DVD Collectors Online

Anna and the King, a review by Rich

Enlightenment through Malaysia...





A joy to watch, superb acting by Foster and Yun-Fat, great 'based on fact' storyline and splendid momentum contributed to make this an 8/10. The initial culture clash, political background, and developing respect and love between Anna and King Mongkut are brilliantly directed and a film that would happily be enjoyed by all ages.

(From Around the World in 80 DVD's on February 26th, 2008)

Miss Congeniality, a review by addicted2dvd

Miss Congeniality
Legs waxed. Lips glossed. Gun ready. Special Agent Gracie Hart is going undercover as a hopeful eager to be the next Miss United States. But Gracie doesn't have a beauty-pageant bone in her body.

Sandra Bullock stars as an operative posing as a pageant contestant in order to ferret out a terrorist targeting the event. Michael Caine deliciously plays the frustrated consultant hired to turn Dirty Harriet into a poised beauty. And Benjamin Bratt, Candice Bergen, William Shatner and Ernie Hudson also score points for hilarity in this box-office smash. From big laughs to sly quips, 'Miss Congeniality' hits.

My Thoughts:
I believe I said it before... but I am going to say it again. I noticed this one gets a pretty bad rap on a lot of sites.. but I have always enjoyed it! After all this is the 3rd time I watched this movie just since upgrading to the Deluxe Edition DVD. God only knows how many times I watched the standard edition I had first. I find this movie to just be a lot of fun. There is several parts of this movie that I literally laughed out loud on. Sandra Bullock really has a great style in this movie. Shows that she can really hold her own when it comes to comedy.

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Sandra Bullock on August 23rd, 2008)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Superman II (1980/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United Kingdom) Director: Richard Lester Writing: Jerry Siegel (Original Characters By), Joe Shuster (Original Characters By), Mario Puzo (Story By), Mario Puzo (Screenwriter), David Newman (Screenwriter), Leslie Newman (Screenwriter) Length: 127 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 1, German: Dolby Digital 1, Italian: Dolby Digital 1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish

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Stars:
Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor
Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent
Ned Beatty as Otis
Jackie Cooper as Perry White
Sarah Douglas as Ursa

Plot:
Unwittingly released from Phantom Zone imprisonment, three super-powered Planet Krypton criminals (Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran) plan to enslave Earth - just when Superman (Christopher Reeve) decides to show a more romantic side to Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). Gene Hackman (as Lex Luthor) also returns from the first film and with a top supporting cast, witty Richard Lester direction and visuals that astound and delight, Superman II saves the day any day you watch it.

Awards:
Won:

Saturn (1981)

Best Science Fiction Film

Nominated:

AFI (1980)		100 Years... 100 Passions (2002)
AFI (1980)		100 Years... 100 Thrills (2001)
Saturn (1981)		Best Actor (Christopher Reeve)
Saturn (1981)		Best Actress (Margot Kidder)
Saturn (1981)		Best Music (Ken Thorne)

Extras:

• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

Chances that I would revisit the theatrical cut of Superman II were slim since I saw the superior Donner Cut, but since I just double-dipped on the Blu-ray set, I planned to watch all movies therein.
The theatrical cut isn't as bad as I remembered, and I could enjoy it again as I did in the past before knowing anything about the Donner/Lester controversy. Still some stuff are obviously unfitting. Especially since they chose not to use any Marlon Brando scenes, which results Jor-El missing in the flashbacks to the first movie (launch of Superman's ship and the imprisonment of General Zod). And also the need to use Superman's mother in the Fortress of Solitude scenes.
But I have to say, that there is only one moment, which I miss from the theatrical cut in the Donner Cut. And that is Clark's resignation of keeping up the charade and admitting to Lois that he is Superman. There is something similar in the Donner cut, but because it is a scene never originally shot and taken from screen test footage, it is not as effective (Christopher Reeve not yet the perfect Superman. Acting-wise and body-wise).

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on August 14th, 2011)