DVD Collectors Online

Initial D, a review by Jon

INITIAL D (2005)
2 out of 5

Movie based on the Manga/Anime about the drifting sub-culture in Japan... why am I even including this? Look, just read the bloody book. And I bet the animated version is far better. This is bollocks. Some cool driving scenes and using an older car against the flashy modern machines was great, but not enough to get in a lather about. The film is hamstrung by terrible MTV style editing that continually distracts. The kid looks good lazy and laid back while driving, but doesn't change when he gets out the car. His mate is a stupid character who really annoys me and the nail in the coffin was a completely daft subplot about his girlfriend

Special mention for Anthony Wong who is a great actor. Here he plays the drunk dad who, in an unusually subtle part of the story, could be as good a driver as his son. He and the drifting kept me watching. As a pure car film, it's better than The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, but that film was more enjoyable overall. It just scrapes in for two stars because of Wong and some of the drift scenes. The other drivers are decent mysterious characters too, but I repeat, try the book or the series first.

The Car's the star: Toyota Sprinter Trueno


Trailer

(From Car Movie Marathon on August 15th, 2008)

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, a review by Dragonfire

(From My November Alphabet Marathon on November 25th, 2008)

Tom's Glee Marathon, a review by Tom

Glee
Season 1.04 Preggers
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Writer)
Director: Brad Falchuk
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Stephen Tobolowsky (Sandy Ryerson), Patrick Gallagher (Ken Tanaka), Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Jennifer Aspen (Kendra Giardi), Kurt Fuller (Mr. McClung), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Earlene Davis (Andrea Carmichael), Hisonni Johnson (Nick), Bill A. Jones (Rod Remington), Frank Pacheco (Jerky Player)

This episode was a turning point for me for this series. Before this I thought it was nice, but not really great. But this episode surprised me. Especially the ending. It has shown me for the first time that Glee can have great moments, which makes it worth to watch even if it often has stupid moments.

Heather Morris, who plays Brittany, was first hired because of this episode. Her only job originally was to instruct the actors to do the Single Ladies dance, as she herself was dancing it with Beyoncé on her tour. Though then she was also hired as an actor as there was still an opening for a cheerleader character.

This episode also introduces "Sue's Corner". A segment on the local news TV program hosted by the Glee club's rival, the cheerleader coach Sue Sylvester played by Jane Lynch. The segments are hilariously politically incorrect.

In this episode Kurt's father Burt is introduced. At first he appears to be the stereotypical redneck, who would never be able to accept a gay son. When at the end Kurt started to come out to his father, the first time I watched the episode I expected a huge backlash. But then the episode surprised. The reaction of Burt was a simple "I know".
And that he still loves him. He will turn out to be one of the best characters of the entire series. How he constantly supports his son against bullying and other discriminations, even though he himself is not 100% percent comfortable yet that his son his gay.

Another character which gets some depths is Puck. Introduced as the series bad boy, he shows his good side here when he tries to be supportive when he learns that Quinn is pregnant with his baby.

Tina-Watch:
Tina has a storyline here. Which will be dropped soon after. Mr. Shue tries to get her into a more vital role in the Glee club. He seems to drop this agenda after this episode and Tina is doomed to be a background character.

Finncompetent:
He really believes Quinn story, that he got Quinn pregnant even though they never had intercourse, only because there were in a hot tub together making out, where he then ejaculated.


Notable music:
This episode hardly contains music. It includes Single Ladies from Beyoncé, but it is not sung by the cast. Only danced to by Kurt, Tina and Brittany and later the football players. There is only a few seconds of a songs sung by cast members. One of them is Rachel is singing a Celine Dion song ("Taking Chances") for a musical audition. I liked it.

Rating:

(From Tom's Glee Marathon on August 16th, 2012)