DVD Collectors Online

Quigley Down Under, a review by Rogmeister

Quigley Down Under  (1990)  120m
Directed by Simon Wincer
Music by Basil Poledouris
Cast: Tom Selleck, Laura San Giacomo, Alan Rickman, Chris Haywood, Ron Haddrick, Tony Bonner, Jerome Ehlers

According to Phil Hardy's The Western, this movie was originally written in the 70s for Steve McQueen but it wasn't filmed until 1990 and Tom Selleck got the part.  Selleck made a lot of westerns in his time...possibly more than any current actor, though most have been for TV.  This is his one western (as far as I know) to hit the big screen and it's a good one.  The plot has him coming to Australia, apparently hired by rancher Alan Rickman to shoot wild dingos but he really wants him to off native aborigines.  Selleck (as Matthew Quigley) doesn't like that so they two quickly become enemies.  I really enjoy this movie...Selleck is a great cowboy, Rickman makes a fine villain, and Australia makes a fine (if different) landscape to set it all on.  We also have a fine director...Wincer did another little western you may have heard of...it's called Lonesome Dove.  I also love the film score which is by Basil Poledouris...hmmm, come to think of it, he did the music for Lonesome Dove, too.  Okay, Laura San Giacomo is not your normal leading lady, playing Crazy Cora who keeps calling Matthew Quigley by the name of Roy...but even she is endearing in her own way.  

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

Finding Nemo, a review by Rogmeister

Finding Nemo  2-Disc Collector's Edition

Marlin (a clown fish) is a widower who only has his son Nemo left of his family after a predator attack. Years later, on Nemo's first day of school, he's captured by a scuba diver and taken to live in a dentist office's fish tank. Marlin and his new friend Dory set off across the ocean to find Nemo, while Nemo and his tankmates scheme on how to get out of the tank before he becomes the dentist's niece's new pet.

This is one of those movies that you hear so much about that you find yourself surprised at how long it's taken you to get around to watching it. This movie got glowing reviews when it came out and I always meant to watch it but never did...until now.

The first thing I noticed about the movie was the stunning visuals. This movie looks absolutely gorgeous with unbelievably vibrant colors. The story moves along quickly (as most animated films are wont to do as they're usually 90 minutes or shorter as this one is). Sometimes you rack your brain for most of these animated movies trying to figure out who did the voices but I luckily didn't have to do that. I already knew that Ellen Degeneres did the voice of Dory (and she has the funniest dialogue in the movie) and I recognized right away the voice of Albert Brooks who provided Marlin's voice.

Nemo meets a lot of different kinds of sea creatures in this movie...I had to laugh at the very thought of a shark intervention. The shark's name is Bruce which I found funny since most people remember that that's what the tech people called the shark when they were making the movie Jaws. I found the jellyfish sequence rather exciting and it reached quite an exciting conclusion. I absolutely loved this movie and I'll probably find myself watching it again before too long. Maybe I'll watch it with the commentary sometime. They have a special visual commentary where, if you use that option, they'll actually interrupt the movie to take you on the scenes to see how some sequences came to be.

As with many Disney special editions, this is a 2-disc set. One disc has the widescreen version and the other has the full-frame version and they divide the extras between the two discs. It's a movie I would heartily recommend.

(From Roger's Random Reviews on July 6th, 2009)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season Two
Year: 2008
Director:
Rating: NR
Length: 964 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish

Stars:
Leny Headey
Thomas Dekker
Summer Glau
Brian Austin Green

Plot:
The hunt is on in a season of powerful revelations, breathless pursuits and bravura effects. A mysterious 3-dot symbol (do UFOs provide a clue?), a girlfriend for John (is Cameron jealous?), a mysterious tech company ZeiraCorp (can it master the renegade software called Turk?) - Season 2's 5-disc action arsenal is locked, loaded, ready to amaze.

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Scene Access

This season started promising. Although not quite as great as the first season, I was enjoying it. But then I had the feeling that all involved were getting worn out making an action series and wanting to slow down. I have no problem with that, but I didn't really enjoy the storylines they were making then. For me it just didn't fit anymore. Added to that I didn't really like the Weaver/John Henry storyline. Her character just did not appeal to me, though the original idea involving her wasn't so bad. Also the Derek/Jessie was not that interesting. For my feeling Cameron had too few scenes. I also missed scenes with the group working together. Everyone had their own agenda.
The series picked up again towards the end, but never to the level of the first season. Contrary to the first season, which I already watched twice and could start watching again anytime, I think the urge to revisit the second season anytime soon will not be that great.
The last episode made me really worried. As it did go on they were opening up new threads one after another with the ending coming closer and closer. I was fearing that I will face a massive cliffhanger. But at the last minute with the last scene, it came all full circle for me and I think it was the perfect way to end the series. I am not sure if I would have liked a third season. I thought the last scene worked really great as a series finale.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Samson and Delilah
02	Automatic for the People
03	The Mousetrap
04	Allison from Palmdale
05	Goodbye to All That
06	The Tower Is Tall But the Fall Is Short
07	Brothers of Nablus
08	Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today
09	Complications
10	Strange Things Happen at the One-Two Point
11	Self Made Man
12	Alpine Fields
13	Earthlings Welcome Here
14	The Good Wound
15	Desert Cantos
16	Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep
17	Ourselves Alone
18	Today Is the Day - Part 1
19	Today Is the Day - Part 2
20	To the Lighthouse
21	Adam Raised a Cain
22	Born to Run

(From Tom's Random Reviews on January 25th, 2010)