DVD Collectors Online

An American Christmas Carol, a review by addicted2dvd

An American Christmas Carol (1979/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia | (United States) Director: Eric Till Writing: Jerome Coopersmith (Writer) Length: 96 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: Subtitles:

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Stars:
Henry Winkler as Benedict Slade
David Wayne
Chris Wiggins
R. H. Thomson [R.H. Thomson]
Kenneth Pogue

Plot:
This loose adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens tale moves the story to New England, where stingy elderly businessman Benedict Slade (Henry Winkler) ruthlessly collects debts and makes life miserable for everyone around him. His unscrupulous behavior warrants a Christmas Eve visit from his ghostly former partner and other spirits that show him the error of his ways. Can Slade turn his life around and become a better person before it's too late?

Extras:

• Featurettes
• New Interview With Henry Winkler

I caught this one on Amazon Prime. And I must say I really enjoyed. Actually more then I thought I would. I liked the changes they made in the story to make it somewhat more modern...and I enjoyed Henry Winkler in the role more then I thought I would. This is one I could see myself watch again so hope to get the chance to add it to my collection.



(From Christmas 2016 on December 21st, 2016)

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe, a review by Antares

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1972) 62/100 - Edgar Allan Poe was the first author that I fell in love with when I was young. The brevity of his stories, along with their macabre nature and rich imagery, easily cemented Poe's genius in my mind. To that end, like almost anything one reads, you have a preconceived notion of how the characters look and sound in your mind. Unfortunately for me, these notions were at odds with the performances of Vincent Price in four of Poe's short stories. The film clocked in at a meager 53 minutes, but felt like two hours. I love Vincent Price, and I could understand AIP's reason for having him do these one man recitations. The man's a legend of the Gothic horror genre and one would think that this would be a marriage made in heaven. But it's only 25% successful.

The Tell-Tale Heart - This is where my preconceived imagery was most glaringly at odds with Price's performance. I always saw the narrator of the tale as being coldly aloof and calculating in his manner, kind of like Hannibal Lecter. But Price plays him as if he's raging mad and his performance in this segment is overly melodramatic and it ruins the suspense of the matter of the old man's murder.

The Sphinx - Considered a lesser work from Poe, this was probably included to add a bit of whimsy to the four segment structure of stories. It's pretty light fare, but Price plays this one quite well. But that's to be expected as Price always had the knack for devilish type humor in his many portrayals.

The Cask of Amontillado - This was a short story that I never truly cared for when I first read it. But it turned out to be my favorite of the four segments as Price plays this one without the histrionics of the first and last stories in the film. What I found most interesting was the way that the director used alternating, quick edits of both of Price's facial profiles to render the conversation of the two men in the catacombs, a nice touch.

The Pit and the Pendulum - Once again, to augment the mood of dread inherent in the protagonist's plight, Price ratchets his bombast to a delirious and overwrought dimension in this final segment. I probably could have dealt with it better if he hadn't done it in the first segment also, but by now, it just came across as noisy and disengaging.

What the color coding means...

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 October 13th, 2012)

Lesbian Movie Marathon, a review by Tom

Title: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Year: 1990
Director:
Rating: 15
Length: 163 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1
Subtitles: English

Stars:


Plot:
A POIGNANT, COMIC AND TOTALLY ORIGINAL COMING-OF-AGE STORY ADAPTED FOR THE BBC BY JEANNETTE WINTERSON FROM HER WHITBREAD PRIZE-WINNING NOVEL.

Jess is the adopted daughter of a deeply religious woman. Growing up isolated and insulated in the north of England in the 1970's, Jess is told she's part of a larger plan. Her mother keeps her away from "Breeding Grounds" like schools, preferring to train her to spread God's word "to all the heathens in the hot countries." Jess eventually attends school, but continually feels like an outcast due to her religious beliefs. Her small town life changes when she meets Melanie, a beautiful sixteen-year old, and she experiences love at first sight. As the two draw closer, Jess's mother sees the devil at work and determines to exorcise the demons from her daughter.

Faced with the ire of Pastor Finch and his congregation, Jess realizes that she must soon decide between following her own heart or the path set out for her by others.

Awards:
Extras:
Interviews
Scene Access

Overall an okay mini-series. I liked the second episode the best of the three. I didn't enjoy it as much as the later BBC mini series I have reviewed in this thread ("Fingersmith" and "Tipping the Velvet").
The old ladies reminded me very much of Monty Python when they are doing their old ladies drag. Especially in the beginning of the first episode

Rating:

(From Lesbian Movie Marathon on May 14th, 2010)