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The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), a review by addicted2dvd

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Robert Wise (1914) Writing: Edmund H. North (Screenwriter), Harry Bates (Original Material By) Length: 92 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Michael Rennie as Klaatu
Patricia Neal as Helen Benson
Hugh Marlowe as Tom Stevens
Sam Jaffe as Professor Jacob Barnhardt
Billy Gray as Bobby Benson

Plot:
A spaceship lands in Washington, D.C., capturing the attention of the world. But the peaceful alien emissary (Michael Rennie) it brings fails to earn the public's trust. When a young woman and her son befriend him, they soon realize they may be all that stands between the human race and total destruction.

Extras:

• Scene Access

This is the first time I am watching this sci-fi classic... but it comes highly recommended. And I must say... I did enjoy this one quite a bit. The story line kept my interest with ease and the cast did a great job. I was actually a little surprised to see Frances Bavier in this one as it is probably the only thing I have seen her do other then "The Andy Griffith Show" where she played Aunt Bea. Another film well worth the time to watch. You should check it out if you haven't done so yet.



(From The Alphabet Marathon: Blu-ray Edition on January 8th, 2016)

Let the Right One In, a review by goodguy

(Sweden 2008, AKA Let the Right One In, AKA So finster die Nacht)

IMDb summary: Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other people's blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive? Let The Right One In is a story both violent and highly romantic, set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.

In its use of vampirism, LTROI reminded me of Abel Ferrara's flawed masterpiece The Addiction. There is the same messy and grim approach to the actual blooddrinking and the same disregard for the typical vampire lore. There are vampires in both movies, but neither is a vampire movie; they are about something else entirely.

Linking a vampire tale with a coming-of-age story is not that unusal. But LTROI doesn't fall into the traps of a teenage love fantasy. There is tenderness and even a kiss between the two leads, but their bond is decidedly asexual and prepubescent; it is forged from a deep sense of alienation and has a haunted innocence. Both performances are spectacular.

Alfredson finds striking visuals in the most banal and desolate settings, creating a bleak and chilling atmosphere with a strong poetic quality. This is combined with a beautiful score and an ingenious sound design that draws the viewer into the isolation of the protagonists.

Highly recommended and certainly one of last year's best movies.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on May 31st, 2009)

Runaway: The Complete Series, a review by addicted2dvd

Runaway: The Complete Series (2006/United States)

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Stars:
Donnie Wahlberg as Paul Rader
Leslie Hope as Lily Rader
Dustin Milligan as Henry Rader
Sarah Ramos as Hannah Rader
Nathan Gamble as Tommy Rader
Susan Floyd as Gina Bennett
Karen LeBlanc as Angela Huntley

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Closed Captioned

This is a (very) short lived series that originally aired on The CW... the year that The CW was formed. Unfortunately for some reason they felt the need to cancel this series after airing only 3 episodes! I mean come on... how do you not give a series more of a chance then 3 episodes? The DVD set has the entire 9 episodes that was produced before the cancellation. It is a real shame that they didn't give it more of a chance... because IMHO... this is a very good series. I think it had an excellent chance of going on for at least a couple full seasons. I found myself so drawn into this series while watching it. At the end of each episode I couldn't wait to watch the next. My favorite episode in the series is There's No Place Like Home... in this episode the small town the family is hiding out in is hit by a tornado. Obviously with such a small amount of episodes this series does end with some unanswered questions. But it does answer the question of who it was that killed the woman Paul is accused of murdering. And I must say... wow! Great twist! Definitely didn't see it coming! Makes me even madder that the series didn't get the chance to continue!




(From Addicted2dvd's Random TV Series Watched on May 17th, 2012)