DVD Collectors Online

Let Me In, a review by Achim

Original Title: Let Me In
Year: 2010
Director: Matt Reeves
Rating: R
Length: 115 Min.
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2.35:1


Stars:
Kodi Smit-McPhee
Chloe Grace Moretz
Richard jenkins
Elias Koteas

Plot:
This is a remake of the Swdish film LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.

Twelve year old Oskar Owen is an outsider, struggling to fit in at school and left alone to fend for himself at home whilst his mother works nights. One evening he meets the mysterious Eli Abby. As a sweet romance blossoms between them, Oskar Owen learns to overcome his tormentors and discovers Eli's Abby's dark secret and the connections to the gruesome events occuring across town. Together they must help Eli Abby be gone and live, or stay and die.

Brutal, bloody and tender, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN LET ME IN weaves friendship, rejection and loyalty into a disturbing and darkly atmospheric, yet poetic and unexpectedly tender tableau of adolescence.

The Good
This is a very faithful remake of the original film. They did not turn it into an action horror of some sort and he dark, almost depressing atmosphere is in tact. All important moments of the original are repeated (minus that one shot of Eli/Abby in the bathroom, which wasn't unexpected). Only deviation I noticed was (but I just might remember this wrong) the role of the policeman (Koteas), which is slightly more prominent here; neither improvement nor making it worse though. The acting from all involved is very good. Smit-McPhee and Moretz show good ability to convey the emotions and except a few awkward moments are excellent. Jenkins and Koteas are up to their usual quality.

There is a scene with a car accident that looks great! I may rememeber this wrong, but I felt the swimming pool scene near the end was slightly better executed (mainly technical) here than in the original.

The Bad
This is a very faithful remake of the original film. So, why do it? Well, yes, I know the answer of course. But I was surprised to find myself, knowing the original, hoping they'd do something a little more different just to give the whole excercise a bit of a point.

The biggest disappointment came from my favorite scene of the original, when Eli enters Oskar's appartment without being invited first. It is really poorly executed here, with a crescendo of music leading up to a reveal  The orginal played this so much better...

I felt the music was rather irritating, not mixing well in many scenes, making me become aware of it (not a good thing for a score).

The Ugly
*******MILD SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE ORIGINAL*******

I have no idea why they could have possibly thought it would be a good idea to use CGI when Abby is in rage-mode (which looks obviously fake) or show or face being almost a monster grimasse while feeding. (Did the original do this too?)




It's a "4" because it's based doing a good job of recreating the original. However, if given the choice one should always pick the original over this one. Personally, I am glad I watched this but am not intending to buy this on DVD/Blu-ray (shame, really).

(From Achim's entirely random reviews on October 15th, 2010)

Ed Wood, a review by addicted2dvd

Ed Wood: Special Edition (1994/United States) Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Touchstone Home Entertainment Director: Tim Burton Writing: Scott Alexander (Writer), Larry Karaszewski (Writer), Rudolph Grey (Original Material By) Length: 126 min. Rating: Rated R : Some Strong Language Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
Johnny Depp as Ed Wood
Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi
Sarah Jessica Parker as Dolores Fuller
Patricia Arquette as Kathy O'Hara
Jeffrey Jones as Criswell
G. D. Spradlin as Reverend Lemon

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Closed Captioned

I am basically familiar with Ed Wood by reputation only. I only have one of his movies in my collection. That being Plan 9 from Outer Space. Despite the little I know of him... or maybe because of the little I know of him... I was looking forward to checking out this movie. A nice coincidence here... I been watching episodes of Medium and this movie also has Patricia Arquette in it. I really didn't know what to expect going into this movie. Whether it would be something I like or not. I ended up finding it oddly captivating. I found that I enjoyed it quite a bit. I normally shy away from anything that is about 2hrs or more in length. As I really need to be in the mood to be able to sit still that long. But in the case of Ed Wood the 2+ hours seemed to fly by! I was actually surprised when it was over already.

The DVD itself is nicely done as well. Lots of fun extras here. And I must admit... I got a kick out of the animated menus they used for this one. All in all a very nice release of a fun movie I wasn't sure if I would like or not. Definitely a pleasant surprise.




(From What Movies I Been Watching on February 10th, 2012)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The Galarans have developed a device that can implant memories. This could become an easy way to train new pilots in a matter of weeks. But then Mitchell is accused of murder and he can remember doing it. Due to his immunity there will be no trial but he insists on clearing his name.

My Opinion: It was nice to learn something about Cameron's background an his life before the Antarctica battle. And they made me suspect the wrong person. But the Galarans made the wrong choice at the end of the episode. If I can avoid being punished just because I can't remember what I did - what would stop me of doing it again and make me forget again?

Synopsis: SG-1 returns from a mission but in the debriefing they insist that Selmak is still alive. But then SG-1 returns from a mission. And another SG-1 returns from a mission. And another SG-1...

My Opinion: Great episode. I liked it a lot, especially to see some characters again (Martouf, Dr. Frasier). I also liked the Asgard, he (she?) was really funny. Too bad, they didn't make an expanded version of the episode, with all the materials they had to cut out.

Synopsis: Strange things happen within the Jaffa High Council. A motion for more democracy is voted down by members who have been in favour of it just recently. Teal'c wants to get to the bottom of things and disappears.
Meanwhile an old friend of Cameron's who should have been on the F-302 program is dying and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

My Opinion: A very emotional episode which I also liked. Both parts of the story worked very well. I even had to admit that Ba'al may have a point when he proposed his plan to Teal'c.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on April 29th, 2008)