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High School Musical , a review by Tom

High School Musical (2006/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Walt Disney Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Director: Kenny Ortega Writing: Peter Barsocchini (Writer) Length: 98 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English

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Stars:
Zac Efron as Troy Bolton
Vanessa Anne Hudgens as Gabriella Montez
Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay
Lucas Grabeel as Ryan
Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus

Plot:
The all-new, smash-hit Disney Channel original movie everyone is talking about is now available for the first time ever on DVD --- with never-before-seen bonus features that will rock your house!

Troy (Zac Efron), the popular captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), the brainy and beautiful member of the academic club, break all the rules of East High society when they secretly audition for the leads in the school's musical. As they reach for the stars and follow their dreams, everyone learns about acceptance, teamwork and being yourself. And it's all set to fun tunes and very cool dance moves!

Featuring the hottest talent, 'High School Musical' celebrates the power of music in this hip, entertaining, gotta-get-up-and-dance movie. Own all the excitement and the exclusive extras available only on this Encore Edition DVD.

Awards:
Won:

Primetime Emmy Awards (2006)		Outstanding Children's Program
Teen Choice Awards (2006)		TV - Choice Breakout Star, Female (Zack Efron)
Teen Choice Awards (2006)		TV - Choice Chemistry (Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Zac Efron)
Teen Choice Awards (2006)		TV - Choice Comedy/Musical Show

Nominated:

Primetime Emmy Awards (2006)		Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special (Kenny Ortega)
Teen Choice Awards (2006)		TV - Choice Breakout Star, Female (Vanessa Anne Hudgens)

Extras:

• Commentary
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Scene Access
• Trailers

I mostly heard negative things about this movie. But when I saw the trilogy set cheap, I was curious checking it out anyway. And I am glad I did. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. It's far from a masterpiece, but as mix between standard teen comedy and a musical it worked surprisingly well. I am looking forward to seeing the other movies in this series.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on June 8th, 2011)

2001: A Space Odyssey, a review by Danae Cassandra

2001: A Space Odyssey
Year of Release: 1968
Directed By: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Genre: Science-Fiction

Overview:My Thoughts:
What an interesting and beautiful film.  An absolute classic of sci-fi, and I can see why it has that honor. 

First, it's a gorgeous piece of art.  The effects, the spectacular miniatures work, the spectacular camera work, all of that combines to make this one of the most beautiful films of all time.  It is dazzling visually and unforgettable. 

The story is more obtuse.  It deals a lot with symbolism and theme rather than plot.  Humanity evolves, as does our technology, and what will be the end of our evolution?  Or are we only just being born? 

I really wanted the middle section fleshed out more.  I wanted to see more of HAL and his interactions with his human shipmates.  The first and third sections, while I think I understand what they were trying to convey with them, I feel could have been cut down a bit to evolve the relationships in the middle section more. 

It's a small quibble though.  If you are a fan of sci-fi at all, you MUST see this film.  If you're only a fan of action sci-fi, however, you won't enjoy this.  It's a slow, cerebral film.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on August 24th, 2015)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

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Alphas: Season One (2011/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (United Kingdom) Length: 497 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Subtitles:

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Alphas
Season 1.01 Pilot
Writer: Zak Penn (Writer), Michael Karnow (Writer)
Director: Jack Bender
Cast: David Strathairn (Dr. Lee Rosen), Ryan Cartwright (Gary Bell), Warren Christie (Cameron Hicks), Azita Ghanizada (Rachel Pirzad), Laura Mennell (Nina Theroux), Malik Yoba (Bill Harken), Jeff Seymour (The Ghost ("Mr. Morez")), Joe Pingue (Quinn), Callum Keith Rennie (Don Wilson, DoD), Jane Moffat (Sandra Bell), Daniel Kash (Rachel's Dad), Rachael Crawford (Jeannie Harken), Carlos Gonzalez-Vio (Operative), Miranda Edwards (Female FBI Agent), Scott Edgecombe (Corner Store Clerk), Matt Bois (Hotel Manager), Saad Siddiqui (Government Agent), Louise Nicol (Elderly Woman), Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Manager), Glen Cross (Prisoner), Jimi Shlag (Detective), Bobby Manning (Rasta), Sam Moses (Tailor), Lee Oliveira (Hotel Security Guard), Linlyn Lue (Mom With Stroller), Cassia Xuan Avy Cook (Infant Girl in Stroller), Adam Parker (Tyler Hicks), Amanda Lewis (Patti Hicks), Lee Jay Gladman (Agent Persky), May Charters (Woman at Store)

This series is a complete blind buy for me. I haven't even heard of it before. This first episode was okay, and it suggests that the series might be interesting, but it wasn't really a must-see so far.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on August 9th, 2013)