DVD Collectors Online

L.A. Confidential, a review by Dragonfire

L.A. Confidential My Thoughts I wasn't interested in this one when I first saw previews for it.  I just didn't think I would like it.  Then I kept seeing the trailer and I started changing my mind and I eventually saw the movie..and I loved it. The plot is rather complicated, so people could get confused or lost if they don't pay attention.  Things do start off slower while characters are introduced and situations are set up.  Some of what is shown doesn't seem that important at first, but it all ends up being tied to what is going and adding to the set up of things.  I think there ends up being a decent amount of mystery and I didn't find the movie to be predictable at all.  I remember being really shocked by one thing that happens - though it does make sense for the story.  I did end up reading the book after I had seen the movie.  I think I'd seen it a few times by that point.  The book is even more complex than the movie with even more characters and events going on.  I think the movie is a really good adaptation since it focuses in on the most important elements of the story.  From what I remember, a lot more time is covered in the book. Even though there aren't any actual sex scenes in the movie, sex does have a big impact on the story.  Sid, the tabloid reporter, is always hoping to catch famous or sort of famous people in some sort of compromising sexual situation.  Sid even sets some of them up, promising one person that no one else will ever know..and then he plasters the pictures all over the cover of Hush-Hush, the tabloid magazine he writes for.  Lynn, the main female character, is a call girl who looks like Veronica Lake.  There are other call girls who look like other actresses, though they are mostly just talked about and only one of them is briefly seen.  Bud and Lynn have a relationship and it is very clear that it involves sex even though not much is shown.  There is a lot of violence in the movie, some of which is rather graphic and extreme.  There are shoot outs and fights with several people getting hurt or killed.  The violence didn't really bother me, though some people may feel differently.  The movie definitely deserves the R rating and it isn't one for children. Several of the characters are just in a few short scenes, but they still manage to be interesting.  This was the first movie I saw Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce in.  I really didn't like Pearce's character Ed at first.  Technically he is the good guy since he is out to end corruption, but his attitude at first makes him unlikeable.  I don't see Bud as really a bad character, though he isn't all good either.  Jack has gotten use to being a bit of a celebrity thanks to the exposure from working with a tv show and the busts that he sets up for Sid to take pictures of.  Jack is a bit corrupted, but no where near the level that some other cops are.  The cast is wonderful in their parts. I really like this movie and think it is has held up very well. At the time, I was ok with Titanic winning more Oscars, including best picture.  Now I'm thinking this one really should have won.  I posted a review on Epinions last night - my 1300th review there.  L.A. Confidential

(From L.A. Confidential on June 16th, 2010)

Herschell Gordon Lewis The Godfather of Gore (2011), a review by Jimmy

Title: Herschell Gordon Lewis The Godfather of Gore (2011)

Genre: Documentary
Director: Jimmy Maslon / Frank Henenlotter
Rating: Not Rated
Length: 1h47
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Plot:One of this most, if not the most important, character in the horror movies history. Why? Easy without him the gore movies wouldn't exist as he (and David Friedman) were the first to make one of this film. Isn't what us horror movies fans like to have everything but the sink thrown at our face? So this documentary is a complete overview of the Herschell Gordon Lewis career in the industry. Starting with his start in the nudie cuties with The Prime Time (the first film of Karen Black) a genre he was one of the precursor with Russ Meyer. Of course the large part of the documentary is devoted to his gore movies (who were quite effective for the period). Of course all the various type of film he did later are also cover (but not that deeply, for that you must watch the deleted scenes and there is more than one hour of them!!!!).

Frankly a great documentary but this isn't surprising as it was produce by Something Weird Video. Many people who worked with Lewis are interviewed in the film. BTW it's great to see how Mal Arnold, Jerome Eden, Bunny Yeager, Ray Sager (he is now a big TV producer on the english side of our country) and many others look like now. The only missing one I would have like to hear is Connie Mason, I suppose she wasn't available as she is always alive.

A recommandation if you are interested to know about the beginning of the horror genre as it is now.
 
Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2011 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 1st, 2011)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

What's the show about?
Dr. House leads a team of diagnosticians who have specialized in rare and/or extraordinary cases. House himself is a misanthropic cripple who doesn't like to handle the patients personally, basically because "everybody lies". He bounces ideas off his team and together they find the disease but not always fast enough to actually save the patient.

"Pilot"
A young kindergarten teacher is brought to the hospital because she has lost the ability to speak and five different doctors have made five different diagnoses based on the same evidence. House's friend Dr. Wilson tricks House into accepting this patient and he and his team try to diagnose her illness. And the hospital boss Dr. Cuddy forces House to do clinic hours, too.

My Opinion
It's not lupus. Whatever it is, it's never lupus. The case of the week follows a fairly regular pattern. Patient comes in, something makes it interesting for House, they treat, they mistreat, they treat again, they nearly kill the patient and then something totally unrelated to the case gives House the solution. Case closed, patient (maybe still) alive. For me that's not the reason to watch this show. For me it's about House himself and his friend Wilson and Cuddy and his three doctors and how they interact and what they do besides treating the patient. And even though the case always follows the same pattern, the position of the players (even House's) is constantly changing and will change again when the show goes into its sixth season this fall.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on September 1st, 2009)