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Spider-Man 2, a review by Tom

Spider-Man 2 (2004/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Director: Sam Raimi Writing: Stan Lee (Original Characters By), Steve Ditko (Original Characters By), Alfred Gough (Story By), Miles Millar (Story By), Michael Chabon (Story By), Alvin Sargent (Screenwriter) Length: 136 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Arabic, Commentary, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Hindi, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish

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Stars:
Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson
James Franco as Harry Osborn
Alfred Molina as Doc Ock / Dr. Otto Octavius
Rosemary Harris as May Parker

Awards:
Won:

Academy Award (2004)		Best Visual Effects (John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, John Frazier)
American Film Institute Awards (2004)		Movie of the Year
BMI Film & TV Music Awards (2005)		BMI Film Music Award (Danny Elfman)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (2005)		Best Popular Movie
Empire Magazine Awards (2005)		Best Director (Sam Raimi)
Saturn (2004)		Best Actor (Tobey Maguire)
Saturn (2004)		Best Director (Sam Raimi)
Saturn (2004)		Best Fantasy Film
Saturn (2004)		Best Special Effects (John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, John Frazier)
Saturn (2004)		Best Writing (Alvin Sargent)
Taurus Award (2005)		Best Overall Stunt by a Man (Chris Daniels, Michael Hugghins)
Teen Choice Awards (2004)		Choice Movie of the Summer
Visual Effects Society Awards (2005)		Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture (Colin Drobnis, Greg Derochie, Blaine Kennison, Ken Lam (For the train sequence))
Visual Effects Society Awards (2005)		Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Act on Motion Picture (Dan Abrams, David Emery, Andrew Nawrot, John Hart (For the NYC street, night))
Visual Effects Society Awards (2005)		Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Visual Effects Film (Alfred Molina)

Nominated:

Academy Award (2004)		Best Sound Editing (Paul Ottosson)
Academy Award (2004)		Best Sound Mixing (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Joseph Geisinger)
AFI (2003)		100 Years... 100 Cheers (2006)
BAFTA (2004)		Achievement In Special Visual Effects (John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony La Molinara, John Frazier)
BAFTA (2004)		Sound (Paul Ottosson)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (2005)		Best Family Film (Live Action)
Cinema Audio Society Awards (2005)		Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures (Joseph Geisinger, Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Jeffrey J. Haboush)
Empire Magazine Awards (2005)		Best Actor (Tobey Maguire)
Empire Magazine Awards (2005)		Best Actress (Kirsten Dunst)
Empire Magazine Awards (2005)		Best Film
Hugo Award (2005)		Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
MTV Movie Awards (2005)		Best Action Sequence
MTV Movie Awards (2005)		Best Movie
MTV Movie Awards (2005)		Best Video Game Based on a Movie
MTV Movie Awards (2005)		Best Villain (Alfred Molina)
Satellite Awards (2005)
Satellite Awards (2005)		Best Cinematography (Bill Pope, Anette Haellmigk)
Satellite Awards (2005)		Best Film Editing (Bob Murawski)
Satellite Awards (2005)		Best Original Score (Danny Elfman)
Satellite Awards (2005)		Best Sound (Editing & Mixing) (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Joseph Geisinger, Paul Ottosson, Susan Dudeck)
Satellite Awards (2005)		Best Visual Effects (John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, John Frazier)
Saturn (2004)		Best Music (Danny Elfman)
Saturn (2004)		Best Supporting Actor (Alfred Molina)
Taurus Award (2005)		Best Specialty Stunt (Tim Storms, Garrett Warren, Susie Park, Patricia M. Peters, Norb Phillips, Lisa Hoyle, Kevin L. Jackson, Clay Donahue Fontenot)
Taurus Award (2005)		Best Work with a Vehicle (Tad Griffith, Richard Burden, Scott Rogers, Darrin Prescott, Mark Norby)
Teen Choice Awards (2005)		Choice Movie Bad Guy (Alfred Molina)
Visual Effects Society Awards (2005)		Best Single Visual Effect of the Year (John Dykstra, Lydia Bottegoni, Dan Abrams, John Monos (For the clock tower))
Visual Effects Society Awards (2005)		Outstanding Special Effects in Service to Visual Effects in a Motion Picture (John Frazier, James D. Schwalm, James Nagle, David Amborn)
Visual Effects Society Awards (2005)		Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture (John Dykstra, Lydia Bottegoni, Anthony LaMolinara, Scott Stokdyk)

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Commentary
• Featurettes
• Outtakes
• Scene Access
• Theatrical and Extended Versions

Usually I enjoyed Spider-Man 2 even more than the first one. But not this time around. It may be because now I watched the extended cut for the first time. The pacing seemed to be off a lot. Especially where the new or extended scenes where inserted. There is nothing new which adds to the story. It is just the opposite: The movie comes to a complete stop often in these new scenes. For example the old elevator scene was much funnier (albeit shorter) than the new scene. The only new scene which I found interesting to watch is where J.J. Jameson is wearing the Spidey outfit.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on July 8th, 2012)

The Machine Girl, a review by dfmorgan

The Machine Girl

Year: 2008
Director: Noboru Iguchi
CastOverview: Ami's a beautiful, popular kid for whom the future looks pretty good. But when her high-school brother gets bullied for money, and the guy after the cash just happens to be the vicious son of a crazy yakuza crime boss, you know all hell is about to break loose.
When Ami's bro can't pay enough, violence breaks out, he is murdered and Ami is bound, tortured and has her left arm hacked off as a reminder not to screw with the Yakuza.
But this is one chick who doesn't tkae any shit! Barely alive, she is taken in by a mechanic, who builds her a prosthetic limb with a difference - it's only a fully automatic machine gun!
THE QUEST FOR REVENGE IS ON!

Filled with genius toungue-in-cheek gore moments including human tempuras, nail-gunned faces, finger sushi, exploding torsos and the soon to be legendary 'drill bra', Machine Girl is the movie that Quentin Tarantino always wanted to make! Don't miss the over-the-top cult action hit of the decade!

Watched: 19th Mar 2010
My Thoughts: Well after seeing this endorsement by Jon I had to watch the film

I saw Machine Girl the other night. It's beyond awful! Absolute garbage. 

Hmmmmm what can I say. The transfer as mentioned in the thread on the other site isn't that good, loads of jaggies, but it didn't seem too bad after a while, I guess that I probably got used to the bad images. A girl fighting to avenge her brother's murder assisted by the mother of the brother's friend also killed by the same gang. These 2 take on a Yakuza family and gangs. Gore a plenty was the main theme with cut fingers, limbs, holes blown into torsos, decapitations, slicing heads and bodies all spraying blood everywhere plus we also had frying hands and arms. I didn't think it was that bad but it wasn't that good either.

My Rating: A worthy 2

Dave

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on March 20th, 2010)

Angel Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Angel runs into Darla "by coincidence" outside of his dreams. But she denies to be this "Darla" person. She even has a husband and can walk into the sunlight. But Angel is quite sure he has the right person in front of him.

My Opinion: Darla is a human again. This could be getting really interesting with her having a soul. And now we've met Drusilla in the past I think it's only a matter of episodes until Spike, I mean William the Bloody, also makes an appearance.

Synopsis: Angel seeks for the help of Swami T'ish Magev who was recommended to him by Lorne (the host of the karaoke bar) to discuss his Darla-issue. With Angel being absent Wesley asumes the role of Angel without thinking and gets hired as a bodyguard.

My Opinion: Very funny! Wesley as a vampire and he did all the things a vampire couldn't have done. But it also showed that Wesley has aquired some decent fighting skills.

Synopsis: Darla - like Angel - has a problem with having a soul again. We see a lot of flashbacks into the past from before and after Angel got his soul back. Additionally she begs Angel to make her a vampire again.

My Opinion: The Darla plot has taken an unexpected turn. In the beginning I thought that she would be his enemy but I don't see how that would be possible anymore. Sadly, Spike didn't got more screen time but the episode wasn't about him after all. I nonetheless liked the fact that they involved the time when Spike killed his first Slayer. Things like this make a fictional universe more whole.

Synopsis: Gunn asks Angel for help because his cousing has gotten into a thing that is getting over his head. Thus Angel helps to rob the "Shroud of Rahmon", a shroud that drives people insane.

My Opinion: I seriously hope that Kate gets over her animosity against Angel. I think the reason why Angel could at least partly escape the effects of the shraud is because he has been fighting his inner demon for more than a century.

(From Angel Marathon on February 16th, 2008)