DVD Collectors Online

The Big Country, a review by Antares

The Big Country (1958) 84/100 - When one hears western film fans talk about the great films of the genre, William Wyler's grand epic is very rarely mentioned. I've watched this film on very many occasions, because it has a few things I deem necessary for a film to be considered a classic. I'll start to watch it, with no intention of sitting through the nearly 3 hour running time, but I get drawn in. Not only does it have a good screenplay, but you get to watch two supporting actors steal the film whenever they are onscreen. I can't think of any other actor who so richly deserved an Academy Award for a performance as Burl Ives did in this film. Each time I watch it, I marvel at how at ease he is and how much depth he pours into his portrayal. The other actor would go on to lasting fame on the small screen on the seminal TV western, The Rifleman. In that show, Chuck Connors played a righteous man who shared a ranch with his young son. In this film, he plays the opposite kind of character, a drinking, womanizing, lying and in the end, cowardly cowboy. The scenes and the dialog between Ives' and Connors' characters are the most electrifying moments in the story. With each successive viewing, I bump it up a bit in my rating. More people should see this, it's one of Wyler's best.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on March 18th, 2021)

Deadline at Dawn, a review by Antares

Deadline at Dawn (1946) 68/100 - Agatha Christie meets Raymond Chandler. For the first 45 minutes or so of this film, I watched in stunned silence as I couldn't believe what was going on in the screenplay. this has to be one of the strangest stories I've ever seen put on celluloid. Unreal coincidences and contrivances come at you like a punch drunk prizefighter's last gasps of energy. But then, after the introduction of the murder victim's brother, the film starts to take off. His dialog has some of the best lines I've ever heard in a noir. Little one line gems like... If she cut off her head, she'd be very pretty., People with wax heads should keep out of the sun., and probably the best line in the whole film... She was no lullaby but she had the brains like a man. It's pearls like these that keep this movie fun and help you to get by the ridiculous premise of the story. It also helps that Susan Hayward and Paul Lukas are excellent in their roles. The only weak spot in the cast is Bill Williams as the naive sailor who starts the ball rolling when he blacks out in the murder victim's apartment. He lays on the Golly gee, Oh shucks stuff pretty thick. A mild recommendation from me.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on November 24th, 2014)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: A doctor from a mental institution brings four of her patients to the station. All had been genetically anhanced when they were children but they weren't as lucky as Julian and something went wrong. The doctor hopes that Bashir can create a form of bond to them and is able to help them. He actually manages to establish a relation with them and together they analyze a holo recording of the current negotiations between the Federation and the Dominion and they are able to help. But then they discover something horrible.

My Opinion: This was a great episode. The actors played their eccentric characters very well and it was a joy to watch all these different characters. And I really liked it how Bashir showed that statistics can't predict every turn of events and how one person can change the course of history. In Germany we have a saying: "Don't trust a statistic you haven't faked yourself." And I look forward to see these guys and gals again.

Synopsis: Quark's and Rom's mother has become a prisoner of the Dominion. Quark wants to free her with a Ferengi-only group to prove that Ferengies are just as good warriors as - let's say - Klingons. But his team (consisting of himself, Rom, Nog, cousin Gaila, Brunt [formerly FCA] and the mercenary Leck) doesn't even pass the holodeck simulation. So they fall back on what they can do: They offer a trade: Ishka in exchange for the Vorta Keevan.

My Opinion: Yet another great episode. Except for the Nagus every Ferengi who had a guest appearance on DS9 was in this episode. It was so funny to watch them which was a good break from the war episodes. Too bad they couldn't find a seventh Ferengi - it would have been the perfect number for this episode.

BTW: The Vorta in the episode picture is Iggy Pop!

Synopsis: Dukat, whose condition hase been improved, is to be brought to a POW facility and Sisko escorts him there on the USS Honshu . But then the ship is attacked by the Dominion. Some people can escape in pods. Somehow Dukat has managed to get aboard a shuttle and he saves the unconscious Sisko. But they crash-land on a planet. From there they try to send a distress signal and have a "nice", long chat.

My Opinion: This disc is already my favourite disc of the season. The acting of Marc Alaimo (Dukat) was awesome. He played the insane and yet evil Dukat who tries to justifiy his actions by blaming everyone else perfectly. Even though Sisko was there this entire episode was carried by Dukat and his discussions with his hallucinations (and Sisko). "I wanted only the best for Bajor but these terrorists gave me no choice!" - Excellent.

Synopsis: Morn - one of Quark's regular guests - has died in an accident and he has made Quark his legal heir. His personal stuff isn't worth anything and he has quite an outstanding bill at the bar. But then his ex-wife shows up and implies that Morn was quite rich and she wouldn't fight Quark over the money as long as she gets a share. Now the treasure hunt for a thousand bricks in gold-pressed latinum begins. But with every day there are more people who want their share of it.

My Opinion: Morn has been a customer of the bar since the pilot episode. It has become a running gag on the show to claim that Morn is quite the chatterbox while the actor has never uttered a single word on screen (and he never will, not even in this episode). Up until now he has just been an extra but an extra that made the entire show more real because he is the prove that there is a regular station life outside the focus on the main characters. And luckily for us he isn't dead after all but will be there until the end of the show.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on February 21st, 2009)