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Beneath the Planet of the Apes, a review by Rich

Beneath the Planet of the Apes



In the acclaimed sequel to 'Planet of the Apes', another astronaut (James Franciscus) crashes through the time barrier searching for Taylor (Charlton Heston).  The daring rescue mission leads to a subterranean city where mutant humans, who practice mind control, worship a weapon capable of destroying the entire planet.  Both an action-oriented sci-fi adventure and a wry commentary on today's world, this second 'Apes' installment is imaginative entertainment for fantasy buffs of all ages.

I found the rewatching of this sequel on a large plasma screen disappointing, the effects were incredibly dated, and the make-up and costumes wanting. I remember the 1st time I viewed this as exciting and dramatic, but alas could not unearth those feelings again. Even the thundering hooves as the apes on horses chased the heroes did not feel as poignant as they did some years ago.
The storyline distinctly lacks the punchiness and though-provoking issues of the original, and ends in a very pathetic hammy Grand Central Station mock-up with telepathic aliens and a nuclear missile.
 

(From Riches Random Reviews on April 21st, 2009)

Monster House, a review by addicted2dvd

Monster House (2006) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer |Wikipedia | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Gil Kenan Writing: Dan Harmon (Screenwriter), Rob Schrab (Screenwriter), Pamela Pettler (Screenwriter), Dan Harmon (Story By), Rob Schrab (Story By) Length: 91 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: PCM: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Korean: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai

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Stars:
Ryan Newman as Little Girl
Steve Buscemi as Nebbercracker
Mitchel Musso as DJ
Catherine O'Hara as Mom
Fred Willard as Dad

Plot:
Young DJ always knew there was something strange about the old Nebbercracker house across the street. When the house becomes a living, breathing monster, DJ enlists his pals Chowder and Jenny to learn the secret that keeps the house alive. Suddenly, they find themselves in a hair-raising battle with an unstoppable entity and must save the neighborhood from total devastation. Robert Zemeckis (The Polar Express, Back To The Future) and Steven Spielberg (ET, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones Trilogy) present Monster House - the movie The New York Times A.O. Scott hails "... smartly written and a lot of fun."

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Gallery

This is a pretty cute animated movie... though I have seen better. The film went in an obvious direction and I had a hard time caring about the characters. But in spite of all of that... It is definitely worth the time put in to watch it. The story takes place on Halloween so I can see myself watching this one for my October marathon each year.


(From Within My Lifetime Marathon on January 15th, 2015)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

TOS 2.04 Mirror, Mirror
Writer: Jerome Bixby (Writer), Gene Roddenberry (Original Characters By)
Director: Marc Daniels
Cast: William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Barbara Luna (Marlena), James Doohan (Scott), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Vic Perrin (Tharn), Walter Koenig (Chekov), John Winston (Lt. Kyle), Garth Pillsbury (Wilson), Pete Kellett (Kirk's Henchman)

I will be running a theme now: The "Mirror Universe" episodes. The beginning is of course the episode, where it all started.
One of my favorite TOS episodes. It is responsible that we will forever associate the evil twin with having a beard because of Mr. Spock. It is fun to see the cast in a different light. And of course I always enjoy good parallel universe episodes.
Pay attention at the end and you will notice that the last scene of this episode was used in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations". The only scene which was not derived from "The Trouble With Tribbels".

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on September 22nd, 2009)