DVD Collectors Online

Murder in the First, a review by Rich

Murder in the First





Terrific fact based film, with an outstanding set of performances from Bacon, Oldman and even Slater!
At times a little over-intense, emotionally exhausting, but always entertaining and in it's context of being a true story quite shocking. Gary Oldman is a sinister monster as the nasty Warden Glenn who you can't help but despise, and R Lee Ermey was wonderfully cast as the abrupt judge. The portrayal is slick and keeps you interested, I was just disappointed by some of the camerawork, particularly when it was swivelling around the characters, which I found an unnecessary distraction.
A haunting film that stays with you.
  

(From Riches Random Reviews on May 22nd, 2009)

Drive Angry, a review by dfmorgan

Drive Angry

Year: 2011
Director: Patrick Lussier
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard
Overview: Get ready for one hell of a ride! Milton (Nicolas Cage) is a hardened - albeit dead - criminal who has broken out of Hell to stop a religious cult sacrificing his baby granddaughter. The police are in hot pursuit but they're the least of his worries - The Devil's none too pleased either and has sent the enigmatic emissary "The Accountant" (William Fichtner) to bring him back.

Aided by sassy waitress Piper (Amber Heard) and driving a series of smoking hot muscle-cars, Milton is Hell-bent on his mission and is breaking all the rules - but what are they gonna do, not let him back in?

Watched: 2nd Jul. 2011
My Thoughts: This was quite a bit of fun.

My Rating: A fun 3



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on July 24th, 2011)

Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Xena has left her old ways behind and even intends to bury her weapons and armor when she "encounters" a group of mercenaries who try to kidnap a group of young women from a nearby village. The mercenaries belong to Draco, an old acquaintance of Xena's who plans to march into Xena's home valley. She has to protect her home village and at the same time that young girl who's now following her: Gabrielle.

My Opinion: If you already know the character from the Hercules episodes then you have no problem understanding this pilot episode. If you don't then the writers gave you a glimpse into her old life by using Draco as proxy since it is made clear that Xena was much like him. And it's also a good introduction to Gabrielle and her greatest talent: Her mouth. Xena wears now her final costume which changed slightly during and after the Hercules episodes. I think it's a good introduction to the show.

Synopsis: Xena gets shot by an arrow when she tries to help some villagers who were under attack by a local warlord. One of the villagers invites her to his house until she's healed. Meanwhile Gabrielle waits in another town for her return and makes the acquaintance of a young man who happens to be the son of said warlord and is supposed to become his father's successor.

My Opinion:Synopsis: Gabrielle gets kidnapped by a group of Mystics who want to marry her to the God of Dreams, Morpheus. For this she has to lose her blood innocence and has to kill a man (but she doesn't know that). In order to save her, Xena has to enter the Dreamscape where she not only encounters the people she killed but also her old self.

My Opinion: "You look bigger". I really liked it how Gabrielle got rid of her enemies without killing a single one of them and I liked it how Xena faced her old self and came to the acceptance that she is part of her and always will be. And I love these contact lenses(?) that colour the entire eye totally black. That looks awesome every time someone wears them (e.g. Lyta Alexander in Babylon 5).

Synopsis: Xena and Gabrielle find an abandoned baby that has become victim of a prophecy that says that the child will one day sit on the throne of the local kingdom. But they also encounter the granddaughter of the famous Pandora and she's carrying the box and has to prevent hope from escaping out of it.

My Opinion: As I said in the beginning, I like the mixture of mythologies they are brewing here. I don't have a problem with them being at Troy one week and meeting Cesar the next. And so they encounter Pandora (named after her grandmother) and her box this week. And Lucy Lawless (what a name! ) danced a beautiful oriental dance...

(From Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon on November 21st, 2009)