DVD Collectors Online

Robin Hood (2010), a review by Dragonfire

So I decided to go see the new Robin Hood a few days ago.  It is definitely a different version of the story.  I expected it to be different - I've seen a few interviews with Russell Crowe and he talks about that  in all of them...and how King Richard dies kind of early in the movie.  Even expecting things to be different, it is still more different than I had expected.  It definitely seems to be setting up at least one sequel, possible even a new franchise. 

Some of the other movies about Robin Hood that I've seen have at least mentioned his time fighting in the Crusades.  There is a bit more about that dealt with in this movie and it does take him and his men a while to make it back to England.  Once he is there, he doesn't jump right into robbing from the rich to give to the poor.  There is more build up to him becoming an outlaw, so more of his motivations for what he does are shown.  I do think that makes the movie interesting, though some people aren't going to be happy with the changes.  Some of them are downright weird, like Robin fighting in what is basically the biggest battle of the movie with something that looks like a hammer.  He's riding around on his horse, bashing the French with that hammer thing, and it is just weird that it isn't using a bow or a sword.  The action scenes work fine, though there is nothing that special about them.  The violence is slightly graphic in a few scenes, but it really isn't explicit. 

This Robin is a bit ....conflicted about things at times, but he is determined to do what he thinks is right.  Russell Crowe is fine in the part.  I don't know how accurate his accent is since I never have been good at identifying most accents.  Marion is independent and very able to take care of herself.  I did like Cate Blanchett in the part.  The Sheriff of Nottingham basically does nothing, though by the end of the movie, there is a hint of him becoming more corrupt.  Sir Godfrey, someone who is a friend of King John but also plotting with the French King, is the main villain.  Godfrey is brutal in his methods and makes a good villain.  Mark Strong is wonderful in the part.  He is really good at playing bad guys.  King John seems a bit like a kid having a tantrum at times and it isn't always clear why he does things.  Most of the other characters are just sort of around without doing much to stand out.  There is very little in the way of character development for them.

Even though the movie has issues, I do think Robin Hood works as an entertaining movie.  It isn't going to appeal to some people though.



I did get a review posted at Epinions if anyone would like to take a look.

Robin Hood 2010

(From Robin Hood 2010 on June 4th, 2010)

Paranormal Activity 4, a review by addicted2dvd

Paranormal Activity 4: Unrated Edition (2012/United States) Wikipedia |Trailer |IMDb | Paramount Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman Writing: Christopher Landon (Screenwriter), Chad Feehan (Story By), Oren Peli (Original Material By) Length: 97 min. Rating: Unrated Video: Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

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Stars:
Katie Featherston as Katie
Kathryn Newton as Alex
Matt Shively as Ben
Aiden Lovekamp as Wyatt
Brady Allen as Robbie
Stephen Dunham as Doug

Plot:
All of the activity has led to this! When Katie disappeared with her nephew Hunter, there were no survivors. Five years later she's returned with a mysterious boy, ready to target new victims with her demonic rage. Now, a family's young daughter will capture every one of the terrifying occurrences, beginning with her new neighbors' arrival. It all leads to an "ending so intense, it will leave you shaking."*

*Billy Donnelly, AIN'T IT COOL NEWS

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Deleted Scenes
• Digital Copy
• Unrated and Theatrical Versions

I always liked the Paranormal Activity films... and while I did like this one... it just caught me as more of the same. Maybe I wasn't truly in the mood to watch this one today or something but I just found I didn't enjoy it as much as I normally do.



(From The Alphabet Marathon: Blu-ray Edition on July 22nd, 2014)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: After he found the hand of the Terminator Special Agent Ellison begins to dig real deep into Sarah Connor's file. He watches her video tapes from the mental institution and he tries to get in contact with Dr. Silberman, her psychiatrist during her stay there. Meanwhile Cameron tries to retrieve the Turk.

My Opinion: I liked this episode for two reasons. The first one is the nice wrap-up of the second movie. And even though it's on "another timeline" I thought that this Dr. Silberman was very close to the one we saw in Terminator 3 shortly before he encountered the Arnie-Terminator for the third time.
But my favourite scene of this episode was when Cameron left the apartment after she got the information. This scene screamed at me "Never forget that she's a machine, not a feeling, living being, no matter how she looks like.". She protected them as long as she needed them and then they were of no more concern to her. To save them would have been an act of humanity and that's not on her program.

Synopsis: Derek finds the CPU of the previously destroyed Terminator and accuses Cameron of lying and she admits to it. After the argument is over, John tries to load the data from the memory chips to see what the Terminator was doing before he was destroyed. And there they find a connection to a project which can control the entire traffic infrastructure of Los Angeles.

My Opinion: This is one thing that has always bugged me on Science-Fiction series: That somehow all computer hardware and software is compatible and that they can communicate with one another. OK, Skynet and the Terminators are an invention of the human race but where did John even get a compatible interface port to plug the CPU in?
But that aside I liked the fact that both Cameron and Derek became a bit more grey (ok, we already knew he killed that Turk guy, but still).

Synopsis: Sarah tries to purchase the Turk but the seller tries to blackmail her with her past and he's watching John to make sure Sarah pays. But his plan doesn't turn out as expected. Meanwhile Ellison discovers that Kester is a fake FBI agent and he tries to take him down.

My Opinion: Taking into account that it wasn't planned as cliffhanger it was a decent one. It leaves quite a number of questions open that demand an answer and thus the viewer will most likely tune in "next year". I especially wonder why Ellison is still alive. Is he important to Skynet or is it just because he was unarmed and no threat to Cromartie? But then again Terminators are not the Borg, why should he let someone live who can identify him? As I said, enough reason to continue watching.

Disc 3 - My Opinion: I like the show better with every episode I'm watching and the less time travel is involved the less mistakes with the timeline happen.

The Season - My Opinion: It's not the best show in the world, but very enjoyable, especially due to the two female leads. I'll continue watching it even though it's likely to get cancelled after the second season.

(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon on January 29th, 2009)