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Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, a review by Jimmy

Title: Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

Genre: Horror
Director: Joe Berlinger
Rating: R
Length: 1h30
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:85.1
Audio: English, French and Spanish
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Jeffrey Donovan   
Tristine Skyler
Stephen Barker Turner
Erica Leerhsen
Kim Director

Plot:
After spending a night in the Black Hills of Burkittsville, Maryland, four young fans of the original Blair Witch movie descend into a nightmare realm of murder, madness and perception-bending supernatural horror in this eagerly anticipated sequel to the most successful independent film of all time.

For some unknown reasons many people doesn't like this film and I sure ain't one of them. This is a million better than Blair Witch was, but to be honest even the amateur films I did with my friends as a teenager were better (and no those films doesn't exist anymore...). Blair Witch is exactly the kind of movie who give a bad name to the independant cinema: awfull acting, bad script and complete lack of originality (Cannibal Holocaust did it before in 1980, Last Cannibal World did it before in 1976 and even Forbidden Adventure did it before in 1937 for crying out loud). In fact it's the perfect film for the stupid internet generation who tought that a film named Snake on a Plane would have been a success just because of its supid name). Anyway, I've already said in the past here how much I hate Blair Witch so move on to better thing...

I see Book of Shadows as a standlone movie who would had been most successfull without being linked to Blair Witch. In fact it's a movie about a group of five people taken by an evil force while doing an excursion in the wood (the Blair Witch crap is just unecessary bla bla). The fact they used experienced but no big name actors is a plus (only Erica Leerhsen is a newcomer who did only a short film before that one), this is certainly better than a bunch of no names who can't act to save their life. The use of progressive flasback make the film interesting to follow untill the end. The film can be confusing for some but it isn't, like they said almost at the beginning "film lied, video don't".

Really this film deserve a chance. Just watch it as a seperate entity and you'll appreciate it a lot.

Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 14th, 2013)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a review by Antares

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind





Year: 2004
Film Studio: Focus Features, Anonymous Content, This Is That
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Length: 108 Min.

Director
Michel Gondry (1963)

Writing
Charlie Kaufman (1958)...Story By
Michel Gondry (1963)...Story By
Pierre Bismuth...Story By
Charlie Kaufman (1958)...Screenwriter

Producer
Georges Bermann
Anthony Bregman
David L. Bushell
Steve Golin
Charlie Kaufman (1958)
Glenn Williamson (1963)

Cinematographer
Ellen Kuras (1959)

Music
Jon Brion (1963)...Composer

Stars
Jim Carrey (1962) as Joel Barish
Kate Winslet (1975) as Clementine Kruczynski
Elijah Wood (1981) as Patrick
Tom Wilkinson (1948) as Dr. Howard Mierzwiak
Kirsten Dunst (1982) as Mary
Mark Ruffalo (1967) as Stan
Thomas Jay Ryan (1962) as Frank
Jane Adams (1965) as Carrie

ReviewEternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindReview Criterion
5 Stars - The pinnacle of film perfection and excellence.


(From Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) on November 5th, 2010)

Twilight Zone, a review by addicted2dvd

30. A Stop at Willoughby (5/6/60)
Advertising exec Gart Williams (James Day) cracks under the pressure of his job. But, in this classic episode, he dreams about a peaceful town named Willoughby.

My Thoughts:
I actually remember seeing this one before... though it has been a very long time since I only remembered bits and pieces of the episode. I definitely enjoyed this one. The only extras with this was an Isolated Music Score and a short interview that strangely when played it plays over top the episode... I can understand this if the interview lasted the entire length of the episode... or even almost the entire episode... but this one only lasted like a minute or 2. With such a short interview I would have rather it to be an audio only interview.

31. The Chaser (5/13/60)
Roger Shackleforth (George Grizzard), desperate to win the affection of the beautiful Leila (Patricia Barry), slips her a love potion. He is overjoyed that the potion works so well... at first.

My Thoughts:
This is another episode I have never seen before. It was a good episode... it ended up about the way I figured it would. I am not 100% sure... but I think the guy that gave him the card was the same guy that played Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy... it looked like him at least... but it has been a very long time since I watched I Love Lucy. This episode had another interview and an Isolated Music Score again... I didn't bother to listen to the interview with this one to see how long it lasted.

32. A Passage for Trumpet (5/20/60)
After committing suicide, an unsuccessful trumpet player (Jack Klugman) is given a second chance at life. But first he must learn what it means to be dead in a world full of life.

My Thoughts:
This one I definitely seen before... it was on one of the volume discs I had. It is a pretty good episode... but not one of my favorites. The only extra you get with this episode is an Isolated Music Score.

33. Mr. Bevis (6/3/60)
Orson Bean is James B. W. Bevis, a good-natured, accident-prone eccentric whose guardian angel gives him a chance at success. But there's a catch: all the goofiness in his personality has got to go.

My Thoughts:
This was the first time I ever seen this episode but unfortunately it was only ok at best... it didn't impress me too much. There was no extras attached to this episode either.

34. The After Hours (6/10/60)
A woman (Anne Francis) discovers that the floor of a department store, on which she bought a gold thimble, doesn't exist - and that her "saleslady" is really a mannequin!

My Thoughts:
This episode I have seen before. I believe it is one of the episodes that I had on the volume dvds I owned. This was a good episode... I really did enjoy it. The extras attached to this episode include... Interview with Anne Francis and Douglas Heyes. and The Twilight Zone Radio Drama starring Kim Fields.

35. The Mighty Casey (6/17/60)
A broken-down baseball team soars when a new player, a human-looking robot, pitches shut-out after shut-out. He must be altered to become more human, but how will this affect his superhuman skills?

My Thoughts:
This is another that I watched for the very first time. Was a pretty good episode... nothing great though. The extras for this episode was A lecture with Rod Serling and a short photo gallery.

36. A World of His Own (7/1/60)
Keenan Wynn is Gregory West, a noted playwright who discovers that he can make anything appear or disappear just by describing it... like his irritable wife or even Rod Serling.

My Thoughts:
This was a really fun episode... and yet another that I have never seen before! I do think that for me at least.. this one did start a little slow... but it improved immensely as the show went on. The only extra attached to this episode was an interview.


Original Pilot Version of "Where Is Everybody?"
This never-aired pilot episode is presented in its uncut version and includes the original narration by Westbrook Van Voorhis, which was later replaced by Rod Serling for the October 2nd 1959 broadcast. It is introduced by Rod Serling in a filmed sales pitch to the network sponsors.
- Also features an alternate narration by Rod Serling.
- Audio commentary by producer William Self.
- Rod Serling discusses the episode in a 1975 lecture at Sherwood Oaks College.

Netherlands Sales Pitch
A filmed sales pitch with Rod Serling selling 'The Twilight Zone' series to a Netherlands network.

Liars Club
A segment of the popular 1970s game show hosted by Rod Serling.

Rare Rod Serling Blooper
A humorous, never-before-seen outtake of Rod Serling tripping over his own tongue.

Photo Galleries
Behind-the-scenes photographs from the first season and Rod Serling's rare game show appearances.

'The Twilight Zone' Radio Drama: "The Lonely" starring Mike Starr.

Original 'Twilight Zone' Billboards
Intros to various episodes by the show's commercial sponsors.

Emmy Awards
Clips from the Emmy Awards ceremony featuring wins for 'The Twilight Zone' in the Writing and Cinematography categories.

'The Twilight Zone' Comic Book
An issue of the popular comic from 1963.

My Thoughts:
This extras disc has some awesome stuff on it!... first is the un-aired version of the pilot. Which I am watching as I write this... so can't talk about to many differences... but  the first thing I noticed was someone else doing the narration of the opening credits. I am so glad they did not stick with this guy. He just didn't have the flow that Rod Serling has.

The Netherlands pitch was just that... Rod Serling doing a short pitch of what his show is to a station in the Netherlands.

Now... The Liars Club....this was really fun! I would love to see all the episodes of this game show! And the description says it is just a segment... and even though this is literally true... it is actually almost a whole episode... ran for about 22 minutes! It had a panel of 4 people... only 2 of which I recognized.(Betty White and the Guy that played Hermie the Robot on Get Smart) showing an item and each telling something different of what the item is... of course only 1 of them telling the truth. And it is up to the contestants to decide who is telling the truth... really looked like a lot of fun!

Rare Rod Serling Blooper is just as it sounds... he messes up one of his speeches. This could have been better... they should have had a good half dozen bloopers to make it more fun.

and all the rest is pretty much as it sounds... I am yet to check out the comic book as you have to pop the disc into your dvd-rom to see it.

Well... this time it will be my thoughts not only on discs 5 & 6... but the 1st season as a whole...

Disc 5 continued to impress me... I got to see many more episodes I never seen before. Disc 6 blew me away with all the great extras it has on it... My favorite extra has to be the game show... that really looked like it would be a lot of fun!

As for Season 1 on a whole... Before this set I only seen a small handful of episodes... but it seemed like I would really enjoy the series... so I decided to by this set... and going by season 1 I am thrilled I did! I don't only enjoy this show... I am loving every minute of this show... even the not so good episodes has been enjoyable. What more could you possibly ask then that?

Episodes I seen for the First time on this set include:

   1. Judgment Night (Episode 10)
   2. And When The Sky Was Opened (Episode 11)
   3. What You Need (Episode 12)
   4. I Shot an Arrow into the Air (Episode 15)
   5. The Hitch-Hiker (Episode 16)
   6. The Purple Testiment (Episode 19)
   7. Elegy (Episode 20)
   8. Mirror Image (Episode 21)
   9. A World of Difference (Episode 23)
  10. Long Live Walter Jameson (Episode 24)
  11. People Are Alike All Over (Episode 25)
  12. Execution (Episode 26)
  13. The Big Tall Wish (Episode 27)
  14. A Nice Place to Visit (Episode 28)
  15. Nightmare as a Child (Episode 29)
  16. The Chaser (Episode 31)
  17. Mr. Bevis (Episode 33)
  18. The Mighty Casey (Episode 35)
  19. A World of his Own (Episode 36)

(From Twilight Zone on February 5th, 2008)