DVD Collectors Online

Foxcatcher, a review by Antares

Foxcatcher (2014) 76/100 - My wife rented this at Redbox because she was interested in seeing Steve Carell's Oscar nominated performance, but for my money, Channing Tatum should have got the nomination instead. After the film finished, I jumped on the web to read about the story, having only a faded memory of the incident. I also found one of the films that Du Pont had commissioned, telling of his involvement in team Foxcatcher, and it's here where I found Carell's performance a bit over the top. Carell tries too hard to paint Du Pont as a creepy, space cadet who just wants mommy's recognition and love. In the video I watched, he seems kind of normal, yet kind of a nerdy narcissist. No thousand yard stare and only the occasional stilted delivery of words when he speaks. The way Carell portrays him, you should see men in white coats, in the periphery, chasing him with butterfly nets. The story itself is very methodical and at times a bit too slow to keep the average viewer's attention span. But the performances by Tatum and Ruffalo keep you interested throughout. A lukewarm recommendation from me.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on March 21st, 2015)

Shooter, a review by DJ Doena

June, 7th

Synopsis: Bob Lee Swagger was an Army Rangers sharpshooter but during a mission in Ethiopia his spotter gets killed and he has to escape without any backup since this mission was an illegal operation. Three years later he has retired and lives in the Rocky Mountains until his government needs his help again. Someone wants to shoot the president from over a mile away and they need his expertise to find the killer. But suddenly Bob Lee finds himself being the suspected killer and is hunted by every law enforcement department the US has to offer.

My Opinion: It's a very interesting thriller with nice references to the JFK murder. Mark Wahlberg might not be the best actor but I think he plays roles where his character is of a simple nature (like his role here or in Four Brothers) very well and believable. I also liked how they managed to show many different landscapes in which a sniper has to work in (steppe, a city, forest, snow, ...) without making it unrealistic.

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2009 on June 18th, 2009)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Dexter


Dexter (Pilot)
When blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan is not out solving murders, he spends his time as a serial killer who eliminates those who do bad things. But his world is shaken when another serial killer commits a series of highly stylized murders in Miami.

My Thoughts:
This is a series that really grabbed me from the pilot episode.  The idea of a serial killer/vigilante working from within the police station is great. It has been a long time since I watched the pilot episode. Not since I bought the set. Which was a blind buy at the time. But I have been watching it every since. Unfortunately I am behind on buying the DVDs as I still only have season 1 in my collection.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on December 28th, 2009)