DVD Collectors Online

Flags of Our Fathers, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:Flags of Our Fathers
Year: 2006
Director: Clint Eastwood
Rating: R
Length: 132 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Ryan Phillippe
Jesse Bradford
Adam Beach
John Benjamin Hickey
John Slattery

Plot:Extras:
Closed Captioned


Companion piece to Letters From Iwo Jima from Clint Eastwood.

This movie was ok, but had some warts and had it been released independently it would have received better reviews from the critics, but as it was it and LFIJ released at the same time and so were inevitably compared to one another. Letters From Iwo Jima was far superior to Flags Of Our Fathers on all levels.

There was no continuity to Flags... jumping all over the place from war time, to current day to post war. I was hoping to see and quite frankly was expecting to see some sustained battle sequences and while they were good they were too short lived. LFIJ focused on the epic battle for Suribachi Mountain and all it's horrors as seen through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers and it was masterful where FOOF focused on the famous picture of the flag raising and the deceit surrounding it as the image was used to play on the emotions of the American citizens to cough up billions of dollars in War Bonds. All I can say is that if it was Eastwood's attempt with these two films to glorify the honor and bravery of the Japanese and bash the integrity of the American military heads and U.S. government he succeeded. 

Another disappointment with this movie was the performance of Adam Beach, whom I've liked in every other role I've seen him in but in this one I thought he was terrible. His turn as the drunken Native American soldier Ira Hayes was woefully overplayed and rather embarrassing. I think the guilt and shame his character felt could have been conveyed without looking so pathetic.

One of the things I did like was spotting the common footage between the two films. You could almost follow the time line of the battle from both sides.

Again, the movie was ok and enlightened some on the background of an iconic photograph of WWII, but I think this is one of Clint's poorest efforts to date and that surprises me, especially in contrast to Letters From Iwo Jima which was outstanding. The critics definitely got it right in regards to these two films.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on September 19th, 2010)

Slumber Party Massacre III, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Slumber Party Massacre III Year: 1990 Director: Sally Mattison Rating: Unrated Length: 86 Min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: PCM: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: N/A

Stars:
Yan Birch
Brandi Burkett
Hope Marie Carlton
Keely Christian
Maria Claire

Plot:
After a relaxing day at the beach, a group of teens decide to have a slumber party. Their boyfriends predictably show up to scare them, but there is something much scarier lurking in the shadows as the group starts getting attacked by an unknown killer in the second, and last, installment, Slumber Party Massacre III.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Gallery

My Thoughts:
It isn't often I can say this... but I actually liked the 3rd part in the trilogy the best. This one turns out to be my favorite of the 3... as it has a good story... and I really liked how the girls fought back in this one. Some of them may be going down... but they were sure to get a piece of him in the process. I have always liked it when they made the female characters strong women. I also liked who the killer turned out to be in this one as well.




Count:
Movie Count: 36
TV Ep. Count: 14
Other Count: 2
Time Started: 3:30pm

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2010 on October 11th, 2010)

Supernatural Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

EPISODE 5: Bloody Mary
"Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary." An incantation uttered during a game of truth or dare unleashes a ghoul who "lives" in mirrors...and kills by gouging out the eyes of her prey.

Guest Stars:
Adrianne Palicki as Jessica Lee Moore
Marnette Patterson as Charlie
William Taylor as Detective
Chelan Simmons as Jill
Kristie Marsden as Donna Shoemaker

My Thoughts:
I always liked it when they did shows on real life legends. And Bloody Mary is a good one. I always found the legend to be fun.... I have a couple movies that is off of it. I think they did a good job with this episode.

My Rating:

(From Supernatural Marathon on January 12th, 2010)