DVD Collectors Online

Lake Placid, a review by Danae Cassandra

Lake Placid
Year of Release: 1999
Directed By: Steve Miner
Starring: Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson, Betty White
Genre: Horror, Comedy

Overview:
Bill Pullman (Independence Day, The Grudge), Bridget Fonda (Jackie Brown), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Platt (X-Men: First Class) share an appetite for sheer adventure when a tranquil New England lakefront erupts into an action-packed den of destruction in this "monster of a hit" (Wireless Magazine)!

An investigative team, armed with state-of-the-art equipment, high-powered weaponry and a biting sense of sarcasm, must work together to defeat Black Lake's most ferocious resident: a 30-foot prehistoric crocodile! Written by David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Legal), directed by Steve Miner (Halloween H20, Friday The 13th Part 2), and co-starring Betty White as the cantankerous Mrs. Bickerman, this terrifying tale of survival "combines humor and thrills with remarkable deftness" (New York Post).

My Thoughts:
If the hallmark of a good creature film is when you root for the creature, this was a great one. Because I was really rooting for the crocodile to eat people. Especially Bridget Fonda's character. And Oliver Platt's. More Fonda's though, she really got on my nerves. There were scenes that I was like that's supposed to build sympathy for her, so the viewer won't want her to get eaten ... nope, didn't work, still want her to get chomped.

My favorite character was the sherriff - him and Betty White were the only ones I really didn't want the croc to eat.

Aside from really hating Kelly, and mostly hating Hector, the rest of the film is pretty good. The croc is really well done, and they chose a beautiful location to film at. The script moves briskly, and there are hints to the twist at the end if the viewer really pays attention. Recommended for fans of creature features.

Watched For: Hoop-tober 3.0, Horror/Halloween Challenge 2016

Bechdel Test: Pass
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 3/5

Horror/Halloween Challenge Films: 43/52

(From Horror/Halloween 2016 Challenge on October 29th, 2016)

Ritana (Returner), a review by Tom

Title: Ritana (Returner)
Year: 2002
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Rating: FSK-16
Length: 112 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1 , Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1 , English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, German, Turkish

Stars:
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Ann Suzuki
Kirin Kiki
Goro Kishitani
Yukiko Okamoto

Plot:
A young woman from the future forces a local gunman to help her stop an impending alien invasion which will wipe out the human race.

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers

An interesting mix of other well-known movies. This movie has similarities with Matrix, Termintor, IndependenceDay, E.T. and others. It reminded me of the German saying "Besser gut geklaut, als schlecht selbst gemacht", which in this context roughly translates to "It is better to rip off well than do it yourself badly".
I especially liked the ending, which tied up the story and time-travel elements nicely.

Rating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v4pWshsQ1U

(From Tom's Time-Travel Movie Reviews on November 20th, 2008)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Chuck: Season Three (2010/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United Kingdom) Length: 784 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: Dutch, English, Swedish

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Plot:
Chuck is back and he's the Chuck you know: the hapless Nerd Herder hopelessly devoted to sexy super spy Sarah. And he's the Chuck you don't know: a master martial artist whose brain is locked and loaded with the new Intersect 2.0. How the two Chucks clash, bash and (sometimes) cooperate makes this 5-disc, 19-Episode Complete Season 3 total, action packed fun. More new stuff: A dashing rival (Brandon Routh) joins the team, someone from Chucks Buy More life discovers his secret and Chuck learns the spy biz can turn the nicest guy dark and dangerous. "For the last two years, we've protected Chuck from the world" the General notes. "But now we have to protect the world from Chuck"

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Outtakes
• Scene Access
• The Jeffster revolution: The definitive mockumentary

"Chuck" is a strange kind of series to me. I am not that driven to watch the next season. I usually wait for the price to drop, and even when I have bought it, it takes awhile before I come around watching it. But when I put the first disc in, I cannot stop watching it. I have watched now the complete third season in three days. For me the quality stayed a constant high.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on January 8th, 2011)