DVD Collectors Online

Identity, a review by Danae Cassandra

Identity
Year of Release: 2003
Directed By: James Mangold
Starring: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes
Genre: Suspense/Thriller

Overview:
What if there really were no coincidences in life and our destinies were already predetermined?

Ten strangers with secrets are brought together in a savage rainstorm: A limo driver (John Cusack), an '80s TV star (Rebecca DeMornay), a cop (Ray Liotta) who is transporting a killer (Jake Busey), a call girl (Amanda Peet), a pair of newlyweds (Clea DuVall and William Lee Scott) and a family in crisis (John C. McGinley, Leila Kenzle, Bret Loehr), all take shelter at a desolate motel run by a nervous night manager (John Hawkes). Relief in finding shelter is quickly replaced with fear as the ten travelers begin to die, one by one. They soon realize that, if they are to survive, they'll have to uncover the secret that has brought them all together.

My Thoughts:
I found this to be a really entertaining, suspenseful film.  Looking at things from the end, I can see how clues were set up, but watching the film I didn't have it fully figured out until the reveal.  Yes, early on the film does let you know that there is more to this than the obvious (escape from the motel only bringing one character back to the motel) and it gives it this Twilight Zone-esque feel at that point, but I was still wondering exactly what was going on and exactly who was the culprit.  Yes, I did have suspicions towards the correct answer, but I also thought the film did a good job misdirecting the viewer.  The performances are all good, though Cusack was the standout for me.  All in all, very good film, solid recommendation for just about anyone.

Bechdel Test:

Overall: 4/5

(From Off Day Alphabet Marathon on November 9th, 2014)

The Incredible Hulk, a review by Dragonfire

My Thoughts

I'm using this for my U entry.

I did see Hulk after it was out on DVD.  I didn't hate it like so many seemed to, but I didn't love it either.  There were just too many things about that one that didn't work for me, especially the main villain of the movie.  The Incredible Hulk was so much better on every level.  The casting seemed to fit better, the story was stronger and more logical, and there was an actual villain from the comics used..plus there was set up for a future villain as well.  I wasn't sure what to think when I heard this movie was going to basically ignore the other movie, but I think it worked  doing that.  The origin story - which wasn't shown in a lot of detail - just worked better even though it was different from the comic books.  It was more like what had been done in the television show.  I use to watch that show all the time and I really liked it.  I really don't remember a lot from it now, but I did read and see some interviews back before this opened in June that there was an attempt to make the movie more like the tv show since that had been so popular.  I also read about how Edward Norton had been a fan of the show and worked on the script to make some of the changes so it was more like the show.  I did remember some things that were clearly from the show..like how his eyes would turn green first and how he was always on the move alone.  I think there were some other things as well that I can't remember.  I felt like the connection and story with Bruce and Betty worked better this time as well.  The special effects worked better and looked better overall as well.  Yes things were unbelievable, but that worked with the movie.  I also really liked how there was a little bit of a connection to Iron Man and more hints of what is to come from Marvel movies.

 

(From My November Alphabet Marathon on November 28th, 2008)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

ENT 4.18 In A Mirror, Darkly
Cast: Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer), John Billingsley (Phlox), Jolene Blalock (T'Pol), Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed), Anthony Montgomery (Travis Mayweather), Linda Park (Hoshi Sato), Connor Trinneer (Charles "Trip" Tucker III), Vaughn Armstrong (Captain Maxwell Forrest), Franc Ross (Grizzled Human)

In the fourth season of Enterprise they finally understood what potential making a prequel series has.
This episode completely plays out in the mirror universe. We see the mirror universe twist of the first contact of Cochrane with the vulcans (with footage from the movie ST: First Contact). And we see the mirror universe version of Archer's crew which is similar badass as Kirk's mirror universe crew. And a great idea to combine the story about the missing Defiant from the "Tholian Web" episode of the original series with the mirror universe. They even changed the opening credits for this two-parter.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on September 26th, 2009)