DVD Collectors Online

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, a review by addicted2dvd

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc


My Thoughts:
This was a complete bind buy for me... as before I ordered it I never even seen the trailer for this movie. But I have always liked the story of Joan of Arc. I also been a fan of Milla Jovovich for a while now... who stars in the title role. Thinking back this may be the first movie on Joan of Arc that I ever seen... at least as far as I can remember. Because of that... I can not compare this movie to any other... but I can say I enjoyed every minute of it. This movie clocks in at 2hrs. and 38min. but I enjoyed it so much it felt like a fraction of that time. I feel this movie was definitely worth the $5 I paid for it.

Rating:

NOTE TO JON:
Hey Jon... let me say if for you! Watching this movie I got to see plenty of blood... arms and legs getting cut off... and more then one beheading! With a movie like this... who needs horror! 

(From Movie Marathon: 8/14 - 8/17 on August 16th, 2008)

The Dark Knight, a review by Dragonfire

The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective. But soon the three find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line bewtween hero and vigilante. Heath Ledger stars as archvillian The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. Maggie Gyllenhall joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

My Thoughts

This was an absolutely wonderful movie and shows just how good a superhero movie can be.  They don't have to just be mindless action movies with someone running around wearing a mask.  Not that I don't like a lot of the other superhero movies too..but this one was just on a different level in every way.  The story was wonderful and everything worked together well.  The characters and cast were wonderful.  The  movie had a dark tone, but that was needed for the material to be dealt with properly.  I had a feeling that a few things were going to happen before I first saw the movie, but there were several surprises and I wouldn't call the movie predictable at all.  The one minor issue I had was that I felt the...resolution to what was going on with Harvey seemed just a bit rushed.  I think it would have been interesting if that had been saved for the next movie, which would have allowed the character to evolve and develop more.

I absolutely loved Heath Ledger as the Joker.  He took a fairly well known character and made it his own.  His version was completely different from every other Joker I've seen and I think so much better than too.  Ledger's Joker makes Nicholson's Joker look like a goofy guy playing dress up.  For me, not only was Ledger the best Joker, he was the best villain from a superhero movie and one of the best movie villains in general.  I truly feel this is one of the best movies of 2008 and it is one of my favorites.

 

I posted a review on Epinions after seeing the movie in the theater back in July - the movie was amazing on the big screen - if anyone wants to take a look.

The Dark Knight

(From Dragonfire: What I've Been Watching on January 12th, 2009)

Caroline in the City Marathon, a review by Tom

Caroline and the Cereal (1996-04-18)
Writer: Ian Praiser, Michelle Nader, Amy Cohen, Ian Praiser, Michelle Nader, Amy Cohen, Rob Lotterstein, Ellen Idelson
Director: Pamela Fryman
Cast: Lea Thompson (Caroline), Eric Lutes (Del), Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie), Andy Lauer (Charlie), Vicki Lewis (Merle Heller), Mesach Taylor (James), Tom La Grua (Remo), Denice Kumagai (Moderator), Roz Witt (Marian), Larry Raben (Ted), Brad Bartram (Elliot), Norman Large (Man #1), Gregg Daniel (Man #2)

A good episode. Caroline is offered the possibility that her cartoon character is put on a cereal box. But after noticing the not-so-kid-friendly shape of the cereals, she refuses the offer.



Caroline and Richard's Mom (1996-04-25)
Writer: Dottie Dartland, Charles Harper Yates
Director: James Burrows
Cast: Lea Thompson (Caroline), Eric Lutes (Del), Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie), Andy Lauer (Charlie), Elizabeth Ashley (Natalie Karinsky), John Ratzenberger (Mr. Berman), Nada Desptovich (Elzbieta), Matt Battaglia (JOSEPH), Wendy Lawless (Receptionist), Jim Vallely (Jim), Warren Littlefield (Himself)

Richard's crazy mom comes to visit. John Ratzenberger (Cliff from Cheers) guest-stars. An average episode.



Caroline and the Bridesmaid (1996-05-09)
Writer: Wil Calhoun, Bill Masters
Director: Tom Cherones
Cast: Lea Thompson (Caroline), Eric Lutes (Del), Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie), Andy Lauer (Charlie), Melora Hardin (Beth), Tia Riebling (Vicki), Christine Romeo (Linda), Tony Carlin (Greg), Pat Finn (Steve), Kenneth Alan Williams (Eddie), John Mariano (Johnny), Olivia V. White (Mrs. Simmons), Jarrett Lennon (Elliot)

Caroline is doubting, if making irresponsible Annie the maid of honor was the right choice. A good episode.



Caroline and the Wedding (1996-05-16)
Writer: Bill Masters
Director: James Burrows
Cast: Lea Thompson (Caroline), Eric Lutes (Del), Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie), Andy Lauer (Charlie), Michael McKean (Father Damian), Tom La Grua (Remo), Candice Azzara (Angie Spadaro), John Mariano (Johnny), John Apicella (Janitor)

A good episode. This is the season finale. Richard admits his feelings for Caroline in a letter, which she doesn't get. Caroline breaks off her wedding, because she realizes she has feelings for Richard.
Richard doesn't know this and has left the country at the end of the episode.



Caroline and the Condom (1996-08-05)
Writer: Marco Pennette, Fred Barron
Director: James Burrows
Cast: Lea Thompson (Caroline), Eric Lutes (Del), Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie), Ping Wu (Kwan), Sean Gregory Sullivan (Monroe), Cathy Lind Hayes (Sister Mary Louise), Marcelo Tubert (Vendor), Judy Prescott (Audrey), Tony Edwards (Cashier), Scott Fowler (Randy), Debra Casey (The Pierced Lady)

Essentially a flashback episode, but most of the flashbacks are new scenes. A good episode.




Final Thoughts:
This was it for the first season of Caroline in the City. I am not sure, if I am continuing doing short episode reviews for other series. I did run out of something (even a little) to say after a few episodes after all. Could be, that CitC (though I like the series) just isn't a series where there is much to say about. I will of course still make short reviews on episodes in marathons I am participating (like the upcoming "The Big Bang Theory" marathon).

(From Caroline in the City Marathon on September 20th, 2008)