DVD Collectors Online

Bratz: Genie Magic, a review by addicted2comics

Title: Bratz: Genie Magic
Year: 2006
Director:
Rating: NR
Length: 72 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, French: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:


Plot:
Yasmin, Cloe, Sasha and Jade, think it's their lucky day when they make friends with a teenaged genie named Katia. She has magical powers, and best of all, she can grant wishes! But things get wild and crazy when a secret is revealed about the genie girl that thrusts the Bratz into a world of intrigue and adventure. Evil masterminds are out to capture Katia™ and…anyone who knows about her. Will the Bratz™ be able to save their new friend from the clutches of ruthless villains? Can Katia’s powers save the Bratz™ and the world? Or will the girls have to make their own magic? Join the Bratz™ as they enter the mysterious and exciting world of Genie Magic™!

Extras:
Scene Access
Closed Captioned
Bonus Episode

My Thoughts: Well, it was enjoyable......alot to the point that I made my dad suffer through it with me. 

Still, It's been a while since I watched this, and I"ve forgotten just how girly it is. While I admit I LOVED Bratz a couple years ago, my eyes have opened. The girl thing is just over the top. And this is coming from a girl. I mean, it was tolerable, and I like the teenage-girl angle and point of view in these movies, it just could have been done better. The secret-agent acvtion stuff was a good twist to the movie too.

It makes me wanna see Bratz Rock Angelz again and remember that horrible ex-boss of Jade's, Birdeen Maxwell. That movie is also where the secret agent thing started, so I think after the marathon I'll dig that up again.




(From Doing the ABC's Movie Style!! on July 12th, 2010)

The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming
Year of Release: 1966
Directed By: Norman Jewison
Starring: Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin, Brian Keith
Genre: Comedy

Overview:
When a sightseeing Soviet commander runs his submarine aground off the New England coast, the crew's attempts to find a boat to dislodge them almost start World War III!.  Alan Arkin leads an all-star cast - including Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Keith and Jonathan Winters - in this "riotous, uproarious [and] side-splitting" (Cue) comedy!

Russian Lt. Rozanov (Arkin) and his crew hit the beaches of Massachusetts unaware of the panic they're about to start.  Despite the Russian's harmless intentions, the folks in town think a full-scale Soviet invasion has been launched!  What's worse, their police chief (Keith) has left his hysterical assistant (Winters) in charge...and the one man who knows the truth (Reiner) is only stirring up more chaos!

My Thoughts:
This is a pretty good piece of Cold War satire, both humourous and serious simulaneously.  It's a funny film - but it's also got its point to make.  I was struck by how news in the film travels like the telepone game you played as a kid.  One person says one thing, another mishears or misconstrues, and suddenly you have a complete panic on your hands.  If the film seems like a farce - exaggerated and improbable - it doesn't seem so to me.  Sadly, the reactions of the locals seems all to likely in real life.  Absurd?  Absolutely.  But not unrealistic.

The performances are good, especially Alan Arkin as Rozanov.  It's also well filmed - you wouldn't know that the Cape Cod style town was constructed in Mendocino, or that the submarine wasn't real unless you were looking for that specifically (the US military refused to loan or allow them to use the one the Russians would have).  It's a bit long, and might not play so well to modern audiences, even though the message is still valid.  I liked it quite a bit though.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 3.75/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on November 19th, 2015)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

The Buccaneers
Set in the West Indies in the 1720's, The Buccaneers told the rousing tale of reformed pirate Dan Tempest (Robert Shaw), who had been the leader of a band of freebooters in the British Caribbean province of New Providence, as he battled against buccaneers and Spanish attack after being persuaded by Lt. Beamish (Peter Hammond), the new deputy governor, to switch sides and fight on behalf of the Crown.

Blackbeard
A new British governor arrives at the port of New Providence assigned the task of bringing law and order to the British colony. Authorized to grant pardons to any buccaneers swearing allegiance to the Crown, Governor Rogers faces some resistance from Blackbeard.

My Thoughts:
While an enjoyable series... I don't care for this one quite as much as I do The Adventures of Robin Hood. But then I never been that huge on pirates anyway. Plus this lacks the comedy I enjoyed so much in The Adventures of Robin Hood.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on November 9th, 2009)