DVD Collectors Online

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, a review by Antares

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011) 60/100 - How does one go into a remake of one of their top ten films? With trepidation, I assure you. I don't think there's ever been a better samurai film than Kobayashi's original Seppuku, and this is coming from a film fan who worships at the altar of Akira Kurosawa. At first I wondered what direction Miike would take. Would he make it more flashy, with a lot more swordplay or would he play it safe and follow the original frame by frame. For the most part, he chose the latter. And though it does reflect some of the feeling of the original, Miike stays with the parts of the screenplay that show case the misery the family endures after their clan has fallen from the grace of the Shogun. By dwelling a bit too long on this aspect, the film feels much lengthier than the 2 hour and 8 minute running time. Kobayashi's film clocked in at 2 hours, 14 minutes, but for me, it breezed by. Finally, a couple of choices made in the last act were misfires. Would I recommend it, lukewarmly if it's a person's first foray into samurai cinema. But if you've seen a few, then I say skip it.

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 July 11th, 2020)

Let the Right One In, a review by Tom

Title:
Year: 2008
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Rating: 15
Length: 118 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35
Audio: Swedish: DTS 5.1, Swedish: Dolby Digital 5.0, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:Plot:
Twelve year old Oskar 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. As a sweet romance blossoms between them, Oskar learns to overcome his tormentors and discovers Eli's dark secret and the connections to the gruesome events occuring across town. Together they must help Eli be gone and live, or stay and die.

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

Awards:

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Actor	Kare Hedebrant
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	2009	Won	Best Actress	Lina Leandersson
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	2009	Won	Best Limited-Release/Direct-To-Video Film
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	2009	Won	Best Score
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	2009	Won	Best Screenplay	John Ajvide Lindqvist
Satellite Awards	2008	Nominated
Saturn Awards	2008	Nominated	Best Performance by a Younger Actor	Lina Leandersson
Saturn Awards	2008	Nominated	Best Writing	John Ajvide Lindqvist
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Director	Tomas Alfredson
Scream Awards	2009	Won	Best Foreign Movie
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Horror Actor	Kare Hedebrant
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Horror Actress	Lina Leandersson
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Horror Movie
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Best Scream-Play	John Ajvide Lindqvist
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Breakout Performance-Female	Lina Leandersson
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	Most Memorable Mutilation	"The Swimming Pool Scene":
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	The "Holy Sh%t!" Scene of the Year	"The Swimming Pool Scene":
Scream Awards	2009	Nominated	The Ultimate Scream
Young Artist Awards	2009	Nominated

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Photo Gallery

I have seen this movie at last year's FantasyFilmFest. It was the best movie I had seen there that year, which means a lot because I saw some great movies there.
This movie had surprised me then. I wasn't expecting liking it very much. Usually I do not like movies with such a slow pace. But this one was really great.

Rating:

(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 8th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Andy Richter Controls the Universe: The Complete Series (2002/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia CBS DVD, Paramount Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 417 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
The rules of comedy are about to be broken in Andy Richter Controls The UniverseAndy Richter Controls the Universe
1.01 Pilot
Writer: Victor Fresco (Created By), Victor Fresco (Writer)
Director: Andy Ackerman
Cast: Andy Richter (Andy Richter), Paget Brewster (Jessica Green), Irene Molloy (Wendy McKay), Jonathan Slavin (Byron Togler), James Patrick Stuart (Keith), Rick Hoffman (Arnich), John Bliss (Mr. Pickering), Jonathan Tipton Meyers (Co-Worker), Jordan Anita Moseley (Little Girl)

I liked this series since I first saw this pilot when it originally aired and was sad to see the series cancelled so soon.
Here is my review of the season set.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 26th, 2011)