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The Conjuring, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Conjuring
Year of Release: 2013
Directed By: James Wan
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston
Genre: Horror

Overview:
Based on true events, The Conjuring tells the thrilling story of ghost hunters Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson), who help a family terrorized by an evil spirit in their mysterious farmhouse.

My Thoughts:
This was a really, really well done horror film.  It has everything I like in a horror movie - atmosphere, mood, a wonderfully realized feeling of dread with well-fleshed out evil.  A Ravenloft DM could make a great set piece out of this film.  It has a strong script and good performances from all the actors involved, and some solid jump scare moments that aren't expected.  There's no gore, no nudity, and no foul language, but this still deserves its R rating - and recommended for any fans of old school horror films.  Great movie.

Bechdel Test:  Pass

Overall: 4/5

(From The Conjuring on January 16th, 2014)

Masters of the Universe, a review by DJ Doena

January, 11th


Dolph Lundgren    ...    He-Man
Frank Langella   ...    Skeletor
Meg Foster   ...    Evil-Lyn
Billy Barty   ...    Gwildor
Courteney Cox   ...    Julie Winston
Robert Duncan McNeill   ...    Kevin Corrigan
Jon Cypher   ...    Duncan (Man-at-Arms)
Chelsea Field   ...    Teela
James Tolkan   ...    Detective Lubic

Synopsis: Whoever becomes lord over Castle Grayskull on Eternia becomes the Master of the Universe and Skeletor plans exactly this. He uses a cosmic key to open a portal directly into the castle and he can assume control. He-Man and his friends have to retreat, they use the key to get out and they land on Earth. But neither Skeletor nor He-Man is giving up. And suddenly the highschool students Julie and Kevin are in the middle of an epic fight between good and evil.

My Opinion: This is a guilty pleasure of mine. I love this movie even though it's totally cheesy and Dolph Lundgren can't act at all. But it doesn't matter. It's still a great fun to watch.

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2009 on January 11th, 2009)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by Achim

8. Mr. Ferguson Is Ill TodayMy comments:
At first I was wondering why the writer made John do so many foolish things. He id it in earlier episodes and had since seemed to have learnt. Well, if he wasn't doing things like running away without telling anyone, there wouldn't be any exciting plots

Matthias has pointed out before it's his favorite and I can at least confirm from my side that it's the best episode yet. I always enjoy the "bits and pieces" approach to tell a story, presenting us with segments, each following another person, that slightly overlap. This way important information can occasionally be left out only to be revealed later on. Kudos to the writer team to pulling it off very effectively

We also get great action by Thomas Dekker (especially the first half) and Garrett Dillahunt as Cromartie is very menacing here.

Only now, two or three episodes after the incident I realize that Ellison's role in all this must be bigger than we can imagine so far. Triggered by his question to Sarah about his role I noticed that  Skynet felt it was a good idea to actual model a Terminator after him. Well, or something. Looking forward to see more of him.



(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 7th, 2010)