DVD Collectors Online

Volver, a review by Hal

Title: Volver
Year: 2006
Director:Rating: R
Length: 121 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: Spanish: PCM: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English

Stars:Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Interviews

A very entertaining tale which takes you on a journey through an array of emotions from grief to anxiety to humor to redemption.  Over the course of just a few days, poor Raimunda (Cruz) is faced with one crisis after another and must rely on her sister, daughter and other female friends to overcome unbelievable obstacles.  A very touching ending to a story which twists and turns a few times, leaves you in a feel-good mood in the end, in spite of the fact that bad deeds go unpunished, mainly because they happened to bad people.  Unfortunately for those of us of the male persuasion, this movie does not shed a kind light on men as a species.
This movie was unusually vibrant mainly because of the use of a lot of primary colors throughout.  The not-so-hidden message about wind power was far from subtle as they showed the wind farm at least four times during the film.
Very enjoyable!

Rating:

(From Volver on July 28th, 2010)

Ladder 49, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Ladder 49
Year: 2004
Director: Jay Russell
Rating: PG-13
Length: 115 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: French, Spanish

Stars:
Joaquin Phoenix
John Travolta
Jacinda Barrett
Robert Patrick
Morris Chestnut
Billy Burke

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos
Closed Captioned
THX

My Thoughts:
I been wanting to fit this one in for a while now... as I have enjoyed firefighting movies in the past. I have to say... it has been a while since I watched any other movies about firefighting... so I have a hard time comparing it to any of the others. But I enjoyed every second of this movie! It has lots of great firefighting action in it as well as a good story of their private lives that keeps you just as interested as all the action sequences. I normally don't care much for flashbacks in movies... but this movie did it right. They were done so well that during the scenes that took place in the present I was looking forward to the next flashback to learn more about this brave firefighter's life. I think I personally would have preferred the movie to end differently. It is still a powerful ending... I would just rather have seen it be different. Either way... this is definitely a movie I would recommend.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Celebrity Birthdays January 17-23 on January 23rd, 2011)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

16. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (1998-02-10)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Created By), Marti Noxon (Writer)
Director: James A. Contner
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), David Boreanaz (Angel), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Seth Green (Oz), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Robia LaMorte (Jenny Calendar), Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy), Mercedes McNab (Harmony), Lorna Scott (Miss Beakman), James Marsters (Spike), Juliet Landau (Drusilla), Jason Hall (Devon), Jennie Chester (Kate), Kristen Winnicki (Cordette), Tamara Braun (Frenzied Girl), Scott Hamm (Jock)

I always liked this episode. It's the funny highlight of the otherwise more dramatic second half of season two.
I would have liked to see more of Amy in later episodes though (and not how she turned out to be in season six).

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on February 15th, 2009)