DVD Collectors Online

Death Proof, a review by Rich

Title: Death Proof

Runtime:110
Certificate:18
Year:2007
Genres:Suspense/Thriller, Action

Plot:Director Quentin Tarantino delivers an adrenaline shot to the heart with Death Proof, a pedal to the metal white knuckle ride behind the wheel of a psycho serial killer's roving, revving, racing death machine!
Featuring exhilarating high-speed action, jaw-dropping stunts, and some of the most quotable lines since Pulp Fiction, Death Proof "is pure pulp pleasure" (Film Review). Kurt Russell stars as a sociopathic stuntman whose taste for stalking sexy young ladies gets him into big trouble when he tangles with the wrong gang of badass babes. Their confrontation escalates to a hair-raising, 18-minute automotive duel with one of the girls strapped to the hood of a thundering Dodge Challenger that will have you on the edge of your seat mile after mile.

My Review:
Joyful, unadulterated carnage and mayhem, told and graphically displayed in typical Tarantino style, this movie is a blast.
The 2 stories work well in harmony, it is sluttishly funny, terribly tongue in cheek with women in hotpants, skimpy shorts or cheerleader outfits, macho in the cars, and gratioutous in some of the crash scenes showing several different angles of the same violent carnage which ensued.
Perhaps the biggest negative of the film for me was the fake scratchiness to achieve a 70s look in the 1st story.
But besides that I really enjoyed this OTT movie, with one of the greatest endings you'll experience with a large grin on your face.


(From December Marathons - DISCUSSION AND REVIEW THREAD on December 8th, 2009)

Le temps des gitans, a review by goodguy

In 2007, Emir Kusturica adapted his movie Time of the Gypsies (see previous review) as a punk opera for the Parisian Opera Bastille. Libretto (again, mostly in Romani) and almost completely new music were a collaborative effort of the No Smoking Orchestra (of which Kusturica is a part).

The term "punk" is a little misleading, though. The score is a mix of gypsy music and rock/pop, the latter often nicely unpolished, but punk it is not. The story follows that of the movie closely enough, but it has been simplified and streamlined. On the plus side, this results in the part of Azra (Perhan's girlfriend) being slightly extended.

Overall, the adaptation is more folkloristic and circus-like, the tone much lighter and closer to Kusturica's second gypsy film Black Cat, White Cat than the one it is based on.

But even if the opera version lacks the depth and richness of the original, Kusturica's staging frequently is imaginative and beautiful and the music likewise has some great moments.

For the leading parts of Perhan and Azra, Kusturica again worked with amateurs. Both Stevan Andjelković and Milica Todorović were contestants on a Serbian TV show and do quite a remarkable job.

Trailer and Clip

I looked around on YouTube and found these two clips. The first one, while not an official trailer, works pretty well as such. The second clip is the St. George's Day scene as staged in the opera and makes for a nice comparison to the one I included in my movie review.







(From goodguy's Watch Log on December 30th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Undeclared: The Complete Series (2001/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Shout! Factory, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (United States) Length: 403 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
College life as seen through the eyes of Steven Karp, a freshman determined to reinvent himself at a new school. Faced with dilemmas as miserable as being "sexiled" to the rec room while roommates use the bedroom and as dire as confronting a girlfriend's jealous stalker-ex-boyfriend, Steven and his new friends tackle the challenges of higher education. Named one of Time magazine's top ten television shows of 2001 and praised for its "pitch perfect" casting, Undeclared is "one of the cum laude comedies of the new season . . . a sneaky funny hoot with endearingly offbeat characters." (Los Angeles Times)


Undeclared
Season 1.01 Prototype
Writer: Judd Apatow (Original Characters By), Judd Apatow (Writer)
Director: Jake Kasdan
Cast: Jay Baruchel (Steven Karp), Carla Gallo (Lizzie Exley), Charlie Hunnam (Lloyd Haythe), Monica Keena (Rachel Lindquist), Seth Rogen (Ron Garner), Timm Sharp (Marshall Nesbitt), Loudon Wainwright III (Hal Karp), Kevin Rankin (Lucien), Jarrett Grode (Perry), Simon Helberg (Jack), Jenna Fischer (Sorority Girl), Mandy Freund (Red-Headed Woman), Jennifer Shon (Pretty Girl), Tom Welling (Tom), Leroy Adams (Football Player), Alex Breckenridge (Prim and Proper Girl), Lizzy Caplan (Beautiful Girl), Jason Segel (Eric)

This series is made by the same people that made Freaks & Geeks. This time, instead of high school, it plays at a university. And it is not an hour drama, but half-hour comedy. Familiar faces from Freaks & Geeks so far are Seth Rogen and Jason Segel. Like Freaks & Geeks it only lasted one season.
I enjoyed this pilot episode.
There was a small cameo by Tom Welling. It must have been around the time he started his work on Smallville.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on November 13th, 2012)