DVD Collectors Online

The Longest Yard, a review by addicted2dvd

The Longest Yard: Widescreen Collector's Edition (2005/United States) Paramount Home Entertainment Director: Peter Segal Writing: Sheldon Turner (Screenwriter), Tracy Keenan Wynn (Original Material By), Albert S. Ruddy (Original Material By) Length: 113 min. Rating: Rated PG-13 : Crude and Sexual Humor, Violence, Language and Drug References Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, Spanish

---

Stars:
ConsAdam Sandler as Paul Crewe
Chris Rock (1965) as Caretaker
Burt Reynolds as Coach Nate Scarborough
Nelly as Megget
Michael Irvin as Deacon Moss

Plot:
Are you ready for a different kind of football? Comic superstar Adam Sandler teams up with the always-outrageous Chris Rock, rap-sensation Nelly and a gang of real pro football players and wrestling superstars in the hardest-hitting action-packed comedy of the year! After former NFL quarterback Paul "Wrecking" Crewe (Sandler) gets thrown into a maximum security prison, the warden orders him to put together a team of hard-core inmates to play a fixed warm-up game against the brutal prison guards. But little does he know that the "Mean Machine," led by a tough-as-nails coach (Burt Reynolds), have plans to settle their own score in this rib-busting, unforgettable laugh-out-loud riot directed by Peter Segal (Anger Management).

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Outtakes/Bloopers
• Closed Captioned

I want to start off this review by saying that I have never had the opportunity to see the original 1974 version of this movie. So I can't tell you how it compares to it. But after watching this movie today... I would love to check out the original as I enjoyed every minute of this movie. I found it to be an all around fun movie. It has plenty of laughs and plenty of football action.... with a good storyline to bring it all together. I also liked that they got Burt Reynolds to play the coach in this movie after seeing that he played the part of Crewe in the original movie. I went into this movie with no expectations what so ever.... and came out of it a little surprised how much fun I did have watching it. It's also a good DVD release as there is no audio/video problems and there is a nice selection of extras to go along with it.

This movie was given to me from a very generous friend.... so I want to take this opportunity to say thank you once again. As I really enjoyed this one!

Now I just need to get my hands on the original!




(From What Movies I Been Watching on January 26th, 2012)

Haunted Gold, a review by Rogmeister

Haunted Gold (1932)  58m
Directed by Mack V. Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Sheila Terry, Harry Woods, Erville Alderson, Slim Whitaker, Blue Washington

One of 6 "B" westerns that Wayne shot for Warner Brothers in the early 30's, this has two Dukes in it...Duke Wayne himself and his white stallioin, Duke.  This is a sort of mix between a western and a scary mystery haunted house kind of movie.  John Wayne plays a young rancher who comes to a mostly deserted town with his black friend Clarence after receiving a mysterious letter...a young girl has also come after receiving a letter.  It turns out an outlaw gang is after the gold in a mostly abandoned gold mine, of which the girl's father was wrongly cheated out of his half.  There is some nice eerie atmosphere here along with the usual high-energy heroics.  Unfortunately, this wouldn't play well today due to the black  man's super-scared caricature performance which was so prevalent back in those days...the "lawdy feet, do yore thing" kind of performance.  But if you remember it was a product of the time, you can still watch this film and enjoy it.  

The DVD offers a  nice print of this movie.  There are no extras but the DVD does feature no less than three "B" westerns starring John Wayne.  Besides Haunted Gold, you also get Ride 'Em, Cowboy and The Big Stampede.

(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 29th, 2009)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Clark hides out in Metropolis under the alias "Kal" and has become a criminal in order to finance his lifestyle. The Kents have to sell the farm, they and Lana are still looking for him. There's one person who knows where he is but she's promised him not to reveal it. Meanwhile Lex "lives" on a tropical island with some other guy and tries to get off it.

My Opinion: Great continuation of the story. Though I haven't understood why Jonathan and Pete didn't try to knock him out with Kryptonite. Ok, they did that last time but that proved to be successful. I understand that using the same plot twice is uncreative, yet if it were for real I doubt that they wouldn't have tried it again.
I also liked Michael's performance on the island, he did a better job than Tom Hanks (What a boring movie!).

Synopsis: Both Clark and Lex return to Smallville and both have to deal with what happened lateley. That means that Lex has to straighten out what really happened on that plane and if his wife had anything to do with it. And Clark has to deal with a Metropolis crime boss who threatens his parents and he has to apologize to a whole lot of people.

My Opinion: It was a good conlusion to this four-parter. Unfortunately it ends with Clark's break-up with Lana against her expressed wish and he is retreating into his shell again.
I liked to see Rutger Hauer in the role of the crime boss, if it were for me, it could have lasted longer than these two episodes but unfortunately he had to share the fate of bad guys who know Clark's secret.

Synopsis: A "meteor freak" attacks Lana in the school pool and a secret vigilante shoots him to death. He has killed before and his next target is Lex whom he believes to be a meteor freak, too. Clark can save Lex once again but that makes him also a target. Unfortunately the shooter has found Clark's Achilles' heel and he uses Kryptonite bullets.

My Opinion: I liked the theme of the episode: Are all meteor-infected people murderous freaks? If I were in Clark's position I wouldn't have told her (Lana) my secret either. Her point of view at the begin of the episode was quite firm and although she said that she wouldn't mind if Clark were bullet-proof (i.e. a meteor freak), I wouldn't be sure that she really wouldn't mind. This topic will surface again, especially in one of the key episodes of the fourth season: Pariah.
I also liked the Eastwood-y way he protected himself from the bullets and put Lana's mind at rest (at least for a while).

Synopsis: Clark has the weirdest day: He somehow can fly, he skinny-dips with Lana, Lex finds out his secret and a young girl is chased by a mysteriously hooded figure in the woods and disappears into the ground. But then he awakes, after he's been asleep for 36 hours. He learns that new neighbours have moved into Lana's old house and that there's a young girl in a coma.

My Opinion: I wonder what insurance company insures the Kent's truck and what garage does the repairing. It had been in several very heavy crashes and was even blown up. Maybe they just like the brand and the colour.
I liked the episode because it had a different angle than usual.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on May 26th, 2008)