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Juno, a review by Rich

JUNO



Meet Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) - a confidently frank teenage girl who calls the shots with a nonchalant cool and an effortless attitude as she journeys through an emotional nine-month adventure into adulthood. Quick witted and distinctively unique, Juno walks Dancing Elk High''s halls to her own tune - preferably anything by The Stooges - but underneath her tough no nonsense exterior is just a teenage girl trying to figure it all out. While most girls at Dancing Elk are updating their MySpace page or shopping at the mall, Juno is a whip-smart Minnesota teen living by her own rules. A typically boring afternoon becomes anything but when Juno decides to have sex with the charmingly unassuming Bleeker (Michael Cera). Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, she and best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) hatch a plan to find Juno''s unborn baby the perfect set of parents courtesy of the local Penny Saver. They set their sights on Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), an affluent suburban couple who are longing to adopt their first child. Luckily, Juno has the support of her dad and stepmother (J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney). After the initial shock that their daughter has been sexually active with the unlikely "virile" Bleeker, the family bands together to help Juno. Dad Mac accompanies Juno to size up the prospective adoptive parents to make sure they are not a couple of "wing nuts" while stepmother Bren provides emotional support as Juno fights the prejudices of underage pregnancy. While fall becomes winter and winter turns to spring, Juno moves closer and closer to her due date. Juno''s physical changes mirror her personal growth while the veneer of Mark and Vanessa''s idyllic life starts to show signs of cracking. With a fearless intellect far removed from the usual teen angst, Juno conquers her problems head-on, displaying a youthful exuberance both smart and unexpected.

Quirky flick showing it's Indie roots, at times a little too strongly for my personal taste with sharp dialogue and hip unknown music. But it's offbeat humour and absolutely brilliant acting win-out to produce a memorable film portraying a teenage pregnancy and potentially difficult surrogate mother subject with a lighter look. Ellen Page is great, special mention for JK Simmons who impresses. Not quite a chick-flick, but close! 


(From Riches Random Reviews on January 7th, 2009)

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins
Year: 2000
Director: Tad Stones
Rating: G
Length: 70 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles:

Stars:
Tim Allen
Nicole Sullivan
Larry Miller
Stephen Furst
Wayne Knight
Adam Carolla

Plot:
Buzz Lightyear, the ultimate hero from the smash hit Toy Story movies, is back as you've never seen him before! Now for the first time ever, be there as the world's bravest Space Ranger takes on the evil Emeperor Zurg in an intergalactic struggle of epic proportions - right in their onw backyard: the Gamma Quadrant far, far away. This all-new feature-length animated saga includes a special introduction starring Woody, Jessie and Rex. Join them as they cheer for Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen): hero, legend, movie star...and an action figure's action figure.

Urgent Message From Star Command
-MISSION LOG-
Zurg and his henchmen have just invaded the Planet of the Little Green Men in their diabolical quest to take control of the universe. Buzz and his fearless team of Space Rangers Cadets (the mystical Mira Nova, the brave but bumbling Booster and the experimental robot XR) are the only ones who can save the day...and the galaxy!
-END TRANSMISSION-

Will Buzz save the Little Green Men in time? Will he defeat the evil Emperor Zurg? Set your course for out-of-this-world excitement as everyone's favorite Space Ranger, Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command, takes adventure and heroism...to infinity and beyond!

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Interactive Games
Closed Captioned
Digital Comic Book, Star Command Trivia

My Thoughts:
This one was the choice of my daughter Brittany. While entertaining... this is in no way in the league of Toy Story.  It is good enough to hold my attention through-out... but over-all it is just average. I did get a bit of a kick out of the little green men.



(From Sunday Mini-Marathon: Celebrity Birthdays - June 13th on June 13th, 2010)

Veronica Mars Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Episode 13: Lord of the Bling
"Bone" Hamilton is a gangsta-rap impresario whose hits may include more than CDs. But he's also a desperate father eager to find his missing teen daughter. Logan suspects his mother is alive.

My Thoughts:
This was a pretty good episode... but one where not much happens for the season long mystery. But it does start another multi-episode mystery as well.


Episode 14: Mars vs. Mars
Both can't be right. When one of Veronica's favorite teachers is accused of sexual misconduct, she works to exonerate him while Keith finds details that discredit him. News about Lynn is bad... and good.

My Thoughts:
This was a good episode. Being a father of a daughter... a daughter that is just about to go into her teens... this is a subject matter that truly scares me... because the thought of someone like that taking advantage of my daughter in that way infuriates me even now!

Episode 15: Ruskie Business


My Thoughts:
Decent episode here... nothing really too special though.


Episode 16: Betty and Veronica
Bogart had a Maltese falcon. Veronica has a Neptune parrot. The school mascot is birdnapped just before the big game. From silly to serious: Veronica has found her mother... and more pieces to the puzzle of Lilly's murder.

My Thoughts:
This one was kinda fun...  I enjoyed it. This stealing of school mascots... is this real?... it is something I personally only ever seen on TV... to be honest the highschool where I went didn't even have a mascot... well not a real one at least... but being the Jaguars I guess that is a good thing! :-p

(From Veronica Mars Marathon on August 25th, 2007)