DVD Collectors Online

Caché, a review by Eric

Caché (Hidden)


Summary: Academy Award®-winner Juliette Binoche (1997, Best Supporting Actress, 'The English Patient') stars in CACHÉ, a psychological thriller about a TV talk show host and his wife who are terrorized by surveillance videos of their private life. Delivered by an anonymous stalker, the tapes reveal secret after secret until obsession, denial and deceit take hold of the couple and hurl them to the point of no return. CACHÉ is director Michael Haneke's dark vision of a relationship torn mercilessly apart by the camera's unblinking eye.

My Thoughts:  This is another very good thriller.  Binoche and Auteuil are as good as ever.  A very well made movie, I enjoyed watching it and would watch again although I'm puzzled by the end and don't quite understand why the director finished it the way he did.

My score:

(From Eric's DVD watching. on May 24th, 2008)

Meet Dave, a review by Rich

25/11

Meet dave



Meet Dave is a family space farce with enough Eddie Murphy slapstick to make the whole family chuckle. With elements of InnerSpace, Starman, Men in Black, and even a bit of Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, the film may not break new ground, but Murphy's giddy performance lifts the material to an engaging level. Murphy plays a space ship in human form, carrying wee aliens on an excursion to earth. As "Dave Ming Chang," he interacts with his surroundings and fellow humans by following the orders given by the ship's commanders inside his "head." It's an endearing fish-out-of-water yarn that riffs of pop culture as well as potty humor for its laughs. ("Lieutenant Bottoms, what is your status?" "Captain, we had a small gas leak. It was silent, but not deadly.")
In the course of his mission, Dave is hit by a car, becomes a substitute teacher in a New York City public school, and starts to develop feelings for earth kids--and ladies. All the while his homage to the Bee Gees, from the white suit to his high-pitch-perfect rendition of "Stayin' Alive," provides an oddly perfect backdrop and symbol for Dave's being ever so slightly behind the times. Murphy is engaging as always, firing off deadpan one-liners and happily being the straight man to the film's jokes. A potential love interest, Gina (Elizabeth Banks), mentions that her late husband was a captain in the Navy. Dave says, "I am a captain." Gina: "Oh really? A captain of what?" Inside Dave's head, the crewmembers frantically search their earth database to give him the answer: "I am a captain of crunch." --A.T. Hurley

Approached this with trepedation, but have to admit there are more than several laugh out loud moments. Some great gags, childish humour of course along the lines of fart jokes, but often the funniest, and his mimicking of other people is superb. This is not ground-breaking in any shape or form, and is shaped specifically for Eddie Murphys strengths (if you hate him don't buy it), I am embarrassed to admit I enjoyed the film. The concept is sound, and watching the development of the characters within the spaceship (Dave) is amusing.
It is not taxing, thought provoking, deep or meaningful, but nonetheless it is a really easy watch on a rainy morning such as today, so I have to give it a  



(From November Alphabet Marathon - Discussion/Review Thread on November 25th, 2008)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Gokusen (2003/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Anime Works, Media Blasters (United States) Length: 325 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
Kumiko Yamaguchi is the heir to the Oedo Yakuza family, but it's her dream to teach the youth of Japan. Putting aside her Yakuza cunning, she takes up the role of a normal bubbly graduate, landing a high-school teaching job. Now Kumiko is determined to understand the teenage mind, teach higher math and maybe carry on a little romance... yet she lives with the fact that her loyal army of brutal hitmen capable of murdering disobedient students are only one step away.


Gokusen
1.01 Rookie Teacher With a Secret Is Born! (2004-01-06)
Writer: Kozueko Morimoto (Original Material By), Yasuko Kobayashi (Screenwriter)
Director: Yuzo Sato
Cast: Japanese Voice Cast), Isao Yamagishi (Noda (voice)), Risa Hayamizu (Kumiko Yamaguchi (voice)), Kenichi Suzumura (Shin Sawada (voice)), Youichi Masukawa (Uchiyama (voice)), Takuro Nakakuni (Minami (voice)), Hiroomi Sugino (Kumai (voice)), Tomohiro Nishimura (Principal (voice)), Uoken (Vice Principal (voice)), Rica Matsumoto (Fujiyama (voice)), Hisanori Koyatsu (Iwamoto (voice)), Katsuhiro Toyokawa (Eguchi (voice)), Chihiro Suzuki (Kudo (voice)), Norio Wakamoto (Oshima (voice)), Haruo Sato (Wakamatsu (voice)), Keiji Hirai (Tetsu (voice)), Nanae Kato (Classmate in Girlhood (voice)), Nozomi Masu (Classmate in Girlhood (voice)), Chikao Ootsuka (Ryuichiro (voice)), Seizo Kato (Fuji (voice)), Hiroaki Yoshida (Minoru (voice)), Katsuyuki Konishi (Shinohara Lawyer (voice)), Yasuhiro Fujiwara (Senior (voice)), Takahiro Fujimoto (Senior (voice)), English Voice Cast), Matt Kaplan (Noda (voice)), Caroline Lawson (Kumiko Yamaguchi (voice)), Kevin T. Collins (Shin Sawada (voice)), Jamie McGonnigal (Uchiyama (voice)), Sebastian Arcelus (Minami (voice)), Ed Paul (Kumai (voice)), Jimmy Zoppi (Principal (voice)), Marc Diraison (Vice Principal (voice)), Sue Gillad (Fujiyama (voice)), Sean Schemmel (Iwamoto (voice)), Ed Napier (Eguchi (voice)), Peter Ganim (Oshima (voice)), Mike Pollack (Wakamatsu (voice)), Maddie Blaustein (Tetsu (voice)), Dan Green (Ryuichiro (voice)), John Abner (Fuji (voice)), Sean Schemmel (Minoru (voice)), Josh Moseby (Shinohara Lawyer (voice))

This was originally a lucky blind buy. It only cost 12 bucks (dirt cheap for an anime), and boy was it worth it.

Rating:

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