DVD Collectors Online

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Year of Release: 2014
Directed By: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, all those guys from the first two films
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure

My Thoughts:
Everyone was saying that this was a step down from the previous two Hobbit films.  I don't agree with that.  All three are an enormous step down from Lord of the Rings, but The Hobbit trilogy holds together itself.  If you've enjoyed the first two, and like me, simply enjoy spending time in Middle Earth, you'll enjoy this one.  If you didn't like the first two, don't bother seeing this one. 

What was good in the other films is also good here - Freeman's Bilbo is wonderful.  He really does a great job with the character, and I really wish we'd seen more of him.  Armitage's Thorin is also great, and I liked his descent into madness, I thought he did it really well with what he was given to work with.  In fact, I felt all of the actors did well with what they were given.

The problems of the other films are present here too.  There's too much action, too much emphasis on the set-pieces, and not enough character moments.  We needed to see more of Thorin's descent into madness (and we needed the foreshadowing that got left out of the theatrical cuts of the previous two films).  A lot of the green screen work was really atrociously obvious for being green screen work. 

The character moments that were there worked so very well, though, and the deaths definitely brought a tear to the eye.  The journey is over, now, though despite my criticisms and the flaws of his second trilogy, if Jackson did anything else in Middle Earth I'd watch it in a heartbeat.  So take from all this as you will.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on January 31st, 2015)

Lethal Weapon 4, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Lethal Weapon 4
Year: 1998
Director: Richard Donner
Rating: R
Length: 127 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs
Danny Glover as Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci as Leo Getz
Rene Russo as Lorna Cole
Chris Rock as Lee Butters

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Production Notes
Interviews
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Well... what did you expect to see next? Come on... there is no way I could watch the first 3 and not watch the final one! This time they added Chris Rock to the gang. Which is a good thing... I like him. But I do wish they would have made his character a little different I don't know... but he seemed a little too similar to Joe Pesci's character. I did however really liked the running gag where Murtaugh didn't know why he was always being extra nice to him and all. That one got more then one laugh out of me. We also get to see Jet Li in this one. This is the first thing I ever seen him in. And I enjoyed him in it. He is definitely a bad-ass! But I am embarrassed to say they only things in my collection with him in it is this and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. This was a good strong finish to the franchise. And one I am actually sorry to see come. I could watch another one or two Lethal Weapon movies!



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 2/19 - 2/21 on February 21st, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Gokusen (2003/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Anime Works, Media Blasters (United States) Length: 325 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
Kumiko Yamaguchi is the heir to the Oedo Yakuza family, but it's her dream to teach the youth of Japan. Putting aside her Yakuza cunning, she takes up the role of a normal bubbly graduate, landing a high-school teaching job. Now Kumiko is determined to understand the teenage mind, teach higher math and maybe carry on a little romance... yet she lives with the fact that her loyal army of brutal hitmen capable of murdering disobedient students are only one step away.


Gokusen
1.01 Rookie Teacher With a Secret Is Born! (2004-01-06)
Writer: Kozueko Morimoto (Original Material By), Yasuko Kobayashi (Screenwriter)
Director: Yuzo Sato
Cast: Japanese Voice Cast), Isao Yamagishi (Noda (voice)), Risa Hayamizu (Kumiko Yamaguchi (voice)), Kenichi Suzumura (Shin Sawada (voice)), Youichi Masukawa (Uchiyama (voice)), Takuro Nakakuni (Minami (voice)), Hiroomi Sugino (Kumai (voice)), Tomohiro Nishimura (Principal (voice)), Uoken (Vice Principal (voice)), Rica Matsumoto (Fujiyama (voice)), Hisanori Koyatsu (Iwamoto (voice)), Katsuhiro Toyokawa (Eguchi (voice)), Chihiro Suzuki (Kudo (voice)), Norio Wakamoto (Oshima (voice)), Haruo Sato (Wakamatsu (voice)), Keiji Hirai (Tetsu (voice)), Nanae Kato (Classmate in Girlhood (voice)), Nozomi Masu (Classmate in Girlhood (voice)), Chikao Ootsuka (Ryuichiro (voice)), Seizo Kato (Fuji (voice)), Hiroaki Yoshida (Minoru (voice)), Katsuyuki Konishi (Shinohara Lawyer (voice)), Yasuhiro Fujiwara (Senior (voice)), Takahiro Fujimoto (Senior (voice)), English Voice Cast), Matt Kaplan (Noda (voice)), Caroline Lawson (Kumiko Yamaguchi (voice)), Kevin T. Collins (Shin Sawada (voice)), Jamie McGonnigal (Uchiyama (voice)), Sebastian Arcelus (Minami (voice)), Ed Paul (Kumai (voice)), Jimmy Zoppi (Principal (voice)), Marc Diraison (Vice Principal (voice)), Sue Gillad (Fujiyama (voice)), Sean Schemmel (Iwamoto (voice)), Ed Napier (Eguchi (voice)), Peter Ganim (Oshima (voice)), Mike Pollack (Wakamatsu (voice)), Maddie Blaustein (Tetsu (voice)), Dan Green (Ryuichiro (voice)), John Abner (Fuji (voice)), Sean Schemmel (Minoru (voice)), Josh Moseby (Shinohara Lawyer (voice))

This was originally a lucky blind buy. It only cost 12 bucks (dirt cheap for an anime), and boy was it worth it.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 26th, 2011)