DVD Collectors Online

Payback, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Payback
Year: 1999
Director: Brian Helgeland
Rating: R
Length: 101 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Mel Gibson
Gregg Henry
Maria Bello
David Paymer
Bill Duke
Deborah Kara Unger

Plot:
Mel Gibson "gives one of his strongest performances,"** teaming with director and co-screenwriter Brian Helgeland (co-writer of L.A. Confidential) and a superb supporting cast to ignite Payback's explosive mix of story, stars and style.

The dynamic superstar portrays Porter, a career criminal bent on revenge after his partners in a street heist pump metal into him and take off with his $70,000 cut. Bad move, thugs. Because if you plan to double-cross Porter, you'd better make sure he's dead. Porter resurfaces, wading into a lurid urban underworld of syndicate kingpins, cops on the take, sniveling informants and deadly gangs. Porter wants his money back. And the way he sets out to get it assures that, from beginning to heartpounding end, Payback pays off big.

**Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I decided to watch this one today in honor of William Devane's birthday. This is the first time I ever seen this movie. While not a bad movie... I was expecting more from it.  I would say it is more of an average movie in my opinion. I just found I really didn't care much about the characters. And found myself watching the clock. I mean sure it had plenty of action. But I just couldn't get myself to care about what was going on. Maybe it was just that I wasn't in the mood for this type of movie and I would like it more on a second viewing.



(From Addicted2DVD's September Birthday Marathon on September 5th, 2010)

Yaadein..., a review by Tom

Title: Yaadein...
Year: 2001
Director: Subhash Ghai
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 171 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: German: Dolby Digital Stereo, Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: German

Stars:
Jackie Shroff
Hrithik Roshan
Kareena Kapoor
Amrish Puri
Avni

Awards:

Filmfare Awards

2002

Nominated

Best Supporting Actor Award

Jackie Shroff

Extras:
Featurettes
Scene Access
Trailers

Very sloppy screenwriting. For example the youngest daughter, you is not allowed to marry the man she loves because her father doesn't like the man's family. Solution: The daughter pours gas on herself and threatens to burn herself alive. The father agrees to the marriage.
Or the other daughter who doesn't believe in love goes with some friends to an island, which is off-limits to visitors because of wild animals. Just as they step off their boat, an alligator attacks and all leave again, leaving the girl behind. Hritik Roshan's character learns about this, travel himself to the island with a motorboat, finds the girl unconscious and brings her back to the boat. But when the motor doesn't start, he swims (!) back the whole way towing the boat, nearly dying doing this. This was the way for the screenwriter to motivate the girl to fall in love. Really lazy writing, in my opinion.
It gets better in the second half, but it does not save this movie. The actor playing the father does a great job though. And I love the Jim Carrey parody that Hritik Roshan does in a scene.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on August 2nd, 2009)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Chef - Series 1

Personnel
Gareth Blackstock is the executive chef at Le Chateau Anglais, and he is infuriated when management cuts his budget. He is one up on the budget when Everton shows up and volunteers his service as a chef for no compensation in order that he can train in the most famous kitchen in England.



Meet Britain's finest -- and most ill-tempered -- chef, Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry), of the prestigious Le Chateau Anglais restaurant. Each meal is a masterpiece. Just don't ask for salt. Chef Blackstock rules his kitchen with an iron ladle and puts up with no slacking. Tuck in and prepare to double over in laughter with this hilarious and much loved comedy series from the BBC!

British comedy at its most lazy and worst. Canned laughter was essential, as there was nothing that even made me titter. Lenny Henry lost his comedy skills after Tiswas, and his character in this, obviously based on a black Gordon Ramsey, is simply pathetic. The remainder of the cast are a hodge-podge of familiar character actors, and all look totally bored and uninterested in this dire pilot show.
Ebay here we come.
 


(From My PILOT Marathon on September 23rd, 2009)