gets distracted when he meets Scratte, a female flying squirrel, also after the acorn.

I think this movie can mostly stand alone, though certain things tied to the characters will make more sense if the first two movies have been watched.  Things are rather predictable, but the movie is still entertaining and enjoyable.  There is a tiny bit of suspense in a few places and one or two surprises.

During this movie, Scrat and Scratte pop up every so often and they do come into some contact with the main characters.  I've always loved Scrat and his attempts at getting the acorn, and I continued to enjoy him in this movie.  He's just a cute, funny character. 

The movie is very funny overall, though some of the humor is silly and won't appeal to some viewers.  Some of the humor is a bit gross or crude, though it isn't too graphic.  There is a bit of action and some mild violence in a few sequences as well, so parents will want to keep that in mind when deciding on if this is a good movie for their children.

Overall, this is a really cute, entertaining movie that I enjoyed.  I'm sure I'll be adding the DVD to my collection once it is out.  I would have rated it 4.5 stars at Epinions when I did my review there if I had the option, but since I didn't, I rounded up to 5.  I'll use the same rating here.

 

I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone would like to take a look.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs


(From Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on July 23rd, 2009)

The King of Queens: The Complete Series, a review by addicted2dvd

The King of Queens: The Complete Series IMDb |Wikipedia |Intro | THE KING OF QUEENS consistently delivered laughs for nine seasons, making it one of the most popular and longest-running comedies in television history! Kevin James stars as Doug Heffernan, a lovable regular guy with an adoring wife, Carrie (Leah Remini), and a frustrating father-in-law (Jerry Stiller) under his roof. Packed with a crazy cast of characters, hilarious situations and plenty of great guest stars, this is one show that brings the goods!

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Stars:
Kevin James as Doug
Leah Remini as Carrie
Victor Williams as Deacon
Patton Oswalt as Spence
Gary Valentine as Danny
Nicole Sullivan as Holly
Jerry Stiller as Arthur

Extras:

• Audio Commentary
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Production Notes

This is a series I never watched when it originally aired. I caught a few odd episodes when they were in reruns... but not that many at all. Then I finally bought the first season set... and found I really enjoyed the show. Instead of continuing to buy the season sets I decided to just get this complete series set. This way I would get it all at once... and then there was the added bonus of a special bonus disc only available through the complete series set.

In a matter of just about a month I completed this set... all 9 seasons... 207 episodes! And I must say... I really enjoyed every minute of it! I just couldn't stop watching it! I definitely feel I got my money worth with this series. I found myself literally laughing out loud through the entire series... well the entire series up until the last few episodes of the series. Don't get me wrong... I still enjoyed it. And I do get the storyline demanded a much more serious atmosphere... but I just think it took too much of a turn to the more series and not as much comedy as there should of been. But then that could also be because I really didn't care for the storyline they chose for the final episodes.

The packaging for this set leaves a lot to be desired as well. I know there is a more fancy IPS Truck shaped complete series set out there... but I felt they were just asking too much money for that one. This one is exactly like the complete series set for Married with Children where it opens up like a digipak... but on each side there is 2 big spools with half the discs on each side... the discs just sitting on top each other. I can deal with it... but it is probably my least favorite packaging I ever seen.

Over all this is a set I definitely recommend. The complete 9 season (207 eps.) set plus a bonus disc available only through the complete series set.... at amazon right now for under  $40. Definitely a great deal for a great series!




(From The King of Queens: The Complete Series on August 17th, 2012)