DVD Collectors Online

Arthur Christmas, a review by Danae Cassandra

Arthur Christmas
Year of Release: 2011
Directed By: Sarah Smith
Starring: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Ashley Jensen
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Animation

Overview:
How CAN Santa deliver billions of presents to the whole world in just one night? With an army of one million combat-style Field Elves and a vast, state-of-the-art control center under the ice of the North Pole! So how could this incredible operation have MISSED one child?! To Santa's young son, Arthur, it threatens to end the magic of Christmas. With retired Grandsanta, a rebellious young elf, an old sleigh and some untrained reindeer, Arthur sets out in a crazy mission to deliver the last present! Deck the halls with excitement, fun and wonder in this new Christmas classic!

My Thoughts:
This was a great, fun movie for the season. For being 5 years old now, the CGI still looks really good. The heart of the film is the relationships between the members of the Santa family, and the characters are pretty well fleshed for an animated film. It has a good story and lots of humor to keep it going as well. This has made it into my yearly rotation, and would be a good addition to the collection of any Christmas movie fan or any family with children.

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 3.75/5

(From Christmas 2016 on December 16th, 2016)

Lisa and the Devil, a review by Jimmy

Title: Lisa and the Devil (1973)

Genre: Horror
Director: Mario Bava
Rating: Unrated
Length: 1h35
Video: Widescreen
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Telly Savalas
Elke Sommer
Silva Koscina
Alessio Orano
Eduardo Fajardo

Plot:
Telly Savalas and Elke Sommer star in this surreal tale that unfolds as both waking dream and elliptical nightmare, a lush and disturbing meditation on love, death, identity and the machinations of evil. Now recognized as Il Maestro's final masterpiece, LISA AND THE DEVIL has been fully restored and remastered from the original camera negatives recently discovered in a Rome lab vault.

This is one of those movies that get better after each viewing and to be honest this movie is a visual masterpiece. There are so many beautifull image in it like the mannequin, the image of Leandro in the broken wine bottle, the Sophia's dress movement when she's killed or the sleeping beauty awakening in the forest. The score is so wonderfull and romantic that I would like to get it one day, it fits perfectly in the dream like mood of this film. The acting is quite good also, some of it looks weak but you understand the reason why at the end. Talking of the end, this is certainly a good and surprising one... Without selling it I can say that the meaning of it (at least for me) is that you can't change the past whatever you try to do. This film was a box office failure and this is probably because it was badly marketed as an horror movie since this isn't really one, but more a romantic film with a supernatural approach.

Rating :

(From Mario Bava marathon on July 24th, 2009)

Veronica Mars Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

17. Debasement Tapes
An ex-rock star living off nostalgia and his deceased partner's talent arrives at Hearst -- but his backing tapes don't. Mac's romantic relationships become almost as tangled as Veronica's.

My Thoughts:
A good episode... as I liked the mystery.... but not one of my favorites. What with my dislike of music and this being about a rock star really is wasted on me.

My Rating:

18. I Know What You'll Do Next Summer
Veronica's new case involves a fellow student, a Ugandan who authored a memoir about his heart-rending experiences as a child soldier. Everybody's making summer plans, from internships to jobs to surfing.

My Thoughts:
An interesting episode. The mystery wasn't that hot in my opiniion. But I liked that this episode started telling us what is happening in the future for some of our favorite characters.

My Rating:


19. Weevils Wobble
A bum knee and a bum rap. Weevil injures his knee on the job, then is fingered as the mastermind of a campus fraud ring. Luckily, he knows this smart blonde who just got her PI license.

My Thoughts:
This is an awesome episode. I enjoyed every minute of it. From beginning to end Weevil proves to be the same old Weevil from beginning to end.

My Rating:

20. The Bitch is Back
When someone starts circulating a compromising video of Veronica, she gets mad, she gets even and she gets a harrowing blast from the past.

My Thoughts:
Another excellent epsiode! Personally I would have liked to seen some more of the video that was talked about... but that is neither here nor there. But I enjoyed everything about this episode. Well everything except the ending for Keith Mars... while it is the ending that had to be for the episode... it is not the ending I would have preferred to see.

My Rating:




Bonus Material:
Season 4 Presentation - This is the idea they had for the fourth season. It is a jump into the future... and Veronica Mars is an agent in the FBI. It is not the length of a full episode... it is only about 12 minutes long. But I really enjoyed where they were planning to go... I would have loved to of seen it!

Pitching Season 4 - 18 minute featurette about the hopeful 4th season. I only watched a portion of this tonight.

Going Under Cover with Rob Thomas - a 9 part featurette for the third season. Once again... only watched a portion tonight.

Webisode Gallery - pretty self explanitory... there is 5 different web features here.

Additional Scenes with Introduction by Show Creator Rob Thomas - several deleted scenes for season 3. Some of which I wish stayed in the show... some I can see why they were cut.

Gag Reel - One of my all time favorite DVD extras... I just think it is a lot of fun seeing the actors goof off or messing up their lines. This one lasts 7 minutes.

Not bad collection of extras... but I would have liked to have seen a bit more... maybe a few cast commentaries or something. I must say my favorite of the extras has to be the Season 4 Presentation followed by the Gag Reel.

(From Veronica Mars Marathon on April 20th, 2010)