DVD Collectors Online

Trapped, a review by Jimmy

Title : Trapped (1982)

Overview
An Innocent camping weekend turns into terror and murder for four young university students. Henry Chatwell (Henry Silva, OCEANS 11, SHARKEY'S MACHINE, CHAINED HEAT) stalks, tortures and kills his wife's lover, witnessed by the students. Unable to contact the sheriff, they return to their campfire, where they are taken captive.

Chatwell's verdict is that the students must die!

My Impression
One thing that I've learned in my years of movie watching is to not step in in the redneck bussiness if I don't want a lot of trouble, of course those four young students don't give a damn. The film is not exactly what I expected (a trashier version of Deliverance), but I've appreciated it anyway. Of course the student act like idiot (not in the sense of "American Pie" idiot, but in the sense of nobody would react like that). Henry Silva gives a terrific performance in the role of the redneck who lost all his self control after he catch his wife cheating on him. The poor guy he catch get the beating of his life for this. Strangely the film lost its momentum when the town citizens catch the students as the story turn into a cat and mouse game, but the final is sure grandiose...

Not the best film directed by William Fruet (the honor goes to Death Weekend who is not released yet on dvd), but another good Canadian film.

Rating :



(From Jimmy's 2009 Horror Marathon on October 5th, 2009)

Being Julia, a review by Silence_of_Lambs

Summary:
Tale of amorous folly and revenge set in the world of the London stage in the late 1930's. Reigning diva Julia Lambert's (Annette Bening) success and fame grow suddenly wearisome. She falls head over heels for a young American, Tom (Shaun Evans), and begins a passionate May - December affair. When she realizes that Tom is just a young social climber whose real passion is ambitious young starlet Avice Crichton (Lucy Punch), Julia begins to plot a delightful revenge.

My Thoughts:
The summary really (nearly) says it all, the original material is by W. Somerset Maugham, so no real surprises in the plot are to be expected.
The first time I partially watched this movie was when I accidentally zapped into it on TV. I arrived to enjoy the preparations for the revenge with the final execution of the career of a young actress. Until I finally watched the complete story on DVD I had to ask myself: "What might this girl have done to deserve this?"
What really is great about this movie is the extremely good and ambitioned acting starting with Annette Bening as aging actress over Jeremy Irons as her husband and Michael Gambon as ... let's call it "the spirit of inspiration". The whole cast is extremely well chosen and all down to the tiniest supporting role are doing an amazing job here, which alone is worth watching.

Highly enjoyable

My Rating: (out of possible 5)

(From Michael's random reviews on October 31st, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

The Greatest American Hero: Season One (1981/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Anchor Bay Entertainment (United States) Length: 440 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
William Katt stars as mild-mannered high school teacher Ralph Hinkley whose close encounter with aliens leaves him with a super-power suit that only he can control. But when Ralph loses the instruction manual, the safety of mankind is left in his fumbling hands. Now with the help of his attorney girlfriend Pam Davidson (Connie Sellecca) and FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), the world's most unlikely flying crime fighter is ready for action. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO!

and Faye Grant co-star in the Emmy-nominated '80s hit created by Stephen J. CannellThe Greatest American Hero
1.01 The Pilot
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell (Original Characters By), Stephen J. Cannell (Writer)
Director: Rod Holcomb
Cast: William Katt (Ralph Hinkley), Robert Culp (Bill Maxwell), Connie Sellecca (Pamela Davidson), Michael Pare (Tony Villicana), Faye Grant (Rhonda Blake), Richard Herd (Adam Taft), G. D. Spradlin (Nelson Cory), Ned Wilson (Col. Shackelford), Bob Minor (John Backe), Edward Bell (David Knight), Jesse D. Goins (Cyler Johnson), Don Cervantes (Poco Rodriguez), Robby Weaver), Brandon Williams (Kevin Hinkley), Hank Salas (Brother Michael), Robert Dunlap (Officer), Jeff MacKay (Officer Cowan), Jason Corbet), Roberta Jean Williams), Jody Lee Olhava), Robbie Kiger), Carol Jones (Susan, the Babysitter), Ed Deemer), James King), Corkey Ford), John Caliri), Lydia Fernandez), Cheryl Francis)

Overall a good pilot episode, but it dragged in some places. I have had this series for a few years now but I am still stuck in the beginning of season 2.
The actors are good. I love Robert Culp as Bill. He is probably the most fun character. Connie Sellecca is very easy on the eyes.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 27th, 2011)