DVD Collectors Online

Near Dark, a review by Danae Cassandra

Near Dark
Year of Release: 1987
Directed By: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein
Genre: Horror, Western, Crime

Overview:My Thoughts:
This is a stylish hybrid film, bridging horror, western and crime genres together to create a uniquely modern look at the vampire.  Perhaps one shouldn't use the term here, they certainly don't in the film, but it is still definitely a vampire film.  All of the actors do an excellent job, and the pull Caleb finds himself in between his two contrasting families creates quite a bit of excellent tension as you wonder whether he will accept his new family and new life, or continue to cling to his humanity.  Jenny Wright's portrayal of Mae is also just about the best portrayal of Stockholm Syndrome I've ever seen.  There is a bit of gore here, but nothing too bad and all necessary to the story.  Well worth a watch.

Bechdel Test: Fail (I think)

Overall: 4/5

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon on October 9th, 2014)

Ikimono no kiroku, a review by Antares

Ikimono no kiroku





Year: 1955
Film Studio: Toho Co. Ltd., The Criterion Collection, Eclipse
Genre: Drama
Length: 103 Min.

Director
Akira Kurosawa (1910)

Writing
Shinobu Hashimoto (1918)...Writer
Fumio Hayasaka (1914)...Story By
Akira Kurosawa (1910)...Story By
Hideo Oguni (1904)...Writer

ProducerCinematographer
Asakazu Nakai (1901)

MusicStarsReviewShichinin no samurai, and YojimboIkimono no kiroku (I Live in Fear), a postwar drama set amidst the fears of nuclear Armageddon. For the most part, this film has been forgotten or dismissed by most critics and Kurosawa fans alike. And while it may not have the intensity of his jidai-geki films, or the subtle humanity of say IkiruReview Criterion

(From Ikimono no kiroku (I Live in Fear) (1955) on June 16th, 2010)

Angel Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The gang has to flee from Jasmine and Connor and hides in the sewers of the city. There they meet a group of people that has been there since the days the sun went dark. But there is another and older creature down there, too.

My Opinion: Jasmine is Rumpelstiltskin. Obviously the bad guys do not talk to each other. While Jasmine tries in L.A. to turn the world into paradise, the "First Evil" tries in Sunnydale to turn it into hell. But I liked the episode better than the last two.

Synopsis: Angel is in a dimension which Jasmine has visited before but the others are held prisoner in the very same cage Angelus was in. And today Jasmine wants to bring her message of peace to the entire world - via satellite TV.

My Opinion: That was surprisingly fast with Jasmine's demise and one episode to early. But Angel is right, one cannot force happiness. It may not be a perfect world, but it's our world, formed by our free will.

Synopsis: Angel is offered the L.A. departement of Wolfram & Hart because he destroyed the Ideal World of Jasmine's. Of course he has no intentions of taking this offer.

My Opinion: If Wolfram & Hart really thinks they can control Angel, I think there's a big surprise waiting for them in the fifth season. But the tour was interesting.

The Season - My Opinion: I am in two minds about this season. I really don't like what the writers did to Cordelia and they didn't even wake her up at the end of the season. On the other hand her part was the most interesting. When she fell into the coma she took something with her and jasmine couldn't replace it. I hope Cordelia comes back as herself in the next season. They have built a foundation of why she can't be with Angel and thus avoiding that he gets a "moment of true happiness".

(From Angel Marathon on February 24th, 2008)