Rogue (Unrated)

Finally, an us against it kind of film with real bite!
"Rogue" is top-notch entertainment in a genre that has suffered quite a bit with lukewarm entries lately.

Amazon has done another excellent job giving us the basics of this story and who the big stars are, so I keep my summary very brief. A small handful of sightseers have their boat nearly destroyed by a rogue croc and they take refuge on a small island that will quickly disappear under the rising tide in a river basin area in Australia. It really is that simple of a story, but superbly executed by the cast of familiar faces, especially the lovely and talented Radha Mitchell from Silent Hill, the director who is famous for Wolf Creek, terrific photography, and outstanding special effects that are used sparingly but effectively.

This is one intense thriller. The last "us against it" thriller that I enjoyed this much...

Suprisingly Good
Like Jaws did back in the 70s this tale gives a lot of fictional elements to its main animal villain to make the tale more terrifying. I have to admit having worked in a wildlife park with crocodiles and knowing all about them I didn't have very high expectations for a movie set around a crocodile serial killer. But having checked out the DVD I must say I was pleasantly surprised. This is one of the best man verse nature villain films out there.

The DVD in Australia (this American release doesn't give details of what's on it) comes with some great making of the film documentaries. If you can check it Amazon's version does as well, if it doesn't and your DVD played is multizone, order the Australian version instead.

The film is well shot and the two fake robot crocodiles used for the film (see them in the special features) look so realistic the actors visibly shook with fear when filming shots next to them even though they knew they were machines. Robot...

3

The Small Back Room (The Criterion Collection)

Powell and Pressburger, returning to their roots.
It was a surprise for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger to follow up the Technicolor extravaganzas of "Black Narcissus" and "The Red Shoes" with a throwback to their earlier work--the black-and-white, tightly focused World War II drama "The Small Back Room." Perhaps the film served as sort of a palate cleanser before they moved on to "The Tales of Hoffmann," a film so rococo that it made "The Red Shoes" look modest. However, "The Small Back Room" is still a riveting, superbly made, character-driven thriller that is worth anyone's time.

Set in the early spring of 1943, the film tells the story of Sammy Rice, a bomb expert sinking into drink and despair after a failed effort to defuse a bomb caused one of his feet to be blown off, leaving him in constant agony. In his depression, Sammy is allowing the political players in his government department (led by a smarmy Jack Hawkins) to walk all over him, to the sorrow and anger of Susan, Sammy's secretary and live-in...

Offbeat gem
Far from being an indicator of the decline of the creative genius of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, The Small Back Room harkens back to the pair's earlier black-and-white period and is an offbeat gem. David Farrar shines as Sammy Rice, a bitter yet sensitive man unsure if he has enough character to accept the things he must and the strength to change what he can in his life. Kathleen Byron (who appeared with Farrar in P&P's Black Narcissus in 1947) plays Susan, a shrewd, strong woman nevertheless deeply in love with a flawed, perhaps failure of a man. Their relationship, suprisingly and refreshingly adult in a period still wrapped in censorship restrictions, is the core of the film as Sammy battles his inner demons and those at his government job as one of the nameless, faceless experts in the "small back room." Full of wonderful character support (Jack Hawkins, Cyril Cusack and a hilarious cameo by Robert Moreley as a vapid government minister) and the famed Powell and...

The Archers in decline, but still a film worth watching
Sammy Rice (David Farrar) is a first-rate scientist and something of an expert in defusing bombs. The year is 1943 and the Germans have starting dropping a new kind of terror weapon on Britain. It's something small, evidently attractive to children, and explodes either when it's picked up or just touched. No one is sure because the three children and one adult who did touch the things were killed. Rice is asked to investigate by the Army. He says he has to have an unexploded device to work on; that he'll come as soon as the Army calls him. Rice, it happens, has also lost his foot and wears a metal one. He suffers pain from it and is well into a self-pitying meltdown fueled by alcohol. Susan (Kathleen Byron), the woman who loves him, understands what he's going through but sooner or later will have enough of his self-involvement. "Sue, you'd have such a good life without me," he tells her in a nightclub. "I take things from you with both hands. I always have. I always will."...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers Collection Vol. 2

"Collection Vol. 2 ... Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers ... Koch Vision (2008)"
Koch Vision and Gaylord Productions presents "ADVENTURES OF THE GALAXY RANGERS: THE COLLECTION VOL. 2" (1986.1989) (774 mins/Color) (Dolby Digital) --- The final 33 episodes of anime space western "Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers" are included in this volume, featuring the voice work of Jerry Orbach (LAW & ORDER) and Corrine Orr (SPEED RACER) --- Created by the famed anime studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha, the series follows a quirky team of intergalactic rangers who fight for justice on the frontiers of the future.

In 2086, two peaceful aliens journey to Earth seeking our help. In return, they gave us the plans for our first hyperdrive, allowing mankind to open the doors to the stars. We have assembled a team of unique individuals to protect Earth and our allies. Courageous pioneers committed to the highest ideals of justice and dedicated to preserving law and order across the new frontier --- The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1986-1989) was an animated Space Western...

Attention anime fans and Browncoats...this is the good stuff
Years before Firefly, there was a one-season wonder of a Space Western. A brief but glorious run led to a fandom that persists to this day. This underrated little gem would make a fine live-action movie, but until then, we have this collection.

To say GR is a cult classic is understating things a bit. It's in the top 100 cartoon section at fanfiction.net, it has a surprisingly dedicated fanbase (despite our small size), and plenty of critical acclaim from anime fans despite an American origin. It was groundbreaking at the time for its integration of CGI and cel animation, the casting of character actors for voice talent, its nascent use of mytharc structures, and its better-developed character and story structure than its toy-advert peers.

It took over 20 years, three production companies and...let's face it...plenty of groveling by fans like me in order to get this done. Kosh really went out of their way to do this right. Commentary tracks are on the high-end...

Oh the Memories
I used to watch this when I was a kid, and it is a blast to watch it again. Not super by today's standards, very campy and stuff, but still fun to watch, especially for fans of the series. And the video/audio quality are excellent, far above what I expected.

Click to Editorial Reviews

An American Crime

Trying to "explain" the inexplicable
In the summer of 1965, two young girls, Sylvia Likens, age 16 and her little sister Jennie, crippled with polio, were left by their itinerant parents in the care of Gertrude Baniszewski, a divorced mother of seven, in a blue-collar neighborhood in Indiana, who agreed to care for them for $20 a week while their parents traveled the carnival circuit. Three months later, Sylvia was dead, and Gertrude Baniszewski was standing trial for first-degree murder, accused of having engineered Sylvia's death by torture.

The film, "An American Crime", shown on the Showtime cable channel, follows Sylvia's last three months fairly closely. Gertrude Baniszewski, who may or may not have been playing with a full deck to begin with, progressed from slaps and spankings when the support checks arrived late, to more grotesque punishments after Sylvia "lied" about Baniszewski's oldest daughter Paula being pregnant (Paula actually was pregnant by a married man), culminating in Sylvia being locked...

Shocking, Repulsive...and Fascinating
AN AMERICAN CRIME is a problematic little reenactment of a real criminal case of child abuse dating back to 1965. The story is horrifying and while the film places the facts in our faces, the impact of the film is out of focus. This is due to the script that elects to glaze over the motivational aspects of a brutal crime in favor of attempting to investigate fully the mindset of both the perpetrator and the victims. Were it not for some sterling performances by Catherine Keener and Ellen Page this film might be easily dismissed: the strength of these actresses to overcome a weak script and manage to involve us is much to their credit as artists.

Indiana, 1965, and Gertrude Baniszewski (Catherine Keener) is a 'borderline' single mother of several children who is asked to take care of Sylvia (Ellen Page) and Jennie Likens (Hayley McFarland) while the girls parents remain on the road as carnies, promising to send checks to help support their farmed out children. Gertrude is...

It started as a white lie, and ended as the worst crime in Indiana history. SPOILERS
When I reviewed The Girl Next Door, which is also based on the case of Sylvia Likens, I could hardly put my thoughts into words. I sat in front of my computer screen for hours knowing that I needed to write something, but unable to find the words, which is somewhat frustrating for a writer. No such problem exists with this film, An American Crime.

An American Crime is more true to the actual events then The Girl Next Door, although it skips over a lot of the abuse and doesn't really give a clear picture of what this young girl was forced to endure during those few months in late 1965. Sylvia Likens, fondly nicknamed "Cookie" by her father, and her sister Jenny were two bright, energetic, and endearing teenagers. When their parents decide to go on the road with a carnival they are left in the care of Gertrude Baniszewski, a single mother with seven children who is constantly sick and battling with depression.

The real life story of Sylvia is one that will forever...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Gossip Girl: The Complete First Season

deliciously wicked and highly addictive-will draw you in just as the books did
I have been religiously reading the book series ever since it first came out, so when I heard about the TV show, I had extremely high expectations, and must say I was not at all happy with the first episode. I could not believe the way that they had completely changed the look of some of the main characters. So for a while I stopped watching the show, but my curiousity got the best of me, and after it came back after having been on hiatus for a while, I resumed watching it, and I admit, I was hooked.

Although many things are completely different than the book series, the show still has that provacative, addictive edge that will keep you coming back for more.

Now, if you are a fan of the books, such as myself, yet have never seen the show before, I feel this are some things I must warn you about.

First of all, many of the storylines that happen on the show, never happened in the book. I won't go into detail about any of the plots though, because I don't...

BEST show of the year!
I don't think I can sum up this show in such few words...
- Best location ever (show is shot ON SITE in New York City). It is the most popular show in NYC for a reason!
- Hottest cast on television
- Two of the best actors to hit CW (Leighton Meester who plays Blair Waldorf and Ed Westwick who plays Chuck (was listed as one of the "Most Underrated Actors of 2007')
- While OC had great Indie Music, Gossip Girl also has great music that is more "mainstream"

This show was by far the most buzzed about show in 2007-2008 (heck..the most talked about show in the last 10 YEARS!!) and for good reason! If you open ANY magazine, any blog site, Gossip Girl is mentioned at least five times!

It is addictive, the storylines are fascinating, and the show is WELL WRITTEN and witty (one of the very few teen shows that is loved by many critics!).

I was drawn in to Gossip Girl because of Josh Schwartz and his work with the OC and because it was based...

The Ultimate In Guilty Pleasures
This is the ultimate guilty pleasure show. The characters are shallow at best, yet somehow you find yourself completely sucked in to the totally unbelievable soap opera they live in, complete with whimsical names, parents that don't care, and more money than most bank tellers see in a year.

The show starts out about Serena (played by Blake Lively) a good girl with a bad past, yet somewhere after the first few episodes Blair (Leighton Meester's character) Serena's best friend/enemy, starts to completely outshine Serena with her complicated love life, parent troubles, and glossed over eating disorder.

My only complaint is that (I imagine due to the writers strike) the season finale completely sagged. Hopefully (if there is a...) next season, it will pick back up again.

Worth watching, though I couldn't exactly tell you why. It's a complete guilty pleasure, and somehow, no matter how ridiculous the plots may seem, it always keeps you coming back for more.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Alvin and The Chipmunks - Trick or Treason

Alvin Fans
Kids loved it. We rented this movie so many times that we finally decided to buy. The kids watch it all year round.

Average enough kiddie fare for Halloween, but not much more than that.
Chip and Dale aren't the only squeaky-voiced chipmunks in the realm of animation. Around the same period these two critters were born out of the Disney studio, another trio would challenge their position--Simon, Theodore, and the ever-irrepressible scamp, Alvin. Creations of musician Ross Bagdasarian (who, incidentally, had the stage name of David Seville, the mild-mannered human who "fathers" the chipmunks), these three have amused many through their numerous record albums and television shows.

This DVD compiles several episodes from the 1980's series, as well as a 1994 Halloween special, "Trick or Treason", in which egocentric Alvin aspires to be part of a monster club while Theodore strikes up a friendship with a malformed, misunderstood boy. This special, capped off by a kitschy "Chipmunk" rendition of "Monster Mash" is probably the best on the disc, with solid production values, humor, and a couple of nice (albeit predictable) twists. (Considering it is a 1994...

love it
i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love i love the chipmunks it doesn't madder which one it is and it arrive .

Click to Editorial Reviews

Devil Hunter Yohko Complete Collection

Too short
I love this series. It spawned the "pretty soldier" genre (Sailor Moon), and then it came back to make fun of its spinoffs.

My only real complaint is that after removing the music video collection, it's only 5 episodes long.

It's just ok.
I bought Devil Hunter Yohko in the late 90's. I was a teenager so at that point I was all about it. Now that I'm older I need a little bit of a story to go along with my boobs and sex. This series is fun and funny, but the story is really weak. It's pretty cool to watch outfits get shredded though. Yohko is kind of a fluff head, so it's hard to get into her character. The sad thing is most high school chicks are a lot like her.

If you want a really short series that's just fighting and jiggling you might like this anime. If you want story then don't worry about it.

The guilty pleasures of Duckman, part 3. 62%
I stumbled upon Devil Hunter Yokho last fall when I bought this online after getting really drunk. When it arrived at my house about a week later, I just put it behind the rest of my anime DVDs and forgot all about it until a few days ago. After finding this, I got really skeptical of Yokho' due to its combination of violence, nudity, magical girl theme, and teen comedy since the former two are geared towards male audiences while the latter two are geared towards female audiences (like mixing oil and water if moderation isn't used for any of them). Due to my past experiences with awful anime like Steel Angel Kurumi and Elfen Lied (these two desperately tried to mix ideas that simply didn't go together), I was expecting Yokho' to be a disaster but boy was I surprised.

A lot of people have compared Devil Hunter Yokho to Buffy the Vampire Slayer; I'm sure most of them are talking about the TV series but since I haven't seen the show, I actually think of the campy 1992 film...

Click to Editorial Reviews