DVD Collectors Online

Max and Mona, a review by Danae Cassandra

Max and Mona
2004, South Africa

Max, bright-eyed and hopeful, leaves his home village for Johannesburg, to attend university and become a doctor.  Things go wrong from the beginning, when he is sent off with the sacred village goat instead of the goat he is supposed to deliver.  Max names the goat Mona, and with her in tow, ends up staying with his uncle Norman, a shady fellow who just happens to be in debt to a local gangster.  Once Norman learns Max is a gifted mourner, he comes up with the perfect plan for getting himself out of debt and making them some money...

This is a bright, funny comedy from South Africa.  Max, correctly referred to throughout the film as a country bumpkin, arrives a naive innocent, wide-eyed at the big city.  He knows nothing of the city or its dangers - or his uncle Norman and his dangers.  This leads Max into increasingly humorous, and increasingly dangerous, situations.  His innate good heart puts him at odds with his shady uncle, who nonetheless he stands by as family and tries to help. 

This is another release that is part of The Global Lens Collection, and like the rest it is obviously a low-budget film.  Like the other South African film I've seen, Bunny Chow (also Global Lens), it demonstrates South Africa's multicultural society both visually and aurally, since the characters speak a combination of English, Afrikaans and Zulu, sometimes switching from one to another and back in mid-sentence.  This was a fun movie, though it had its serious side when Max worries about upsetting his ancestors with what Norman gets him involved in, and ends on an upbeat and hopeful note.

Definitely worth watching, unless you absolutely can't stand subtitles.

Overall:  3/5

(From Danae's reviews on April 21st, 2011)

Rush Hour 3, a review by addicted2dvd

Rush Hour 3 (2007/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia New Line Home Entertainment Director: Brett Ratner Writing: Ross LaManna (Original Characters By), Jeff Nathanson (Writer) Length: 91 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1, Pan & Scan 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital EX: 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
Chris Tucker as Carter
Jackie Chan as Lee
Max von Sydow as Reynard
Hiroyuki Sanada as Kenji
Yvan Attal as George
Youki Kudoh as Dragon Lady

Plot:
When a Chinese criminal mastermind flees to Paris, there's only one culture-clashed, crime-fighting duo for the job. Ready to raise hell in the city of lights, Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) and Detective Carter (Tucker) instead get caught in an explosive battle between the French police, the Triad gang and two gorgeous femmes fatales! With everybody kung fu fighting to the top of the Eiffel Tower, this one-two punch of hilarious action doesn't let up until the final heart-stopping au revoir!

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Outtakes/Bloopers
• DVD-ROM Content
• Closed Captioned

After the last movie I felt like another fun buddy cop movie. I have seen and enjoyed the first 2 movies in this series... but this is the first time I got the chance to see this one. But it is definitely another one I really enjoyed. Has a lot of laughs in it. I would say if you liked the first couple of movies you will like this one as well. Though I would warn that this movie is basically just more of the same... just at a different location.




(From What Movies I Been Watching on June 3rd, 2011)

HawthoRNe: Season 1 Ep. 4: All the Wrong Places, a review by addicted2dvd

ALL THE WRONG PLACES
As Christina uncovers a rare disorder that could place an accident victim and her young son in grave danger, Bobbie is pressed to counsel a young man facing the loss of an arm.

Notable Guest Stars:
DB Woodside (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 24) as David


My Thoughts:
Another episode I enjoyed... though not quite as much as the previous ones. I actually enjoyed the side story about the amputee then I did the main storyline.

My Rating:

(From HawthoRNe Episode Reviews on June 23rd, 2013)