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563,917 | 102,816 | 96,061 | 10 |
Father LOVES Beaver !
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Acid Rain . Drug Addiction . International Terrorism . Freeway Killers . Now , more than ever , it is important to remember the TRUE meaning of Christmas ! Don't miss Bill Murray's immortal classic Scrooged . You're life might just depend on it . Christmas Specials are a big deal , with some of them ( such as Charlie Brown and The Grinch ) going down in TV history . When it comes to story a lot of lazy staff writers just milk the Christmas Carol goat and there are millions of different takes out there to prove it with Roseanne and the original Star Trek series all doing their own rip-offs . IBC boss Frank Cross ( Bill Murray dressed up as Steven Seagal's long-lost twin brother ) is a delightfully wicked man of hate who is planning his very own live broadcast of said story . Little does he know that very tale is about to wind its way into his life . Why I like Frank Cross is because he's a lot like me . He's mean to those beneath him , yields power with a ruthless swagger and is sarcastic to just about everyone . If you disagree with him in even the slightest , tiniest little way he'll fire you . Just like I would . But on this certain Xmas Eve life is getting very weird for him . The owner of the station is doubting his abilities to undertake such a heavy production , a slimy Californian director is trying to muscle-in on his job and his dead boss comes back to haunt him . He brings an important message that if he doesn't change his way he's going to hell and that three ghosts , of Xmas past , present and future , are going to show him the results of his evilness . In the hands of just another comedy director this would have been a missed opportunity , but Richard Donner shoots the film as a supernatural fantasy and gives it a pretty superior shine . Something Brian Levant could never do . And let's not forget Bill Murray , the guy is a genius no matter what he does and he dominates the whole film with his loud an maniacal performance . Everything he says seems to be ad-libbed and babbles some brilliant one-liners and sarcasm . Most people are put-off by the ending and claim that when the nastiness stops and sentiment kicks in the film goes downhill . I don't feel this way . In a world where Xmas is commercialised and the time of year where people go in huge debt we need a constant reminder of what we should be feeling . No one is asking you to celebrate the fact that Wal-Mart are selling cheap turkeys or that greedy stores have a limited stock of $700 X-Boxes . At the end Frank Cross , the world's biggest scrooge and non-believer , tells us that it's the fun , the determination to make a difference , the easiness of changing someone's life and the spirit of the holiday season that really matters . You don't have to hate it and if you surrender your pride and just give it a go then maybe the miracle to happen to you to . For me , Scrooged has been an annual tradition for years and will continue to be so . Not only is it very funny but , in its own way , very important . If you give a little , you can get back a whole lot more . Sounds corny , I know but Xmas is what you make it . And you only get a small amount so it's best to make every one count . This movie is a step in the right direction .
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564,509 | 102,816 | 41,349 | 10 |
Meep Meep !
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This is the very first Road Runner cartoon . Fresh and funny it was at the time , but after a while many of these toons began to resemble each other and it was impossible to tell them apart especially when they started recycling footage in the non Looney Tunes Rudy Larriva shorts of the 60s and 70s . It lessens the quality of the real Roadrunner cartoons of the time and it's a real shame considering how intelligent they were . The formula ( before it got tired ) is the same as ever . Wile E . Coyote , is a starving desert dog , there doesn't seem to be much food around other than a cheeky Roadrunner so he uses everything at his disposal ( and endless shoddy products from the Acme corporation ) to catch the bird only for his plans to backfire . Roadrunner is kind of met with a lot of criticism now with many moans of ' They are all the same ' . While this is true now , the characters were only good as long as Chuck Jones and Co were in control . This being the first of many great Roadrunner shorts before it went downhill . And I just love the sticking out tongue thing Roadrunner does .
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564,296 | 102,816 | 102,614 | 10 |
Justice in 90 minutes or your Pizza's free
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Gino Felino , like Nico Toscani , Mason Storm and John Hatcher before him , is a good cop in a bad mood . His partner Bobby Lupo has been gunned down in the streets in front of his wife and kids by crazed wannabe gangster Richie Madano . Richie was always into something bad , even when he was a kid and now seems to be going psycho , snorting coke and smoking crack . He's got a one-way ticket to oblivion and he's going to have fun getting there along with his evil henchmen Joey Dogs , Bobby Arms and Bochi . Luckily for the good citizens of Brooklyn , Gino is on the case and on the mission to find Richie by means of broken bones , severed limbs and agonizing pain . As Steven Seagal movies go ( the pre-1997 Golden Years ) Out For Justice is definitely one of the strongest . Tight fast-paced direction , well balanced widescreen framing , a great score by David Michael Frank and an impressive cast of familiar faces give it a lasting impression . Also , Seagal has mentioned that this is his favorite film of his own and you can really see it in his acting . He's often been criticised for not giving any effort and I wholeheartedly agree in regard to his later films . But there was a time when he did try and in Out For Justice you can see that a little effort goes a long way . I know his Brooklyn accent isn't THAT convincing and his acting in general isn't exactly on par with Olivier , but if he we're to be just as enthusiastic about his other characters then maybe his film career wouldn't be in the toilet . Out For Justice never loses its appeal . William Forsythe is just so evil as Richie that I've never been convinced by the nice guy characters he's played in other movies . The fight scenes in which Seagal takes measures to ensure maximum suffering are most entertaining and small moments of character give it a strange edge . But you can tell that there's been a lot of stuff left out . This is especially evident in the montage sequences where characters are wearing different clothing and meet up with each other all over the place . There is also hints at more murders by Richie in the trailer that are never seen or referenced in the film at all . Proof positive that Seagal once had it . But then came religion and then . . . well . . . you know how it went .
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564,073 | 102,816 | 43,315 | 10 |
Mayor vs Mayor
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Bugs and Yosemite Sam are at their best in this brilliant cartoon which sees them fighting each other over the Mayor elections in a country town . Sam has vowed to wipe out all rabbits from the town and naturally Bugs is upset . The usual tricks and hijinks follow . But what makes them different this time is that instead of Bugs duping Sam into stupidity , Sam plays many nasty tricks on Bugs . But the bunny is so smart and so many steps ahead that he manages to reverse each and every trick back onto Sam . The comic timing is just perfect . In the end none of them win . A mare becomes mayor . Trust me it makes sense .
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564,786 | 102,816 | 360,009 | 10 |
An intriguing mystery for people who like to think
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Spartan-Rigorously self-disciplined or self-restrained . Simple , frugal austere . Marked by brevity of speech , laconic . Courageous in the face of pain , danger , or adversity . If you like Ronin then Spartan is choc-full of the same kind of cryptic dialogue with double / triple meanings and clever touches . Not surprising really since Spartan is written and directed by David Mamet who worked on the Ronin script . When the President's daughter is kidnapped a strict , no-nonsense Secret-Secret Service agent ( Val Kilmer ) follows an intriguing trail of clues and dead-ends to find out where she is , who took her and why . Hardly sounds original but Spartan dares to do what very , very few Hollywood movies are willing to try ; it assumes its audience actually have brains and can figure things out by themselves . Spartan is the slickest , smoothest and smartest thriller for a good while . Kilmer has his critics and is constantly given a hard time . But here he proves what an actor he can be given the right material . Ed O'Neill also pops up and adds some post-Married With Children credibility to his resume . Like Ronin , the action is stern and serious . There's nothing far-fetched or unbelievable about this . It may lack the epic feel of Ronin but Spartan is by no means a small movie . I strongly recommend this if you are tired of idiotic action movies and need a fix of something with some class . The DVD is in 2 . 35 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5 . 1 sound .
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564,645 | 102,816 | 109,303 | 10 |
A better ' bomb ' movie than Speed .
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Most IRA movies made in Hollywood are always criticised for the actors not sounding like real Irishmen . I have never once found this to be true and certainly not for Blown Away . Tommy Lee Jones is quite convincing as a deranged bomber who goes after Jeff Bridges in revenge for betraying him 25 years earlier . Stephen Hopkins uses his fave cinematographer and composer Peter Levy and Alan Silvestri to bring some visual style and a powerful musical score to accompany the action and explosion scenes . The final encounter between Jones and Bridges is WAY cool . Trust me . It's one of the best showdowns in history . A cool use of widescreen photography captures a pleasant and eye-pleasing view of Boston . I only ever saw this city in Cheers previously and now it makes wanna visit . This film was overlooked in the summer of 1994 because the audience was too busy with the other BOMB movie Speed . By that I mean movies with bombs . Not movies that are bombs . Speed was about a bomber wanting money . But Blown Away is a more personal , character-driven film and definitely the superior of the two .
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564,837 | 102,816 | 100,502 | 10 |
And now . . . a word on nutrition
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Robocop 2 is probably the most under-rated and most harshly criticized sequel in history ( tying with Predator 2 , which came out the same year ) . Because of a few missing elements from the first and a slightly more cartoonish approach to the violence , the critics and public alike were not pleased and opinions and feelings toward the franchise nosedived with the just plain awful Robocop 3 . Don't con yourself out of a good movie though . Robocop 2 still has the same savage sense of humor , cynical social commentary and character pathos of the first film . It's a hyper-realistic vision of an America populated by gun-loving psychos , a democracy owned by big business and the poverty-stricken addicted to drugs dealt to them by peddlers believing themselves to be the second coming of Christ . Far-fetched could be the typical way of describing it . Completely-over-the-top would be more appropriate . Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner chucks in as much sadistic violence , deafening gunfire , endless destruction and loss of human life that the film just begs you not to take it seriously . Some of the blame was placed on writer Frank Miller for the film being more cartoonish than the original . I don't think this is very fair . I read Miller's original script when I was in high school and it is rather different and , dare I say , unfilmable . Robocop 2 himself was not Nuke Lord Caine , the psychotic hippie with delusions of Godhood . He was called Kong , a psychotic cop who pretty much killed everybody he came across . Sgt . Reed and the Old Man died and there wasn't much humor . Screenwriter Walon Green was hired to doctor the script and much of what appears on screen is actually his work . Frank Miller's original ideas are pretty much just left as the framework for the whole movie and some of his story was recycled into Robocop 3 ( don't blame him for that one either ) . Miller was obviously upset with this but was still a good enough sport to appear in the film ( keep a lookout for him playing Doctor Frank ) , though he vowed not to work in Hollywood again for fear of being taken advantage of . Until Robert Rodriguez promised to make good on his Sin City graphic novels . Verhoven may be gone but Irvin Kershner tries hard to deliver the same mix of mirth and magic and actually does get it right . Basil Poledouris ' brooding score is also gone ( it returns in Robocop 3 ) but new composer Leonard Rosenman creates a wonderfully heroic and upbeat theme that suits the film more than Poledouris ' moody , tormented score to the first . Filmed once again in Texas , Houston this time , you really have to feel for Peter Weller walking around in that Robosuit . It must have weighed a ton and he'd be sweating bucketloads inside . There is a particular scene in the film where Murphy is tortured into near-death / destruction that is very hard to watch . But it does lead to him getting a brand-new makeover and those crazy new directives put into his head . The bit where he lectures the Little League kids and scolds the youngsters playing by the leaky fire hydrant ( after quoting some very suspicious philosophy ) is hilarious . Robocop 2 is a great movie . Despite problems with the script and story and some slightly dated stop-motion effects it's a brilliant sequel that lives up to expectations . Do listen to the nay-sayers . I don't know what kind of film they were expecting . And thank you for not smoking !
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564,511 | 102,816 | 356,197 | 10 |
A funny , but not faultless , return .
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This Roadrunner cartoon preceded the awesome Looney Tunes : Back in Action movie . I saw it with a full house and everyone did find it funny ( plus it was cool to get a little extra bonus before the movie started ) . The animation is slick and modern and there are some real funny moments . The story behind this ' un sees a couple of dueling wizards wipe each other out . Wile E . Coyote comes across one of their spell books and instead of using shoddy acme products to catch the Roadrunner he decides to use a bit of magic . Though some of the timing is off . I didn't think the joke with the levitating boulder was funny at all and everyone could see it coming . Though the last few moments with the flying horse , the train , the scorpions and the flying shark were hilarious . A series of increasing misfortune making for a great end .
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564,537 | 102,816 | 179,626 | 10 |
A chilling twist on reality TV .
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While reality TV is a long dead horse endlessly being flogged this action movie is so fresh and new and exciting . John Herzfield will make a great writer / director in the future if all of his output is this cool . I cannot believe that this is the same guy who wrote Turbulence and Stallone's dismal 1986 movie Cobra . I thought that Edward Burns and Robert DeNiro had excellent chemistry together and made a great team as the 2 good guys working for different factions . Their teaming up to catch the evil bad guys is very enjoyable . And the bad guys themselves are REALLY evil . The actors that played them were so good at oozing menace and greasy creepiness . A movie like this is made even better when you want the bad guys to be killed so much . Almost all scenes kick ass , especially when Edward Burns flicks the light-switch in the hooker's apartment and then the whole place bursts into flames . THAT is cool ! And when we see a graphic close-up of one of the bad guy's shot-up ankle ? ew ! The theme of the film is very satirical in how it deals with the media influencing law-enforcement and how almost everyone , be it for glamour or ghastliness , gets their Fifteen minutes of fame . The crude and ironic references to Frank Capra appeal to my morbid sense of humor . This film wasn't afraid to try anything new and daring . I mean what kind of film is brave enough to kill it's main character in the second act , especially when that character is played by Robert DeNiro . Kelsey Grammar's character was my fave tho . It's a shame he isn't in it much during the second act but it's hard not to like him . There is no convention or cliché here and I highly recommend this film . It seriously is so cool .
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564,606 | 102,816 | 465,922 | 10 |
Infuriating , but great fun
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Think of it like Tetris only with letters in the blocks . You've got to link up letters to make words . If you feed the bookworm too many small words he'll send down fiery red letters . You must use them right away before they blow up your whole game . Sound easy ? It's not . My longest word so far has been 8 letters . And did I mention the music is very , very cute . I've played the PC version , which , unlike the GBA version keeps high scores and has online ranking . There are online scores of about 50 billion . I don't think I'll be beating it . Nonetheless , it's quite possibly the most addictive game ever . Graphics A Sound A Gameplay A Lasting Appeal
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564,854 | 102,816 | 294,097 | 10 |
As funny as it is weird
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I first came across Birdman while on holiday in Majorca when I was 13 . I remember vividly watching it with these 2 hot German twins and laughing whenever he shouted ' Bi-ii-irdMAN ' . It was really , really corny . But this was back in the day when Cartoon Network didn't have much to show other than the really old-fashioned 1960's and 70's stuff . The last thing I ever imagined is that Birdman would come back in the 21st century to be re-invented as Harvey Birdman , Attorney at Law at the Sebben and Sebben law firm . He's a bit of a dunderhead . And a bighead and a sociophobe and rude but you can't help but love him . Avenger is still his sidekick ( only cuter than he was previously ) and his boss is Phil Ken Sebben , a one-eyed ladies man . Among the various , random people who work for the firm are Peanut ( a Birdman wannabe ) , Peter Potamus , Reducto and a big cuddly bear who always seems to be smiling ( and applauding all on his own at inappropriate moments ) . My fave character has to be Judge Mentok the Mindtaker ( OOOOO-EEEEEE-OOOOOO-EEEEEE ! ! ! ! ) , he just really , really funny . Harvey's typical cases involve him defending the likes of Shaggy and Scooby , Fred Flintstone , Boo-Boo and George Jetson . Getting in the way of cases going smoothly are and abundance of rapid-fire jokes that come at you from all angles and will probably disorientate you if you're not sure where they're coming from . Sometimes you might have to watch an episode twice as the the dialogue is usually delivered very quickly and you might lose your place among the cryptic references and wildly outlandish humor . In truth , it's a show for Adults . Even though the jokes are only mildly suggestive there is no way a child could fully understand everything that is going on unless they are an uber-uber-geek . This is a show made for people who love stuff like Family Guy , not Spongebob Squarepants . Oh , and I love that theme song . They must release some kind of soundtrack CD for this show . Why ? Because Mentok WILLS it so !
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563,977 | 102,816 | 97,958 | 10 |
Best Vaction / Christmas Movie
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Poor Clark Griswold , no matter how optimistic he is , his family vacations always seem to go severely wrong . First time around he went across America in a metallic pea Station Wagon and it ended in disaster . Then they went across Europe and met similar , albeit much less funny , results . For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Griswolds , Clark is food additives expert who works for a company that doesn't appreciate him . He sets high standards for holiday events that no one can live up to and is notorious for dragging his grudging family along on every painstaking detail of every scheme . His wife Ellen ( Beverly D'Angelo ) is the voice of reason , who keeps the family rooted in reality and responds with frequent deadpan bewilderment to his constant disasters . The long-suffering kids , Russ and Audrey ( Johnny Galecki and a very young Juliette Lewis ) have turned into the living embodiment of pure cynicism , but there's no talking any sense into Clark Griswold . Ever ! But now Clark just wants to stay at home in the snowy Chicago suburbs for a ' fun , old-fashioned , family Christmas ' and he's going to let nothing stop him . His enthusiasm for the holidays manages to infect the audience and you'll be rooting for him the whole way . He's an anti-Scrooge and if you're having a Christmas crisis then you need to watch this movie . Any disasters can be overcome . But that's easier said than done . He didn't bargain on bickering family members ( including the voice of Betty Boop , Mae Questel , as a senile old aunt ) , a house covered in non-working Christmas lights , a seriously over-cooked turkey , snotty Yuppie neighbors making fun of him or Cousin Eddie ( Randy Quaid ) and his hickabilly family turning up unannounced to sponge some Christmas cheer off him . What stops it from being just another generic Christmas movie is a brilliant script by John Hughes packed full of hilarious set-pieces and perfect comic timing from Chevy Chase . He's a great actor but his appeal sadly declined in the 90s when he refused to evolve into more serious roles like Bill Murray did . Clark Griswold and Fletch are probably his most famous roles and this Vacation is definitely one you need to take . It's hard to pick the best moments but Randy Quaid's sudden appearance will make you grin a mile wide , a cat wrapped up in a box ( with Happy Birthday paper ! ) that meets an unfortunate end and ' an asshole in his bathrobe emptying a chemical toilet into the sewer ' are just plain brilliant . But what gives Christmas Vacation something more that makes it so much more special that all the other Christmas movies is that wonderful theme song ! It's absolutely brilliant ! But that ain't the only great tune the film as to offer . There are also some classic songs by Ray Charles , Bing Crosby and Gene Autry . Although not the best of the bunch ( Harold Ramis ' direction had an evil edge to the first film that made it just that little bit better ) , this film has become a Yuletide classic and must be watched every year . Since Christmas is full of annual traditions this film is definitely one you should add to the list . It would criminal to give it anything less that the highly coveted .
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564,195 | 102,816 | 80,487 | 10 |
Absolute Comedy Classic
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Every single scene in this movie rocks big-time . It's hard to say which of the actors steal the show as Chase , Knight , Dangerfield and Murray try their best to run away with the movie . But if I had to make a decision I would have to say that this IS Dangerfield's movie . His sleazy , friendly , insulting , buffoonish and graciously tipping character is the centrepiece of this movie , which pre-dates the Airplane-style humor of visual gags and jokes . There ain't much plot but there is still more than there is in the standard comedy modern movies . The film cuts to about 5 different sub-plots at regular intervals . The funniest of which being Murray's ever ridiculous attempts to catch a pesky gofer . I love those scenes . The gopher looks so fake and so cute , he's literally a stuffed toy being moved by hand off-camera . Ted Knight's Judge Smails is a hoot . The pompous and self-important arrogance mixes well with his cluelessness of how to be gentlemanly towards people and his clumsiness . He is bull-headed , acting without thinking and always letting his rage get the better of him . This is a perfect personification of the majority of courtroom Judges . Chase does a good job as hedonistic playboy golfer Ty Webb and his ONLY scene with Bill Murray is THE best pure dialogue scene in film history . The total crap that they talk is funny as hell . And so is the whole movie . Forget the sequel . See this movie when you get the chance . The DVD is in 1 . 78 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Mono sound .
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564,684 | 102,816 | 439,795 | 10 |
The first game I ever completed
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Saboteur was a great game ( in 1985 ) and as a four-year-old I was mighty pleased with myself when I finished it on my own with no help from the grown-ups . You played a ninja who arrives by dinghy to a huge industrial complex , intent on committing some evil act . All you really did was take one computer disc and put it in the mainframe to wipe it out or something . Honestly , it's been like 20 years since I played it . But I vividly remember climbing up and down loads of ladders , falling down lift shafts , taking out guards , going around in those cool subway trams and escaping in the helicopter . Since I am blessed with the useless gift of having a photographic memory I memorised my way around the entire complex ( yes , even when I was 4 ) and ended up completing the game several times over . Just for the fun of it . These days I can't even look at a game I have already finished . For a dated game on the truly ancient Sinclair ZX Spectrum this was brilliant . Most retro games of this age I would find hard to enjoy today but I know I would have fun playing Sabotuer again . And I'd probably still remember my way around .
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564,044 | 102,816 | 100,403 | 10 |
A vastly superior sequel . Absolutely brilliant .
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' Silent , Invisible , Invincible . He's in town with a few days to kill . ' Has there ever a tagline cooler than this ? I'm telling you there hasn't . Long , long , long underrated Predator 2 seems to be finally getting the recognition and respect it deserves . Why all of a sudden ? Because when standing next to the extremely crap AvP , it looks like pure gold to those miserable cynics who disregarded it when it first came out because Arnie was not in it . Fair enough , a Terminator , Conan or even Commando film without Arnie just wouldn't work . But the 7-foot tall , Rastafarian , otherworldly hunter is the star of this film and this time round he gets much , much more screen time . We all know what the Predator is so Stephen Hopkins shows off this ace instead of hiding it up his sleeve . The year is 1997 and the City of Angels is boiling under a 109-degree heatwave . Columbian and Jamaican drug lords have turned the streets into a war-zone . The police are out-manned and out gunned and incompetent . The last thing they need to deal with is the Predator . The titular hunter has returned with an increased arsenal of weapons and is keen on slicing and dicing the aforementioned druggies for fun . During a brutal gun-battle on the streets he watches Lieutenant Mike Harrigan ( Danny Glover ) , a slightly-crazed renegade cop , blow away half a dozen Columbian scumbags and chooses him as his ultimate prey . Naturally , Harrigan and his ethnically diverse team of cops have enough problems without having to worry about their skulls ending up in the Pred's intergalactic trophy cabinet . Making matters worse is faux-DEA Agent Peter Keyes ( Gary Busey ) who pretends to be after the druggies but is really more interested in swiping the Pred's advanced technology . Yeah , good luck with that ! From start to finish Predator 2 is brash , unsubtle , in-your-face wall-to-wall action . A hectic , breathtaking succession of non-stop , increasingly exciting set-pieces . The final 45 minutes will you wetting yourself with excitement I kid you not . While Hopkins ( fresh from his Nightmare on Elm Street 5 debut ) has remained constantly employed he's never really become a star director , which is a shame since he has a slick , cartoonish style and is far more talented than most other anonymous directors . Like John McTiernan did in the first , he provokes a dusty , sweaty and overbearingly hot atmosphere in the daytime scenes and an alien , Gothic feel to night ( pun intended ) . The way he captures LA on film just makes you NEVER want to go there . Fans of Alan Silvestri's score of the first film can take comfort in the fact that all of his cool themes are back ( they were rudely ditched for AvP ) and more evolved . It's probably the most engaging score he's done . His Latin drums , sinister , shrieking , Hermann-esquire strings , yawning , haunting urban sound effects and occultist voodoo chants dominate every scene and give each one its own unique voice . But it ain't just that . Everything from set-design and cinematography to sound-design and film editing is nothing short of brilliant . If you think I'm overreacting just watch the film and see for yourself . There's nothing mass-produced or conveyor-belt about Predator 2 . Twentieth Century Fox chucked loads of money at it to make it the most sophisticated sequel it could be . Everyone involved seems to have made a huge effort and done their absolute best . It's sad that action films like this are not made anymore . Predator 2 is a classic , the kind of movie that feels torn straight from the pages of a 1950's pulp detective novel and crossed with a Twilight Zone episode . , no doubt .
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564,532 | 102,816 | 87,078 | 10 |
A cheap , but funny and light-hearted sequel
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Though being a fan of Robert E . Howard's short stories I must say that funny and light-hearted are definitely NOT the words I would use to describe Conan . The story this time has Conan go on a mission for the seductive Queen Taramis ( she can be my queen ANY day ) . He must retrieve a gemstone which unlocks another treasure called the Horn of Dagoth . A treasure that will bring to life an Evil God . Conan doesn't care as Taramis ( who was NOT a villain in Howard's short stories , her twin sister Salome however , definitely was ) has promised to bring back his dead girlfriend from the first film . And so with his ragtag group of companions : Malak ( a comedy sidekick , but what happened to Subotai from the original ? ) , Zula ( Grace Jones , wearing no more than a couple of inches of leather floss ) , Akiro ( Mako , the only returning cast member from the original ) , Bombaata ( on a secret mission to kill Conan ) and the virgin Princess Jehnna , Conan takes off on his mission . The first film was very , very serious but this one plays more like The Dark Crystal than a Conan film . The effects and sets are very typical of early ' 80s fantasy movies . The violence , though not entirely muted , has been toned down somewhat . Plus Conan talks a lot more in this one . I don't have a problem with this part as he is quite cunning and intelligent in Robert E . Howard's stories . I felt they kind of sold him short in the first film by limiting his dialogue . Some scenes reek of cheapness . The Toth-Amon / Man-Ape scene is so ridiculously fake . It makes you wonder how the filmmakers took it seriously . But it all it really does is add to the kitschy hokum of it all . And hokum and weirdness is what Howard's stories were all about . Basil Poledouris ' music is the one part of the film that is totally up to scratch . It's not as heavy as his score to the first film but he does introduce new , stronger themes and lighter takes on cues from the first . And the ending , featuring the resurrected Dagoth reduced to a sub-Godzilla demon is just plain stupid . Not silly . Even a few more minutes of thought put into this would have made it much better . It's a lot more formulaic and ' Hollywood ' than the first . No new ground is broken and it's obviously a film made quickly to cash in on the success of CtB . Another way in which Conan has been sold short . You can tell with some gimmicks present in both films that they were trying to turn this into a long-running series . A shame that never happened . Conan the Destroyer is silly , entertaining fun . But it lacks the serious impact of the original . Oh well , we'd better just sit tight until King Conan : Crown of Iron comes out , whenever that may be . Forget the shoddy , non-anamorphic , mono-sound tracked R1 DVD and get the R2 version . It has a much better cover-art and loads of extras including : commentaries , features and a brand new 2 . 35 : 1 anamorphic picture and Dolby 5 . 1 sound .
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563,993 | 102,816 | 113,409 | 10 |
Black Magickal
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This review contains some slight spoilers . Many people say that John Carpenter does either GREAT or VERY BAD films . I think his only two duds were Escape from LA and Village of the Damned . But he is one of my two fave directors ( David Lynch is the other ) and this is one of his best movies . It may seem confusing at first but trust me ? it does make sense . The premise of this film fascinates me . What happens when the line between fantasy and reality disappears and creatures from fiction can exist in the real world ? Wow ! This makes the basis of a totally cool movie . John Carpenter always used 2 . 35 : 1 photography and in this film we get a screen filled with creepy imagery and cool locations . The film was shot entirely in Canada in 1993 and was released in 1995 . It is set basically in the city and in the fictional town of Hobbs End . When I say that Hobbs End is fictional I really mean it . In the film the town does not exist but Sam Neill ends up there . Some dark magick / logic at work methinks . This is definitely a horror film for the thinking audience . If you like your horror deep , intriguing and downbeat without being depressing ? you'll LOVE this one .
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564,858 | 102,816 | 469,181 | 10 |
Brilliant adventure game
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Featuring brilliant animation and cool puzzle-solving , Scooby-Doo Mystery plays like one of the old-fashioned text adventure games only loads more fun and with a ' point and click ' style gameplay . The game has 2 separate cases . The first is Blake Hotel in which Daphne's uncle has been kidnapped and it's up to Shaggy and Scooby to find him . The backgrounds and environment of the snowbound hotel are very atmospheric and it's loads of fun exploring everywhere looking for clues . Of the 2 cases I prefer this one . The second case is the Ha Ha Carnival where an evil clown is running loose creating havoc . Shaggy and Scooby must explore the whole amusement park and figure out a way to catch him . It's not as atmospheric as the first but still has great animation . Some of the best seen on the Sega Genesis . As expected , Shaggy and Scooby are the only gang members who do anything as Fred , Daphne and Velma wander off in one of their usual ' splitting up ' manoeuvres . This doesn't bother me as Shaggy and Scooby are what the show is really about anyway . Scooby-Doo mystery is so vivid and detailed that it's almost like an episode that you control . The only complaint that I can think of would be the rather repetitive music that only gets on your nerves in the second case . If you can find this game anywhere it is well worth your time and money . Maybe a bit too hard for kids though . Graphics Sound C Gameplay A Lasting Appeal
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564,353 | 102,816 | 90,357 | 10 |
The start of a great franchise ?
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Originally planned as the first of a series , Young Sherlock Holmes was a bit of a misfire at the box office . It cost $18 million and only grossed about 20 per cent of its budget back . In the years since its release it has become a cult film for those who can appreciate it for the blockbuster it never was . I personally discovered it on a Christmas Eve showing on BBC in the late 80s . Even then , I thought it was great despite it being a darker Christmas film than we're used to . In a snowy and sinister December at the height of the Victorian Era , Watson , as a teenager , is sent to Brompton , a private school in a fogbound London , when his old one is shut down due to lack of funding . Upon arrival , he meets a violin-playing smart-Alec who deducts his character from his mere appearance . It's the beginning of a life-long friendship . Holmes ' life on campus is rather cosy . He has a pretty girlfriend Elizabeth ( Sophie Ward ) and her uncle , Professor Waxflatter , is a crackpot inventor of the Doc Brown variety who lives in the school attic with all of his crazy inventions . At first , Watson and Holmes have fun getting up to mischief on campus but a series of bizarre suicides soon distracts them . The local Inspector Lestrade is too lazy to do anything about it , leaving them free to investigate . Apparently the victims are all sane , happy men who seem to go suddenly mad with fear and hurl themselves to the nearest oncoming death . Things get personal when Waxflatter suffers the same fate and stabs himself in fit of madness . Why are ordinary men going crazy ? Who is the mysterious black robed person hiding in the shadows ? What dark secret was Waxflatter hiding ? All questions to which Holmes demands answers and he drags along the nervous Watson and Elizabeth as he scours all the dodgy areas of Wapping talking to loads of cockneys and people who call you ' Govna ' . What they discover is an ancient blood oath and a huge conspiracy brewing in the spooky alleyways . In the 80s , Chris Columbus penned a string of imaginative movies from Gremlins to The Goonies and later he directed the Home Alone films as well as Bicentennial Man ( yes , I like it ) and the first two Harry Potters . He's one of those writers who can hide a surprising amount of darkness in a kid's film and Young Sherlock is a fine example of his most sophisticated writing . With strong direction from Barry Levinson and enchanting production values from Steven Spielberg there's no denying that this movie looks absolutely great . But it's how it sounds that'll really impress you . Bruce Broughton - a tragically under-rated composer who has talent equal to John Williams - has been unfairly slumming most of his career in TV movies . Here , he delivers one of the most spellbinding and Gothic scores you have ever heard . There are dozens of themes , moments of real magic , evil menace and breathtaking action . If this film had been a hit it really would have become as famous as themes for Jaws , Indiana Jones and Harry Potter . And speaking of Harry Potter , one cannot deny that JK Rowling was inspired by this film in many ways when creating her Potter universe . I'm not crude enough to list all the similarities in this review but let me just say that while there may not be anywhere near enough to call it plagiarism there sure is more than enough to call it a coincidence . Watch the film and you'll know what I mean . Originally the critics dismissed Young Sherlock Holmes as another effects-filled Spielberg fantasy , but that's an unfair judgement . The visual effects ( really quite something for its time ) are essential to the story as well as being pioneering . You may not believe it but YSH was actually the first ever film to feature a fully CGI character ( a stained-glass knight who comes alive ) , created by Pixar . Future Toy Story director John Lasseter was even one of the computer wizards who helped bring it to life . Unfortunately it lost its well-deserved Academy Award to the inferior effects of Cocoon . Even 20 years on a sequel definitely needed . Chris Columbus has stated he was upset that a sequel never got off the ground and that the series never took off . He shouldn't sell himself short . Of course it would need new actors but so many have put on the hat and coat of Sherlock Holmes that the role doesn't belong to just one man . There is still life in this spin-off franchise . All it needs is the right story and some of the magic that is missing from most kids ' films these days . And when I say kids ' films I should really play-down the negative connotations of such a label . As one of the first PG-13 rated films , YSH has a bit of a savage edge , a hardness unfamiliar the condescending kids ' films of today . Sir Arthur would be proud . He may have felt indifferent towards his most famous creation , but if he were alive today he would have loved this film . And it well and truly deserves . This surely one DVD you must get . The 1 . 78 : 1 anamorphic picture looks great and the Dolby 5 . 1 soundtrack sounds good considering it has been remastered from plain old stereo . The only extra is a trailer .
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564,364 | 102,816 | 86,960 | 10 |
A Timeless classic
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By having a pretty good plot , light humor and some originality here and there , this film has become a well-deserved classic . And before Eddie Murphy's ego got the better of him and before he sold himself out to family audiences . Eddie plays the brilliantly named Axel Foley , a fast-talking renegade Detroit cop . After blundering a cigarette truck set up he travels to Beverly Hills in his crappy , sky-blue , banged up Chevy Nova to solve the murder of his best friend . Very much out of place , he has to solve this mystery on his own as the ' by the book ' Beverly Hills Cops don't take him seriously . There is no macho crap here . No love interest and no other sleazy junk you find in most cop thrillers . By sticking to what it wants to do ( walking thru the plot making jokes ) it succeeds as a comedy and a thriller . Harold Faltermyer's 80's music doesn't date the film one tiny little bit .
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564,072 | 102,816 | 42,871 | 10 |
A Masterpiece
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While chasing Bugs Bunny thru the mountains , Elmer and Bugs happen upon a concert performance of Rossini's opera ' Il barbiere di Siviglia ' . Seizing the opportunity to cause major mayhem and trickery , Bugs hijacks the opera for his own wicked plans . Now Bugs and Elmer are the stars of the show and pain , torture and humiliation come in that order . The animation , timing , music and editing are all absolutely perfect in this cartoon . Surely one of the finest Looney Tune efforts containing all the anarchy , madness and insanity they are famous for plus enough intelligence and cleverness to put a roomful of NASA experts to shame .
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563,835 | 102,816 | 302,327 | 10 |
Chilling , atmospheric and utterly terrifying !
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Though the game has been around for years I've never taken interest in Resident Evil until recently . I got the game for dirt cheap and was surprised how good it is . I saw my cousin play the old Playstation version years ago and was unimpressed but for the Gamecube the graphics have been re-rendered to absolute lifelike perfection . The shadows , the sound , the ambiance and those thunderclaps . . . all highly , highly realistic . Play this with your Gamecube hooked up to your home theatre . And like me , you'll totally jump out of your skin at the scary parts ( many of them ) . My main hint is conserve your ammo . If you see a zombie , put it down right away ( no funny stuff ) and burn it . Take care of them one at a time . And if you don't burn them they will soon come back as Crimson Heads-faster , deadlier , scarier . Much like the Myst series , Resident Evil is one of those games where you have to keep your eyes and ears open . Clues and puzzle pieces are scattered all over the place and you need to pay attention . Don't be put off by the size of the mansion . After a short while it's easy to get your bearing and find your way through rather easily . Though I will be honest with the fact I did not understand most of the story . I have no idea what Trevor's diary from 1968 had to do with the plot and I really didn't get why Umbrella would create the T-Virus . I know there are various ways to finish and complete the game though . Especially seeing as how there are many clips during the end credits that did not happen in my game play ( I did it in just over 8 hours ) . If you finish it in certain time frames the next one is always different somehow . I only managed to unlock a new outfit for Chris . Wow ! My only gripe is about those boring ' door opening ' cut scenes . They really got on my nerves . Still , it's a chilling game that will freak you out if you play alone in the dark . Well worth the time and money .
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564,773 | 102,816 | 29,583 | 10 |
Marvelous Restoration
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I can't believe the clarity of this DVD . You could swear that this movie was made yesterday by the eye popping color . I've seen some great restorations but this is by far the best , even moreso considering that this film is now 64 years old . Disney have outdone themselves . The movie itself is entertaining although it does seem a bit European at times . It does not take place in any particular country but some of the dwarves sound like they are from Kentucky . The abundance of cute animals and a surprisingly cruel villain keep this story watchable . I mean we have heard it a million times before but the dwarves have more character than Snow White who does nothing but look pretty . And who doesn't want the Evil Queen to get what's coming to her . The supplements on the DVD are MASSIVE and too many to even mention . Let me just say that if you are a fan of the film you certainly WON'T be disappointed . This baby is loaded and bursting at the seams . The DVD is in 1 . 33 : 1 full frame and is in Dolby 5 . 1 .
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564,029 | 102,816 | 315,576 | 10 |
Build yourself a static with the ghosts up in the attic .
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I first saw Face Like A Frog ( or at least part of it ) on an episode of Liquid Television when I was about 10 years old . I absolutely loved , LOVED the " Don't Go In The Basement " song and I had no idea that it was part of a larger animated short until recently . The cartoon is mostly unintelligible first time around ( and none the worse for it ) but it features a frog going into a cursed house to sort it out . . . and that's basically it . But the colors , characters and background are all so brilliantly surreal and exaggerated you'd be forgiven for thinking you've gone on the ultimate acid trip . Directed and animated by Sally Cruikshanks , Face Like A Frog displays an exceptional imagination and talent . I'm amazed to find that she hasn't gone on to do much more . For a utterly surreal and dreamlike five minutes , look no further than this short .
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564,041 | 102,816 | 110,066 | 10 |
Very good for a family movie
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Most family movies seem hastily thrown together but HOUSEGUEST is an exception . The dialogue sparkles , the direction isn't just 2-takes-and-go , the cinematography is whackily speeded up in some places and the editing is rapid fire . And unlike most family movies , it lasts for 110 minutes . That's about half an hour longer than is usual . I know this hardly seems like a valid point but I reckon it proves the movie's got more content than fart jokes etc . My only gripe is the obvious McDonalds plugging about 40 minutes in . If you can just turn away for these 10 seconds then it's not so bad . It's a shame that it's there tho because it tarnishes the credibility of the movie . Sinbad is always good and the late , great Phil Hartman can make any film watchable so they really add to this brilliantly entertaining comedy . Do yourself a favour and watch it . It's not just for kids . I watched my VHS a zillion times and I was so impatient for this DVD to be released . So it's barebones , but who cares ? I'm just glad to have it . The 1 . 78 : 1 anamorphic picture is super and the Dolby 2 . 0 surround track is decent enough . After all this is a dialogue driven comedy but some sound effects and music are presented pretty well . My subwoofer even go a big kick from a gunshot near the end . Pick this one up whenever you see it . No matter what age you are , you and your kids will enjoy .
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564,311 | 102,816 | 77,053 | 10 |
Absolutely wonderful TV show
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I first saw Mork and Mindy when I was about five and thought it was the funniest thing on earth . I would even sit on my head like Mork did and I had some of the Mork toys too . So it's obvious I would grab this DVD box set as soon as it came out . And is Mork and Mindy as good today as it was back then ? Of course ! In fact it might be even better coz when you compare it to modern sitcoms M & M has more integrity as Robin Williams and Pam Dawber seem to be performing to a much rawer audience with more theatrical performances . Robin Williams is just completely crazy as Mork ( from Ork ) , an alien sent to Earth to investigate our strange customs and report back telepathically to Orson , his boss . Mindy is the girl he meets who gives him a home in her attic , much to the annoyance of her cynical dad . And , trust me , you can clearly see that Robin Williams often gives up the script to manically ad-lib his own madness while Pam Dawber runs after him , desperately trying to keep the show under control . It's so cool in certain moments when they're close together during a manic moment and she's looking into his eyes in amazement , petrified at what he's about to do next . He would also go crazy off-stage in an effort to distract Dawber when she had a scene on her own . Supporting characters are also cool . Mr Bickley , Mindy's dad and grandma , Eugene and the outrageous Exidor all grab as much attention as they can whenever Williams isn't going mental . David Letterman , Dana Hill , Tammy Lauren , Morgan Fairchild , Penny Marshall and Geoffrey Lewis show up in cameos too . Plus Fonzie is the first episode ( a flashback to Mork's first ever appearance in Happy Days ) . There are NO FEATURES AT ALL on the DVDs . Which is annoying seeing as how this time I would have liked to have seen stuff . But I'm just glad to have it . Hey , Paramount , give us Season 2 NOW ! ! ! The show is presented in 1 . 33 : 1 full frame , as originally shot . And for a 27 year old show it looks great with very little in the way of print damage or grain . The sound is plain old mono but it's fine for what it is . You MUST buy .
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564,545 | 102,816 | 221,169 | 10 |
Cool , but too short
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The Fatal Fury franchise is full of promises and this first animated feature takes the characters beyond the video game boundaries . It's cool how the fighters ( Terry Bogard especially ) are written as being normal and sensitive rather than always butch , evil and trying to start a fight . The characters in the Street Fighter series were too much like this but Terry Bogard always appears innocent and his adult form still looks like the child he was at the beginning . But my fave character in Fatal Fury was always Geese Howard . He is such a cool bad guy and live action bad guys should be more like him . Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi are amusing supporting characters and make great sidekicks for Terry . The ending is a little too quick but when you consider that there is a follow up and a great animated movie it ain't so bad . If you like this one then the others should give you a good fix .
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563,954 | 102,816 | 414,993 | 10 |
The most indescribably brilliant movie in years .
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This is probably the most difficult film to review ever . The Fountain isn't going to sound like much if I give you just a brief plot synopsis . But I'll give it a go . Tom Creo , a brilliant Doctor , is searching for a cure for cancer . His wife Izzy is dying and his research on Monkeys only seems to mysteriously reverse the ageing process . The secret ingredient to his new medicine is taken from a magic tree in South America . The tree of life , or the fountain of youth . Whatever you want to call it . As Izzy slips away , Tom becomes intrigued with her unfinished novel The Fountain . It turns out that the novel is about Tom and Izzy's past lives as a Spanish Queen and Captain in South America hundreds of years ago . And the only way Tom can finish the book is if he stays around for the future , when he can literally take the long-dead Izzy into the heavens . Phew ! That sounds disconcertingly strange , but trust me it's an amazing experience . Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz are brilliant , delivering multi-layered performances . The dialogue avoids soap opera clichés of dying young and instead is filled with many philosophic double meanings and a lot of undeclared emotions . I could go on for ages about how good it all is from the direction , gorgeous cinematography , beautiful score , flawless storytelling etc . But I think you get the point already . What The Fountain mostly resembles is the most beautiful , otherworldly dream you've ever had but can barely remember . It's a hypnotic movie filled with moments that will stay with you forever . Just when you think the film has given you all that it has to offer it surprises you with more and more amazing revelations . To deny yourself a movie like this would be a heinous act . There's just so much about it I can rave on about . But I won't . Go see for yourself .
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564,013 | 102,816 | 42,928 | 10 |
What does it take to get a movie made around here ?
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Blowing your brains out is the answer and that's just what Daffy Duck ends up doing . The cartoon opens in the office of one of the Warner Brothers producers . Daffy is trying to get him interested in making a movie from his 1000 page script ' The Scarlet Pumpernickel ' . Daffy plays a swashbuckling hero / thief who would like for no more than to marry his maiden in peril . But Sylvester is out to catch him and take her for himself . The producer likes Daffy's script but need a bigger ending . How about a tidal wave ? Not good enough ? And a volcano explodes ? Not good enough . But there's nothing left for the Scarlett Pumpernickel to do but blow his brains out ? Blam ! I love that Duck .
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563,854 | 102,816 | 166,203 | 10 |
Prizewinning pets
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Jon watches some braindead TV show about folks with pets who can do amazing tricks . Garfield and Odie , desperate for love and attention , prove to Jon that they're even better when they do their own little act for him . So Jon takes them on TV where they win the competition ( by default ) . The success goes to Jon's head and the gang go off to Hollywood to compete in the final round for bigger prizes . Now all the other acts are more sophisticated and better . All Garfield and Odie can do is their best . It's not the best Garfield TV special but it's still quite good and the cozy image of the Hollywood Hills is rather cute .
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564,693 | 102,816 | 166,205 | 10 |
Yet more Garfield brilliance
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I totally love the Garfield TV specials . You can always rely on them for intelligent and classy humor and ' In the Rough ' is no exception . In this one Garfield , Odie and Jon go camping in the Lake Wobegone forest . But there's a massive escaped Puma on the loose and it's looking for lunch . Brilliant songs , a clever short story and undeniable cuteness make this one of the best Garfield TV specials ( well they all are really ) . Catch it on TV whenever you can or just go out and buy the DVD . And I know I say it all the time , but if only the terrible Garfield movie was this good . .
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564,301 | 102,816 | 73,540 | 10 |
Very creepy
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If you're a fan of movies like " Dead Poets Society " or " The Truman Show " you should note that director Peter Weir's earlier movie " Picnic At Hanging Rock " is one of the best movies ever made . The story is based on a novel by Joan Lindsey who bases her novel on fact . On Valentines Day in the early 1900s a class of girls from a boarding school go for a picnic at the titular outcrop . 3 of them walk off into the rocks and . . . vanish . No explanation ever given . Because there is no explanation to this day . No one knows what happened to themBut what's even weirder is that they are all in some sort of trance when they leave . It is VERY scary in a strange way . This sometimes used to keep me awake at night because I thought it was a true story . I guess no one will EVER really know but if you want to see all the clues so far . . . watch this brilliant film .
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564,823 | 102,816 | 109,872 | 10 |
Cool animated movie
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But unfortunately my fave character is not in it much , his name is Geese Howard and he is only in a few scenes . But that's a minor quibble . The plot is about Terry Bogard falling in love with a girl named Sulia who's brother is wrecking havoc all over the world searching for a suit of armor that will make him a God . Sounds like something from an Indiana Jones movie but it works well and there's enough humor and pathos mixed in with all the mighty kicking-of-ass to keep others interested who do not like martial arts . Of course the story could be stronger with more developments but at 95 minutes you'll be darned if you can find another animated movie or even live action that crams in so much adventure , color and light-hearted thrills into its running time . I am a big fan of the series and of the entire Garou Densetsu / Fatal Fury franchise and I hope a sequel follows soon .
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564,288 | 102,816 | 443,673 | 10 |
One of the best platform shooters EVER !
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I first played Turrican on the C64 when I was about 10 and it was amazing . Recently I have rediscovered it on the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive and it is every bit as brilliant now as it was back then . What set Turrican aside from all the other platform games out there is the sheer size of the levels and the amount of exploration you can do . Everything is vividly detailed and it's full of eye candy . Plus the music it to it was some of the best ever heard on the C64 . However I did find the Sega interpretation of this music to be somewhat dull and nowhere near as lively and upbeat . It's also one of the very few games I managed to complete without cheating , I felt very proud when I was a kid but I must confess to using the Game Genie to finish the , much harder , Sega version . You play a man in a suit of advanced armor ( the Turrican suit ) who must fight against loads of aliens and machines in order to save the earth . It looks a lot like Metroid for the NES in fact . And I'm kind of sad that although it spawned a few sequels , Turrican never really took off to be such a successful franchise like Metroid did . I really do think that a new Turrican game on a console such as the GBA or Nintendo DS would be a great idea . The game has such potential to work brilliantly as a new title on newer hardware . Overall , it's a great game and it was released on so many old-school consoles that you must have come across it at some point . If so you'll know what I mean when I say it should be brought back . Graphics A Sound B Gameplay A Lasting Appeal
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563,994 | 102,816 | 113,676 | 10 |
Mind-blowing
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I've only ever seen 3 IMAX films and this is one of them . I was totally blown away by the incredible sound and photography . I had to study every shot because there is so much in it . It's not actually a movie like other IMAX films ( such as Across the Sea of Time and T-Rex ) but more of a documentary about how we are all islanders and how we live because the sea lives . It was surprisingly effective in this sense . My fave part was the discovery of the new underwater fish and the fish that had , what looked like , thousands of little lights flashing on and off . A scene with a boat fighting waves and crashing back down onto the sea was better than anything in The Perfect Storm . The sound in this particular scene is IN-CRED-IBLE . Whenever you pass by an IMAX check to see whether or not they are showing this masterpiece . You'll love it .
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564,826 | 102,816 | 253,658 | 10 |
Another great Scooby Doo
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The mystery may be a little weaker than in previous Scooby movies but this is still well worth your time and showcases the huge potential in the revamped Scooby franchise . The Mystery Inc . gang break down in the desert ( déjà vu ? ) and have to stay the night in a nearby town where the locals rant about aliens kidnapping cattle . So obviously they are up for investigation . I still don't like those stupid sound effects that are STILL ( ! ! ! ! ! ! ) used when Scooby or Shaggy BEGIN to run away . You know what I'm talking about . It sounds like someone rattling a quarter around in a tin can . It's pretty lame , considering all the thought and effort that has went into updating the franchise , that these old-fashioned and cruddy sound effects are being used in this day and age . But that aside there is a lot of fun to be had as Shaggy falls in love ( his song is way cool ) , is kidnapped by the aliens along with Scooby and the gang suspecting a rather unfriendly mechanic . Scooby Doo is going places ( even further if they do away with those sound effects ) and next time the writers should focus more on plot and mystery as this one was wrapped up in a disappointingly short 74 minutes . The movies that followed progressively got weaker and weaker .
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564,264 | 102,816 | 166,218 | 10 |
Great story about friendship .
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Most feature-length movies achieve only half of what Here Comes Garfield does . Even though it's only 24 minutes long . Garfield and Odie may have a love / hate relationship but deep down they need each other . The feline and the canine torment an old neighbor , who promptly calls the animal pound , who takes Odie away . Garfield bids good riddance but later at night the guilt and dread of a missing Odie overpowers him and he sets about rescuing him from the pound . Garfield may have come from a simple comic strip but there are some touching moments in this TV Special that prove why he has been so consistently popular for the past 25 years . The animation mimics Jim Davis ' early incarnation of Garfield ( this was made in 1982 ) and although it's not as refined as the modern Garfield he's still the same great , fat cat . The late Lorenzo Music is his voice ( or thoughts ) , though Thom Huge is not the voice of John , he would appear in the further TV Specials and the later TV Series . A genuine classic .
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564,361 | 102,816 | 129,167 | 10 |
Brilliant movie
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But it should have been longer . I distinctly remember an entirely different ending in the book . I also do not remember any 1950's communist paranoia in the book or the character of Hogarth being so young . But the changes do not harm the movie and the ending this film has is just fine . There are obviously no opening credits to the film so guessing the voices is cool fun . But it's impossible to guess who plays the Iron Giant . But the Iron Giant himself is a wonderful hero . It's cool to watch him learn simple things and having him eat cars is a neat little characteristic . I like when he's bored and he plays with the hood with one of the cars in the junkyard . You cannot dislike the Iron Giant . I think it was a wise and creative decision to make this cartoon in 2 . 35 : 1 . Most cartoons by Disney are in 1 . 85 : 1 or even worse ? in 1 . 66 : 1 . Warner did a great job with this movie . These days it seems that Dreamworks SKG and Disney seem to do all the feature length animations . But Warner beat them all in 1999 with this movie . My only gripe is that it should have been longer . At 87 minutes , it's all over too quick . But it's still cool .
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564,474 | 102,816 | 324,216 | 10 |
Very bold and intense horror and a great DV
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While I fully appreciate and respect the tastes of others , let me just say I have no idea why the original is held in such high regard . It was truly one of the worst films I have ever seen . Nothing happened in it . There was ZERO suspense or excitement , the dialogue was barely audible and it felt like another half of it was missing . I hated it and I am so puzzled why so many people love that film . Granted , back in 1973 it may have been easier to scare audiences and the low-budget nature of the original may have contributed to the ugly look of the film but I see no reason to credit the original director ( Tobe Hooper ) with any of the film's so-called qualities . The man's career fell flat on it's face soon after and I think his most famous movie was something of a fluke . It would not have succeeded today . Obviously , as I just said , audiences today are exposed to a larger number of movies and can choose and discriminate more easily . There are some who will say the only people who can enjoy this will be degenerate teenagers who don't know what real horror is . And some who will call the film to glossy . But none of this I find fair criticism . I am , in no way , a fan of Michael Bay or any of his movies . But he had the right idea in keeping the budget very low for this movie ( $8 million ) and seems to be more skilled in packaging and producing than directing . The film is not ' glossy ' or ' clean ' . The equipment use to make the film is more sophisticated than that on the original but this is not ' The Rock ' or ' Armageddon ' and there are no hundred-shots-in-a-second and flashy camera tricks . They all tried their best to pull of a nervous , raw horror film that stands on it's own and I think they have . This was sooooooo much better than the first . The characters actually HAVE character this time . I got on their side , I got involved in the action ( yes , there is action this time , and a LOT of it ) and the acting was done well . Plus Jessica Biel is VERY hot . So many new dimensions and situations occur is this remake that elevates to something a zillion times what the original was . Don't automatically think that because Michael Bay is the producer that it's going to be some kind of sanitised and fashion-shoot Hollywood production . It is still a very edgy and intense film . It's rare that a Hollywood film manages to horrify and offend these days , so I'm very glad the new TCM went for a hard R-rating . The tone is so filthy and depraved that you will definitely need to shower soon afterwards . THAT'S how close you get to the action . Even the character of Thomas ' Leatherface ' Hewitt has a lot more to do this time . He's not quite Jason Voorhees but he's still an incredibly mean bad guy you'd NEVER want to mess with or come within 10 miles of . And in case you're wondering , he's played by the same dude who played Butterfinger , the big , dumb blonde guy from Hudson Hawk . Only this time he's not so cuddly . Not since 8mm almost 5 years ago have I seen a film where the bad guys ( there's more than one ) are nothing but the blackest of all evil . R . Lee Ermey was terrific ( as usual ) as the disgusting Sheriff and any fans of him should only expect the most badass of performances . Second to Dawn of the Dead ( and tying with House of 1000 Corpses ) this is one of the best horror movies I have seen in a long time . The Platinum Series DVD is just awesome . The 1 . 85 : 1 anamorphic picture is superb and the Dolby 6 . 1 / DTS ES soundtracks are incredible . You'll really think Leatherface is chainsawing his way into YOUR living room . There are also a massive load of interesting extras including a 75-minute documentary , deleted scenes , a documentary on serial killer Ed Gein ( who was ' supposedly the inspiration for the original but Tobe Hooper denied these rumors ) and screen test footage . The packaging is awesome with a metal plate stuck on the front cover and ' crime scene ' photos in a little envelope tucked into back . It completes a great package of a great DVD of a great movie . Buy it ! ! !
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564,589 | 102,816 | 273,923 | 10 |
Best comedy I've seen in ages .
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I have laughed so hard or so frequently in so long , too long . Orange County is quite possibly one of the best comedies of the past few years . I absolutely love it . To be honest I had little faith in Jake Kasdan after Zero Effect ( which had Zero Effect on me ) but this movie shows he has a real sense of humor and he balances it perfectly with outrageous characters and an untypically good-natured comedy plot . Shaun Brumner ( Colin Hanks in a wacky performance ) is refused entry to Stanford University because his dunderheaded College Counsellor mailed them the wrong the transcripts . He recruits his slobbish brother ( an even wackier Jack Black ) and his girlfriend to help him in increasingly desperate and far-fetched methods of convincing Stanford to reconsider . It may sound like a dumb story but the characters and situations surrounding it provoke the maximum amount of laughter . The two leads are particularly impressive and show natural comic genius that makes me beg for more from these characters . Keep a look out for loads of cameos from Chevy Chase , Harold Ramis , Ben Stiller and Kevin Kline . And it's loads better than that crappy O . C . TV show . The DVD is in 1 . 78 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5 . 1 sound . The extras are great with a commentary from Kasdan , deleted scenes which actually should have stayed in the movie and loads of TV spots with scenes especially created . You must get this . Everybody needs to laugh and laugh you will .
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564,052 | 102,816 | 109,707 | 10 |
Pull the string ? ! ? !
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If you have watched Glen Or Glenda , Bride Of The Monster , or Plan 9 From Outer Space , you'll know all about cringe-worthy entertainment . These movies are so outrageously bad that you'll enjoy them , no doubt , but you'll have to look away whenever it gets REALLY bad . What was Ed Wood thinking ? At least , his cast had the excuse that a paycheck is a paycheck . Call it irony , but Tim Burton has assembled a fine cast of character actors and made a film about the worst director of all time , that cost more than all of Ed Wood's movie budgets put together . Say what you want about him , but 50 years after his monstrosities were produced , people are still watching them . I doubt you could guarantee the same for Pearl Harbor , or Road To Perdition . Martin Landau carried away an Academy Award , as Best Supporting Actor , as did Rick Baker for his make up effects . But , even with these selling points , audiences never gave it a chance , which is a real shame because the movie needs to be seen to be believed . Chronicling the events of the mid-Fifties , through the production of the aforementioned turkeys , Tim Burton's biopic achieves the impossible . We , the audience , side with Ed , despite the fact that if he was alive today , he would be subjecting us to some truly god-awful crap ( coughmichaelbaycough ) . Alternately hilarious and touching , our sympathies lie with Wood and his ever loyal , declining co-star Bela Lugosi ( a barely recognisable Landau ) . Other characters pop up , including the hairy-as-hell Tor Johnson ( George ' The Animal ' Steele ) , a wannabe transsexual ( Bill Murray ) , a very , very buxom Elvira-type ( Lisa Marie ) , the most famous predictor in the land ( Jeffrey Jones ) and a beleaguered Orson Welles ( Vincent D'Onofrio ) - a typical assortment of rejects , failures and weirdos . Burton is inclined to produce a flop , when he indulges too much . Just as the audiences stayed away from Mars Attacks , they never even considered Ed Wood , because of the black-and-white photography , which was a truly inspired decision . One cannot imagine how much the movie's legitimacy would have been lessened , if it was in colour . I must assure you that , no matter how offbeat and strange it looks , this film is an absolute classic that begs to be seen . It may not be to everyone's taste , but it has a wicked sense of humor and is sure to have you in stitches .
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564,064 | 102,816 | 320,160 | 10 |
Hilarious !
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This Cartoon Network Halloween Special has the Mystery Inc . gang pick up a hitchhiker , who just happens to be Gary Coleman and crash the Mystery Machine into a tree outside a spooky , old castle , run by David Cross of all people . David kindly lets the gang stay overnight and desperately tries to play down rumors of zombies started by his weirdo butler Shifty . But there is some kind of ghoul running around the castle , so the gang make it their mission to solve the mystery . The humor and animation style is very similar to Harvey Birdman : Attorney at Law with loads of bizarre , crazy moments and self-aware sarcasm . If you are a fan of either show then this TV special is a must-watch .
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563,885 | 102,816 | 40,422 | 10 |
One giant leap for Rabbitkind !
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Bugs Bunny ' volunteers ' somewhat reluctantly ( kicking and screaming ) to be the first earthling blasted into space . He perks up however when they fill the rocket to the brim with carrots . After a bone-crushing spell of g-force he lands a little too roughly on the moon and decides to go for a little sight-seeing . On his journey he meets Marvin the Martian ( who sounds a little bit different than usual ) and his usual plans to blow up the earth for some insane reason . As usual , hijinks and endless outsmarting follow , all to wonderful effect . It's in this type of anarchy and imagination that Bugs and the rest of the Looney Tunes prove how ingenious they really are .
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563,849 | 102,816 | 421,714 | 10 |
Get it for one scene only
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I'll be honest , I only bought this DVD for the fact that Nicola Holt is in it . I never liked her much when she was in Big Brother , she was far too loud and obnoxious for me , but as a porn star she's great . She turns up at one of Ben's many houses for her scene but first she does the obligatory talking to the camera bit first . Then she goes to change ( and boy does she have a hot body ) and slides down the stairs on the banister . Soon enough she's out of her clothes and gets involved and a terrific and energetic sex scene which includes anal and oral . Nicola is a brilliant porn star and I recommend you check out her other stuff . The rest of the girls on this DVD are not up to par and are of usual Ben Dover standard .
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564,803 | 102,816 | 90,605 | 10 |
One of the best sci-fi films ever .
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When a sequel is so many times better than the original , it's hard to believe that the first was so exciting and pioneering . James Cameron , fresh from his groundbreaking Terminator , proves he was no one-hit wonder by maintaining the perfect balance of action , suspense and sub-text . Fifty seven years after a lone Xenomorph killed everyone on the Nostromo , Ripley ( Sigourney Weaver ) awakes in a space station orbiting earth . Happy news does not greet her . Her only child has died an old lady and she has no life left to get back to . Plus , she is having disturbing nightmares and is facing charges of willful destruction of private property , which seems ludicrous when you consider that she destroyed the Nostromo before any of the " suits " were born . Back on LV426 , a family has stumbled upon the same mysterious spacecraft that John Hurt ventured into in Alien . And sure as sugar , the dad doesn't leave until a face-hugger is , well . . . hugging his face . Before you know it , the Company - actually called Weyland-Yutani - has lost contact with the entire colony on LV426 and Ripley is enrolled to help a bunch of Marines deal with the problem . Many Vietnam subtexts are played out as well as a more gentle subplot , in which Ripley becomes a surrogate mother to Newt ( Carrie Henn ) , an orphaned child , who has more guts and initiative than the entire platoon put together . Bill Paxton plays Hudson , the wimpiest but most likable Marine ever in movies . Lance Henriksen is Bishop , an android who tries to convince Ripley that he is not like the deceitful and perverted Ian Holm from the original . Michael Biehn is Hicks the reluctant corporal who takes charge of the futile mission after the first , scarifying attack by the Xenomorph . Cameron assaults us with so many shocks and stingers and keeps us on the edge of our seats for well over two hours . At one point Hudson says , " They're comin ' outta the goddamn walls " - you better believe it ! We never know where , or when , another alien will strike from the damp darkness and drag away a hapless Marine . And you can't shoot these monsters close-up because they'll spray acid blood all over you . Backing up the claustrophobic , nerve-wracking mayhem is James Horner's Academy Award nominated score , which is haunting and cold and thundering and bombastic . This is definitely not a film for the nervous , or those with a pacemaker . Rapid fire editing , tense close-ups and an extremely oppressive atmosphere , reeking of death , take over the movie . The final showdown with the massive , no-nonsense - but still quite feminine - Alien Queen is one of the best ever filmed . To think that Ridley Scott provoked so much tension and dread from just one is strange . When they are all over you , it makes for a superior sequel . The Director's Cut of Aliens is now considered the official one and is the only version you will find out there . If the movie doesn't scare you , Weaver's Afro will .
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564,103 | 102,816 | 291,490 | 10 |
A simple but wonderful classic .
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I will never forget the snowy Xmas of 1992 when I made the upgrade from the trusty old Commodore 64 to the Sega Genesis . I got about 1 game per week for the Genesis and tried just about everything . My first ever game tho was Sonic the Hedgehog . The gameplay was simple and that's the way I liked it . The graphics were cute . From bright blue sunshine and tropical landscapes to the cruel mechanical world of Doctor Robotnik ( now called the Eggman ) . The music was great ( where are the soundtrack CDs ? ? ? ) and I was never happier . Sure it was totally easy but I always went back for more . This game had such charm is it any wonder why Sonic is still so popular all these years on ?
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564,278 | 102,816 | 291,491 | 10 |
Xmas , 12 years ago
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. . this was the best selling Genesis game . Man , I really do miss the Genesis . I mean , for all the high tech , super-powered consoles we have today , such as the Gamecube and PS2 the Genesis had such a simple-charm . The games had great graphics AND awesome playability . Something you don't get together a lot these days . I remember Xmas in 1992 when I was 12 , walking around a snowy Edinburgh and seeing this game displayed proudly in all the toy / game shops . I really wanted it , I that it was the coolest thing . Then on Xmas morning I finally managed to get a Genesis , I got this game with it too and Xmas couldn't have been cooler . The music , the graphics , the highly-imaginative levels and Sonics way-past-cool pal Tails made this game truly great . There was some controversy at the time that the 3D graphics on the special stage caused epileptic fits but I never got any more than a headache . Games like this are what made the Genesis indisposable . If you still have one . . . hold onto it , don't sell it like I did .
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564,349 | 102,816 | 42,512 | 10 |
Daffy lays a golden egg .
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One day down on Porky's farm , a hen lays a golden egg but refuses to come forward because of what happened to the goose who once laid such a thing . Instead every other hen points to Daffy when Porky comes asking . Daffy , obviously shocked at such an accusation and too surprised to know what he's actually doing in a henhouse confirms or denies nothing . As soon as he's made famous in the media , Rocky the gangster kidnaps him and forces him to lay as many eggs as possible . You really do feel for Daffy in this one as , for the first time , he doesn't make the trouble for himself and panics as the threats mount and the golden eggs are not laid . Daffy is the best !
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564,172 | 102,816 | 129,342 | 10 |
Beautiful
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It took me 5 years to finish Riven and even then I did use a walkthrough to get to the very end . In retrospect , the game is not really that big ( compared to the sequels that would follow ) but the puzzles are very hard and you'll be scratching your head for hours . Unlike the original Myst , all of Riven takes place on one island so there is no hopping around in different ages . And what a beautiful place Riven is ! It's the perfect place to be . Unspoiled , atmospheric , brooding , foreboding and a calming quiet broken only by the distant surf . The photo-realistic graphics have greatly improved since Myst and almost any one screenshot would make the most pretty postcard . Robyn Miller once again does the music and it's that minimalistic and thinly melodic score the series used to have before Jack Wall came along in Myst III and changed all that . If you like that kind of thing then you should get the CD . It may be 8 years old now and technologically primitive in comparison to a lot of newer games but Riven is still as hauntingly captivating now as it was then . Graphics A Sound Gameplay B Lasting Appeal
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564,436 | 102,816 | 758,758 | 10 |
The best movie in a long , long time .
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I knew nothing of Christopher McCandless or the book of his life or even anything about this movie until I was sitting in the cinema . The only thing I knew is that Sean Penn was directing and having been very impressed with his gut-wrenching , if incredibly downbeat , The Pledge I was pretty much guaranteed to like this film . My guess turned out to be extremely correct . Alexander Supertramp ( that's Emile Hirsch as McCandless folks ) is a man with no attachments . Having been raised in a loveless household by parents who only wish for him to ' or-din-ary ' things he entertains them as far as graduating college but escapes to the country as soon as the diploma is in his hands . His dream is to explore the land with no ID , no money and no chance of being found by those who might want to interfere with his mission of reaching peaceful seclusion in a remote corner of Alaska . Along the way he touches many lives , some brief , some profound and gains experience and character that some might never have even if they lived to a hundred . Sean Penn's photography and affection for nature give this film an overall gorgeous look . It is surely one of the most uniquely composed films of the year . He reminds me a lot of Clint Eastwood as an actor who can also direct fine movies and encourage impressive performances out of his cast . Pretty much everybody here is on top form , even Vince Vaughn manages to shake off the taint of those tawdry ' frat pack ' comedies and play a genuine character for once . But Hal Holbrook as old Ron Franz really is a standout . I've never seen a more heartfelt or touching performance in so long . If he doesn't earn an Academy Award come Oscar-time then there ain't no justice in the world . I think it's great that Sean Penn brought Holbrook ( now 82 ) back for such an important and thought-provoking role . If you don't shed a tear for him then you have no soul . Don't con yourself out of a good movie . It may have a limited release but Into the Wild is a film worth taking time out to see . Since I live in the UK , the story of Christopher McCandless ( which appears to be some sort of true urban legend in America ) is not well known here . I guess that having no expectations of the film made me enjoy it on the right level . Definitely something I will be tracking down on HD DVD when it's released . PSI broke my tooth while watching this movie . Just ordinary chewing gum took a big chip out of one of my molars .
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564,572 | 102,816 | 272,152 | 10 |
Mork and Mindy
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Much like Mork left Ork to come to earth for the second time and visit Mindy McConnell , Prot leaves K-Pax to come to earth for the second time to visit Dr . Brewer , a psychiatrist who thinks that Prot is a crazy human but it becomes increasingly likely that he's the real deal . But there is a mystery to Prot's background , a mystery Dr . Brewer is determined to unravel and the way he does so , with the minimal of clues ( always the best in mysteries ) is quite clever and interesting . Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges ( forever THE DUDE whether he likes it or not ) are brilliant as alien and earthling . The whole movie is very beautifully made with wonderful use of rainbow colors , great editing , fun supporting characters and a delightful score by Edward Shearmur . Seriously , if you're stressed then this is THE movie to calm you down . Movies about aliens fascinated by strange earth customs are always enjoyable . Spacey might not be running around wild like the manic Robin Williams , quite the opposite actually , but his grace and dignity are far more than most humans match up to . K-Pax attempts some kind of ambiguity in the ending but if you hang around to the very end of the credits you'll realize that Dr . Brewer is still curious of Prot's origin's despite what his Robert Porter evidence is telling him . The DVD is in 2 . 35 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby / DTS 5 . 1 sound and loads of interesting extras .
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563,973 | 102,816 | 371,901 | 10 |
Really good , and apparently under-rated , porn DV
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I'm surprised that this DVD has got such a low rating as it's filled with loads of great sex scenes and many beautiful women . With no story or introductions it just cuts to what we want right away and delivers plenty of it . What's not to like ? It starts of with the wickedly attractive Coralie ( co-director of the controversial French thriller Baise-moi ) , who really fits her goth-girl look . She claims to be an expert in anal sex and has a wonderful shaven haven . She begins with regular sex before moving onto anal . Her next scene involves her getting a hard DP . It's great ! Next is the unbelievably cute and very sexy Lisa Sommer . In a mountain cabin she enjoys a vigorous DP followed by another scene with hard anal that includes vivid gapes . She's the highlight of the DVD . Monica , our next girl , is an alright-looking blonde who loves anal with a ' savage ' passion . She does an okay scene on a boat involving loads of anal . Her next scene is better and has a bit of DP action . Madelaine is next and claims to spend hours masturbating especially anally with dildos . Which is exactly what she does before the boring dildo action ends with an actual man entering the scene . Okay anal action follows . Liza Harper has a total of 4 scenes to herself . Her first scene is a hard anal on a secluded beach . Then she gets a DP from no less than 3 different guys . It's her best scene . Next she does a simple anal scene , which is fine . But her last scene is the one you'll freak at . She does anal , DP and double anal on a private yacht which appears to be cruising the French Riviera . But erm . . . before doing said DP and DAP she forgot to make sure that she was . . . clean . Inside and out if you know what I mean . How the director and editors missed this one is beyond me ! Also , the slow motion just makes it laughable . Next is Mokikat , who is a pneumatic blonde with huge , curly locks . She does anal and DP with 2 guys is a living room . It's quite good if a little lacking in positioning . Then she does a simple anal scene in a lift with some other guy at the end of which she does a pretty good gape . Then there's Ildico , a very sexy girl who looks GREAT in a pair of cut-off jeans / short shorts . She claims to be ' a sex fiend ' and does a brilliant DP scene with a bunch of guys . Then she does double anal and clearly loves it . Letice , who is not a vegetable but a nice-looking woman , is last . She get's DP-ed about a zillion times by a group of guys and loves what she is doing . In closing it's a great DVD and I say you should buy it if you happen to come across it . Don't be put off by the low rating .
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564,838 | 102,816 | 107,659 | 10 |
Your pants will be dancing with figs ! ! !
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Released in the same season as Last Action Hero ( another under-rated spoof of dumb action movies ) and sharing a few cast members with it too , Loaded Weapon is more light-hearted stab at those horrible ' buddy-buddy ' / ' loose cannon partnered with old guy days from retirement ' movies that were in unholy abundance around the late 80s and early 90s . Lethal Weapon ( a film that has really not dated well at all ) is to blame for the sudden popularity of this sub-genre and it's at this particular series that Loaded Weapon takes most of it's well deserved stabs . Emilio Estevez is Jack Colt , a gun-happy cop on the edge who has been walking a thin line between sanity and alcohol-fuelled psycho since his dog ran away . Samuel L . Jackson is Wes Luger , a Detective with only a few days before he retires . His former partner Billy York ( Whoopie Goldberg ) is killed and he demands to take the case even though his superiors think it was suicide . And so Colt and Luger get involved in a remarkably silly plot with cocaine disguised girl scout cookies . The evil General Murturs ( William Shatner thoroughly enjoying himself ) and his henchman Mr . Jigsaw ( Tim Curry ) plan to lure Colt and Luger into a trap before they foil his next major drug deal . There are loads of cameos and even more in-jokes than you can shake a stick at . What makes Loaded Weapon better than most other heartless spoofs is that every line of dialogue is delivered perfectly and every scene has it's own special moment ( if not more than one ) . From the hilarious opening in the mini-mart to pretty much any scene with Jon Lovitz ( spoofing that horrible Joe Pesci character ) there is loads to enjoy . Every aspect and cliché of this unfortunate sub-genre is exploited and made fun of , even the musical score plays a vital part in the humor of some scenes . Some of the most quotable lines of dialogue include : ' Half today . Half tomorrow . Half on delivery . ' ' I'm Detective Luger , this is Detective Colt . These are our wallets . ' ' You came ! ' - ' That's personal ! ' ' Ooware eez tha meecro-feelm ? ' ' Don't thank me . I'm just a cop doing his job . ' ' I'm your worst nightmare . ' - ' No waking up without my penis is my worst nightmare . ' And of course . . . ' CIGARETTE ! ! ! ' Unfortunately a decent knowledge of the Lethal Weapon films is required to get most of the jokes in this film but it's so funny that it's worth suffering through them first . It's a shame that they never made a sequel but never say never eh ?
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564,037 | 102,816 | 106,309 | 10 |
VERY GOO
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This movie is very well made and has a decent plot . The editing may be a little ham-fisted in places but the shoot-outs are far from simple and the car chases rival that of even RONIN . It also has a sly sense of humour and self aware of it's stupidity . I like the music , it's highly thematic . I like George Segal's character , adding a little class to the oily villain he plays and Dolph is good . He's always good . Much better than Seagal or Van Damme or Stallone . It's a pity he's not in many high profile movies . But this one is definitely one of his best .
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564,355 | 102,816 | 104,431 | 10 |
Great Xmas Movie
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Too many sequels suffer from Deja vu . And hardly any of those carbon copies improve upon the original . Home Alone 2 is a carbon copy , but it's also much better and more complex a movie than the first . In another mad rush to the airport the MacCallisters make a point of remembering Kevin this time . But he gets lost in a crowd at the airport and follows a man who looks like his dad onto the wrong plane . 13 of the MacCallisters are going to Miami for Xmas ( do they never stay home ? ) but Kevin is headed for the Big Apple . And he's going to have that once-in-a-lifetime vacation he's been wishing for . There's much more for Kevin to see and do in New York . He scams his way into the Plaza hotel where a suspicious Concierge ( Tim Curry ) gives him mighty evil looks at every encounter . He goes to Duncan's Toy Chest , the biggest toy store in town and takes many scenic photographs . Though it is a little worrying now seeing Kevin on the roof of the World Trade Centre . But the Wet Bandits have escaped . And they have just arrived in New York with loftier ambitions and bigger heists to pull off . They even brush by Kevin a few times not knowing he's there . Typically though , once they get a hold of him the give away far too much info . Once Kevin escapes he takes matters into his own hands once more . His Aunt Georgette from the first movie is still in Paris so he uses her half-renovated home as a huge mousetrap for the bungling burglars . The booby traps this time are much more painful and nasty , so it's all the more amusing for us then huh ? Who can possibly fail to laugh at Marv getting the shock of his life when he tries to turn on the taps ? If the movie were to be released now I doubt if it would be let away with a PG rating . Still , it's nothing for any parents to worry about . Unless you fear your child is going to set your head on fire with a blowtorch . Home Alone 2 has a more satisfying climax than the first . The film doesn't simply end once Harry and Marv are back in the slammer as there is more plot to it than that . Brenda Fricker has a ( rather questionable ) role as ' The Pigeon Lady ' a woman who lives in Central Park and talks to anyone-until Kevin reaches out . Plus Eddie Bracken shows up as Mr . Duncan and gives Kevin the best Xmas morning ever as a token of his appreciation . With a bigger story ( okay some of it re-used ) and more characters and a better playground for Kevin , Home Alone 2 manages to be a superior sequel . While not excessively so . There's loads of fun to be had in Kevin's antics and Tim Curry is downright brilliant as the mischievous Concierge . Though try to turn a blind eye to Rob Schneider in his pre-Animal days if you don't dig him . It's a great movie on it's own but sadly it will always be called a copycat . Watch it now from a fresh perspective and you might like it more . Much like the first movie Home Alone 2 is presented ' matted ' widescreen . Meaning that if you have seen this a dozen times on video then this version chops off the top and bottom of the frame . Though it was meant to be this way , so worry not . This time round the 1 . 85 : 1 anamorphic picture ( tho only Region 1 is not anamorphic , sorry ) is much better . There are hardly any traces of dirt or scratches and it looks like a proper DVD picture . Unlike the first movie . There is some light grain here and there but that is where the trouble stops . Too bad the Dolby Surround soundtrack is ultra-tame . You'll have to turn your speakers up way past reference level to get a decent sound out of this one . And only then does it sound rather basic . The scenes of Harry and Marv being tortured almost to death could have sounded awesome if there were a rather more sophisticated soundtrack . This almost sounds like a TV movie . Well , no DVD is perfect I guess . Once more the only extras are trailers for all three movies . The effort Fox must have put into this DVD ( one of the highest grossing movies ever ) must have been backbreaking work .
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564,190 | 102,816 | 106,364 | 10 |
Brilliant Batman
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But it's way too short . At only 76 minutes you begin to wonder why they bothered . The story is barely given a chance to be intriguing and it is told in a very confusing way with too many flashbacks and flashbacks that go into their own flashbacks . But it still retains that dark edge the 2 previous movies had and many visual thrills . This movie tells the tale of how Bruce Wayne became Batman in a little more depth than the live-action films and gives us the discovery of the Batcave in a slightly different way than that in Batman Forever . The Joker is as crazy as ever , the thugs and hoods are as nasty as they have always been and the identity of the Phantasm surprised me . Although much of Danny Elfman's theme is missing the music is still powerful and involving . The animation is very good and has many elaborate ' sets ' and locations . The visual style still sticks to that of the comic book like glue and it all makes for a very exciting film . Even if it is a bit of a confusing one , especially for kids . But this animated incarnation of Batman is truly the best .
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564,471 | 102,816 | 251,736 | 10 |
Absolutely mental !
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Gulp ! This was one barmy film . By far the most true , nerve-wracking horror we've had in ages . Far too many ' horror ' movies over the past 10 years have been neutralized sub-genre flicks starring generic babes and hunks from teen soaps . Nothing of the sort here . Rob Zombie has made a REAL horror film with some shocking and unbelievable elements . Four kids , on their way home , stop over at some remote gas station ( and fried chicken bar ) run by the manic Captain Spaulding . Upon witnessing his freak-show amusement ride of urban legends they become fascinated with the myth of Doctor Satan , an insane local mass-murder / torturer / scientist . They make the very unwise decision of taking a slight detour in order to find him . Soon enough they've picked up a wild hitchhiker called Baby who is more than a little slutty . Their car blows a tyre and Baby has her brother Otis take them back to her house for repairs . Baby , Otis and the rest of the family seem kind of hospitable at first , despite their peculiar idiosyncrasies . After that , well . . . complete and utter madness follows . Rob Zombie bombards us with so much horror , both macabre and morbid , that the film becomes a hypnotic thrill ride of guts , gore and grim . As the traumatized teens slowly lose their minds so do we . They barely have time to comprehend the mania and carnage and neither does the audience . In the final 15 minutes our senses are so over-stimulated by the breath-taking madness , furious pace , escalating and mind-blowing horror that the shocking plot twist in the last few seconds comes as the biggest surprise and fright I've ever seen in a movie . Many have criticized Zombie's Oliver Stone-type direction of this film and called his rapid switching of film-stocks jarring and distracting . I didn't mind it at all . It adds to the unstable atmosphere of the film and only proves Zombie took more time and effort to put this film together than most other directors do . House of 1000 Corpses was made by Universal and Zombie wrapped production way back in Spring 2000 . But the film was so gory and perverse that Universal simply refused to release it . MGM tried to help get it out there but ended up dumping it too . Finally Lion's Gate Films stepped in and gave the film a limited run ( which is unfortunate since a mainstream Universal release would have guaranteed it reached a bigger audience ) . By this point the film had been cut , edited and censored . Which is a big shame . Even with these 15 minutes missing House of 1000 Corpses will still leave you feeling numb and slightly sick . As Zombie is already working on a sequel ( called The Devil's Rejects ) he doesn't have the time to work on the uncut DVD but has promised he will do his best to get it out there . So until then get your fix with this DVD . The film is presented in 1 . 85 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5 . 1 sound . Special features include a commentary , a featurette , audition footage , rehearsal footage , cast and crew interviews , a still gallery , trailers and an isolated score . The region 2 DVD ( which I have ) has an exclusive DTS 5 . 1 track .
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564,365 | 102,816 | 92,644 | 10 |
The best of the three
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Up to scratch in all areas apart from the editing . I'll get to that later . This one sees Axel head back to Beverly Hills after a 3-year gap to solve the Alphabet crimes . The film is more violent than the original and is truer to the Simpson / Bruckhiemer films that followed . When you compare this movie to more recent flicks like Con Air or Gone In 60 Seconds you can see a definite resemblance in style . These movies have very fast editing to heighten the action . Obviously the editors practised on this movie as the editing is very bad and there are many continuity mistakes . It doesn't retread the same ground either . The first summed up what Beverly Hills was like in the early 80's but this one shows us the world indulgent Americans live in when they have more money than they can spend . As Axel says ' These rich people loose their minds and want to live in a donut ' , when describing to a building foreman that there are not supposed to be any right angles in the house he is about to ' steal ' . The music has improved a bit too . Even if some of it is a direct rip-off of the music in John Carpenter's Escape From New York . It's a shame the music ( not songs ) from these films is not available on soundtrack . Give Beverly Hills Cop 2 a chance and don't listen to the narrow-minded critics who panned this film ( 13 years ago ) . It is also the only one of the 3 that is in 2 . 35 : 1 .
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564,558 | 102,816 | 331,632 | 10 |
Just as good as the first .
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As a Scooby fan I may be a bit biased but how you can deny that this is just great entertainment for everyone is beyond my understanding . Of course this isn't high art but it IS very well put together and there are plenty of in-jokes for the wiser viewers . This movie HAS to be mindless , it would lose its kid audience otherwise . But that doesn't mean there's no good humor or plot to it . Granted , the plot is dumb ( the gang go up against all the monsters from the first season , only this time they're real ) , but there is slight sophistication and the manic set-pieces just bombard us , one after the other . Once again , there's not a moment of boredom , but there are quieter scenes with the Mystery Inc . gang in which character is not completely ignored . The main stars are , as usual , Shaggy and Scooby . Matthew Lillard is dead-on as Shaggy . Give this man an Oscar , seriously ! One moment that requires major suspension of disbelief is not any scene feature sludge monsters or a talking dog but a scene in which Velma utters ' I'm not hot ' . NOT HOT ! ! ! ? ? ? ? WHAT ? ? ? She's a total babe , more so than Daphne . And I NEVER care about CGI FX in movies . But here they are so cool , colorful and convincing . Who are you to tell me Scooby Doo ain't real ? Go out and see this right away . Between this and Looney Tunes : Back in Action family movies are balancing out a little bit after the awful crud of Cat in the Hat and Cheaper by the Dozen . Give us Scooby Doo 3 right now ! ! !
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564,011 | 102,816 | 387,273 | 10 |
Very happy tree friends
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Don't let the charming theme tune fool you . These cartoons are sick ! They star the most cutest and cuddly little animals you can imagine but they end up getting killed , tortured and maimed in the most depraved yet ingenius ways . You'll actually be gritting your teeth and looking away when death comes calling . But how can anyone be so mean to animals so cute ? Animated or not these guys ( especially the Vietnam Vet dude ) would make great cuddly toys . Tho one might be tempted to press their faces into a lawnmower after watching this DVD too much . The DVD is presented in full frame and has a loud , gut wrenching soundtrack that only adds to the sound of tearing flesh ( or fur ) , breaking bones and mutilations . Extras include your own DVD Happy Tree Friend Tamagochi plus commentaries from the creators . Shame it only lasts for half an hour .
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564,152 | 102,816 | 354,766 | 10 |
Dark , Doomy , Brutal and Moody
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I was rather impressed with how strong this film is . Having heard not much about it I was expecting another ' In Da Hood ' film . I didn't have much confidence in Ernest Dickerson ( Surviving the Game , Demon Knight ) as his direction hasn't matured in the past decade . I eat my words now . He definitely brings a strong visual integrity to Never Die Alone . DMX turns in a believable performance as King David a New York drug dealer who legs it to LA when he steals his bosses stash . Upon his return years later he is promptly offed by a two-bit thug . In his dying moments he bequeaths his entire legacy to investigative reporter David Arquette ( who is great in his role too ) . Before the night is over Arquette pieces together his life and an awful past full of heinous crimes is unleashed , but it's not over yet and Arquette becomes marked for death by King David's still very angry boss . In a mere 88 minutes Never Die Alone tells an intriguing story in non-chronological order and sets up a remarkable array of complexly interwoven characters . It's surely a character drama first before anything else . Don't misjudge it as being no more than a violent ' gangsta ' thriller . The violence is brutal and honest but it does not distract , none of it is superfluous . Dickerson's direction has a Gothic , urban noir edge to it that has the feel of a 1950's pulp novel . It's dark , very dark and some may feel slightly uncomfortable with how frank Never Die Alone is in it's depiction of misogyny and the utter ruthlessness of it's central , highly evil character . The DVD is in 2 . 35 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5 . 1 sound . There are a bunch of extras I never had time to check out . But this is definitely a movie for fans of ( the initially unrecognisable ) DMX , just don't expect one of those nice but bad characters he played in Exit Wounds or Cradle 2 the Grave . King David is a bad , bad man .
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564,725 | 102,816 | 84,967 | 10 |
One of the best shows ever .
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It's just a pity it only ran for 3 years . I was only a kid then but I imagine it was one of the top rating shows . When I say that The A-Team was inventive I really mean it . Every show would have them locked in a barn or warehouse , by a corrupt Sheriff or Mayor , that just happens to be loaded with equipment of some kind . The A-Team then invent some kind of crazy machine that enables them to break out and defeat the bad guys . Not before a montage of them building the machine to a variation of the classic A-Team theme tune . Every 10th show would be about Deckard and how he wanted to catch the A-Team " for a crime they didn't commit " , but he never did . They were just too clever . The show was always critized for being too farfetch'd . It's true though . A car would be blown up and the passengers would walk out , cough and dust themselves down . . . totally unharmed . And The A-Teams uncanny ability to fashion a rocket launcher out of a pringles tube and an orange was just too much for some folks . But that's what made it so good .
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564,772 | 102,816 | 26,707 | 10 |
Mickey gets high !
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In this cartoon , the second color Mickey adventure , bugs and creepy crawlies are eating absolutely everything in Mickey's yard . He and Pluto set out on a mission to stop them with some poisonous gas , so bad the barrel has a skull and crossbones on it . After an accident , Mickey ends up spraying himself with the gas and goes on a scary trip in which he is thimble sized and the bugs are as big as T-Rexs . The rest of the cartoon is a chase with him and Pluto being pursued by the creepy crawlies . It's all very visual stuff , played out to various pieces of music . Mickey doesn't even say a single thing until the last few seconds . A fun cartoon .
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564,835 | 102,816 | 120,877 | 10 |
Vampires is the best
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I liked this movie . I usually hate vampire movies but this one was very good . It was funny and tough and didn't have to resort to sub-From Dusk Til Dawn type mayhem that Blade did as it had a plot also . It's not too gory either . Sure KNB do some great make-up effects but it's not like the gore is the only entertainment of the movie . Blade and FDTD relied on the gore to entertain too often . Carpenter has made a Vampire movie that seems more realistic than that . This movie is strangely light-hearted for a vampire / horror flick . Don't get me wrong though , it's best that way . There is a lot of cool dialogue too and Daniel Baldwin's performance is one of his best . I love desert set movies and this one gives us some great cinematography and gorgeous scenery . The music is also light-hearted in a way but can also be spooky at time . Carpenter always comes up with great tunes and his guitar riff and ' Roadhouse Blues ' approach to the genre gives a whole new feel . Plus James Woods shines in the way that only he can do . The DVD has a boring commentary ( Carpenter has no one to talk to ) , a trailer and the cover claims it contains a photo gallery also but unless it's an easter egg it ain't there . The picture is in pretty good 2 . 35 : 1 anamorphic widescreen and the sound is Dolby 5 . 1 . It'd be cool if Columbia released a Superbit of this movie .
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564,042 | 102,816 | 95,179 | 10 |
Good but flawed .
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I think that this and parts 3 and 6 are the best . Kane Hodder was definitely the best Jason , up to a point . The direction is a bit lame in places but quite adequate in others . The premise of the movie is good but the acting and dialogue really sucks in some parts . If this movie was made today , no way would they get away with such dialogue . Actors nowadays just wouldn't speak it . I'm not a big fan of the Harry Manfredini music in the first 5 movies but here he introduces an , eerie , ghostly little theme that crops up every now and again . Jason is also at his coolest with the bones showing thru his boiler suit . New Line ditched this look with Jason Goes To Hell . In part 10 , or Freddy vs Jason I really hope they don't make Jason the way he was in JGTH . That movie just seemed totally miscellaneous , it didn't fit with the others ( and Jason had hair ) . Overall this is very watchable and pretty good , but why do the end credits roll like a TV movie ? Regarding the DVD . . . it's not good . F13 Part VII : The New Blood is my fave Friday the 13th movie thanks to the strong supernatural elements and a jazzed up score from Harry Manfredini and Fred Mollin . I looked forward to this DVD , I was let down tremendously . Director John Carl Buechler was horrified when the MPAA made him chop his film up worse than Jason ever could and censor almost every spot of blood . This changed the film from a strong and effective horror to a tedious assembly of teens getting killed . Horror films are supposed to offend and upset . In horror you have the capability to provoke a very wide variety of emotions from your audience . Even if the source material is rather weak , if pulled off correctly you can entertain them in such a way that they'll babble about the movie for weeks and perhaps never forget it . This is exactly what John Carl Buechler did with this movie . Sadly no audience was to be exposed to his make-up genius or copious gore . The movie was wasted . Or , in his own words , castrated . I couldn't agree more . Buechler approached Paramount with his own cut of the film , many deleted scenes and a wealth of extra material and proposed a special edition DVD . Paramount flat out said ' NO ' even tho Buechler offered to work on the DVD for free . Knowing that there were MANY fans out there who feel the same way about the movie Buechler set up a petition and got thousands of signatures begging Paramount to release Part VII as a Special Edition . Still , there answer was , flat out , ' NO ' . And now that this DVD has been released what extra features does it have ? None . Even after all this and all the begging Paramount didn't even give us a trailer . Something they were ' kind ' enough to give Parts 1-6 . I see no reason to buy this unless you have submitted your VHS copy and need the DVD . Friday the 13th Part VII : The New Blood is anamorphically enhanced at 1 . 78 : 1 and has a remastered Dolby 5 . 1 soundtrack made from the original Ultra Stereo recordings . Unfortunately , it's not a good 5 . 1 track with hardly any . 1LFE use or surround use .
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564,358 | 102,816 | 166,792 | 10 |
Dog ? Where
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This was a really cool update of the classic Scooby Doo formula . The gang have new clothes , new jobs and new voices . The movie is self-aware but not to the point that it becomes really annoying . The animation is also much better and not so cheap looking . There are shadows , out of focus backgrounds and 3-dimensional shots . Also , the same background does not repeat itself over and over when Shaggy and Scooby are running . The plot is about a haunted mansion in a Louisiana bayou and the Mystery Inc . effort to unravel it . But the gang have split up . Daphne Blake is a talk show host , Fred is her producer , Velma Dinkly is a bookstore owner and Shaggy and Scooby are ? unemployed . They reunite to go on the road for Daphne's birthday . That is when they come across an opportunity to solve a REAL mystery . Much to the disappointment of Fred the zombies are real . There are no fake masks and no scams . I think this is very refreshing . The new , re-vamped Scooby Doo franchise is full of potential and this movie along with , ' Scooby Doo and the Witches Ghost ' and ' Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders ' uses that potential very well . If only they were longer . Just over 70 minutes ain't enough .
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564,348 | 102,816 | 42,270 | 10 |
Daffy is the REAL Looney Tune
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He's completely crazy that's for sure . And at the beginning of this cartoon we see him as happy as can be in his grassy valley with his pond . He hops and skips around without a care in the world . . . until Porky Pig shows up to do a scenic painting and maybe catch a fish or two . Naturally , Daffy isn't pleased at these distubances and does everything in his power to rile up Porky , including several disguises and constantly ringing his fishing line bell . The funniest part is when Daffy rips out Porky's car engine and climbs inside . When Porky tries to start the car Daffy makes spluttering and wheezing noises . Absolute class , until Porky ties him up and forces to be the REAL engine of the car . That duck can never just enjoy his happiness .
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564,805 | 102,816 | 92,796 | 10 |
A great trio
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I'll review these short movies in order . First we have " Old Chief Woodenhead " in which an old convenience store clerk is robbed and killed by thugs . His wooden statue of a Native American warrior comes to life and takes them down . It's a little slow and doesn't have a lot going on but it still cool and well directed . The second part is " The Raft " and is surely my favorite and the scariest . 4 teenagers enjoy a carefree Indian summer at a secluded lake where there is a large raft stuck in the middle . Once they swim out of the raft a huge blob of carnivorous , organic sludge comes along eats one of them up . It seems to have the ability to dissolve human flesh pretty quickly and wont go away until it's eaten the other 3 . We never know what the blob is or where it came from but I reckon that you'll find this one to be more involving than the others . The final story is " The Hitchhiker " in which Mrs Lansing , a neurotic upper class woman runs , over a man , trying to hitch a ride , completely by accident . She thinks it best to simply drive away from the scene and leave him be . But then she begins to have hallucinations ( ? ) of him coming back to get her . And no matter how many times she runs him over and smashes him to pieces he seems to continue coming back and coming back despite the fact he becomes more and more disintegrated . It's not scary but it's fun to watch her become increasingly deranged , as she cannot get rid of him . In between all of these little movies there is an ongoing animated story of a kid buying the Creepshow comic book and ordering killer plants to eat up his enemies . The Creep ( Tom Savini under heavy make-up ) introduces each story to us in much the same manner as The Crypt Keeper in Tales from the Crypt . Even the comic book to film fades resemble the Crypt TV series . But is there actually a Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt comic book ? I would appreciate it if someone gave me an answer to this . It's bugged me for a long time . Look out for Stephen King as a trucker in " The Hitchhiker " .
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564,024 | 102,816 | 249,174 | 10 |
Amazing platformer
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Super Mario Bros . 3 is certainly an impressive game for 1988 standards and holds up as an innovative platformer even today . The graphics , level design and gameplay make for a truly great playing experience . I never did finish the first Super Mario Bros . ( as of yet ) and I've never even played Super Mario Bros . 2 but now , after liking this so much , I will seriously have to consider it . In terms of originality you won't find anything particularly amazing about the jumping of one platform to the next and collecting power-ups but it's how it all comes together and works so well that makes SMB3 stand out from the rest of the competition . Some levels are tough , but stick at them and you'll memorise and master the tricky bits pretty quickly . However , that didn't stop me from crying out loud in sheer , hopeless frustration every now and again . The GBA version adds a save function ( a godsend for those who hate having to spend 86 hours finishing a game in one go ) , slightly tweaked levels and compatibility with the Nintendo E-Reader that offers bonus levels . Considering how good this game is it's no wonder Sonic had such tough competition from a short , fat Italian plumber . Definitely one to hunt down . Graphics A Sound B ( only because the famous Super Mario music is not featured ) Gameplay A Lasting Appeal
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564,706 | 102,816 | 105,636 | 10 |
A tense , well-crafted action film
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A bizarre mix of creative talents went in to making this movie . Not the kind of thing that happens too often these days . A script from Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale , direction by Walter Hill and his usual gang ( strong editing from Freeman Davies , cool photography from Lloyd Ahern and score by Ry Cooder ) , Bill Paxton and William Sadler as the ' heroes ' and Ice T and Ice Cube as the bad guys . It makes for a truly original movie . Much like Judgment Night , Trespass is about two worlds colliding after bystanders witness a gangland execution . Two firemen on a treasure hunt in a huge , long abandoned East St . Louis factory . This happens to be the same territory as King James ( Ice T ) and his cohorts . They off some unwise punk by chucking him thru the glass roof and are pretty mortified upon discovering Bill Paxton and William Sadler are watching them . Ice T's crippled brother is taken hostage by Sadler and they seal themselves in old apartment . Several other bad guys show up and totally box them in . What follows is a succession of stand-offs and shoot outs as Paxton and Sadler fight among themselves , T and Cube argue over who should be running the show , loyalties are challenged and each group begins to split into different factions . Stuck in the crossfire is poor old Bradlee , the innocent hobo caught in the middle as his apartment is besieged . There are no clear-cut ' good guys ' and ' bad guys ' in Trespass . Just a bunch of guys who all came to the wrong place at the wrong time . Originally called ' Looters ' and scheduled for release during Summer 1992 the release date was changed to Winter and the title changed to ' Trespass ' . Why ? The LA riots were happening and Universal felt that there was enough racial tension in the media already . While I agree there is deliberate racism in this film it's nowhere near as bad as the morbidly extreme racism in such recent movies like Bad Boys II . This new release by Universal is much better than the pathetic ( and now OOP ) release by Goodtimes . Gone is the snapper case . In its place is a sturdy keepcase and a nice bundle of extras . First of all there are some deleted scenes , a Behind the Scenes of Trespass featurette , the Ice-T / Ice Cube Trespass music video ( it's the highly censored ' radio ' edit ) and a trailer . It is presented in 1 . 85 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 2 . 0 sound . You should definitely get this as it's not the standard of film Hollywood studios produce these days . IE made by talented people .
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564,617 | 102,816 | 314,123 | 10 |
WOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOO
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I'd give it a million stars if I could . I never thot a game could possibly be more fun that GTA3 . GTA Vice City achieves that impossible . How can I NOT recommend this epic adventure ? ? ? The action , the gore , the humor , the violence , the amazing stunts , the tunes , the celebrity voices , ABSOLUTELY EVERY-THING about this game ROCKS SO MUCH ! You could play it for a gillion years and STILL never get bored and STILL discover cool new thingies . I know I sound really hyper and wound-up but the game is so damn exciting and so very , very cool that I'm all for letting you all realize you MUST buy this . It's a classic . When you're not laughing your ass off you'll be marvelling at the outrageous car crashes or shaking your head at the sick and depraved humor of this . . . THE BEST VIDEO GAME EVER !
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564,582 | 102,816 | 158,814 | 10 |
It may be hard but it's way cool and atmospheric .
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You really do get the feel of absolute abandon and isolation while playing Myst . The graphics may be rather dated now ( especially compared to the modern graphics in Uru and Myst IV ) but it's easy to get immersed in the quiet , lonely environment and believe your actually there . The sound effects and music are slight and subtle rather than overbearing like in other video games . Since Myst the franchise has indeed developed and evolved . People still tend to think of them and point and click slide shows . Which isn't very fair . Yes , Myst is this way , though it was made 11 years ago and graphic cards back then were not the frontiers of technology they are today . A lot of patience and intelligence is needed to solve the puzzles and put the clues together . A lot of reading and note-taking is required and those looking for shoot-em-ups and violence should look elsewhere . Myst is , indeed , a game for the refined gamer .
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563,924 | 102,816 | 86,465 | 10 |
Ahmwoonanawoonanawoonana-huh !
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This is one of the best comedies out there , made back in the days when John Landis was still good . It is bursting with brilliant scenes for fans to act out and loads of hilarious lines to recite . I find myself doing this quite a lot . Who cannot resist Eddie Murphy's foreign exchange student disguise or Ackroyd's Lionel Josef . The ape in the train is a thigh-slapper too . For a comedy it has a great plot and a decent running time but it has dated quite a bit . Please though , no remake . Let this film stand on it's own as proof that Ackroyd , Murphy and Landis were once brilliant at what they did .
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564,285 | 102,816 | 90,768 | 10 |
They don't make ' em like this anymore .
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I'm so tired of modern family movies full of fart jokes or movies where teenagers make love to pastries and it's supposed to be funny and then they staple on some superficial message at the end in an attempt to be poignant and balance out all the trash that came before . Every other week we are tortured with some nonsense of this calibre and whenever I wish for a movie that stands out from the crowd I have to go back in time and consider some overlooked gem . The Boy Who Could Fly is exactly that . The characters seem so real and their emotions genuine , it builds at a slow pace but it never gets boring and story development is consistent . This is not a ferociously loud summer crowd-pleaser or something bloated with pointless SFX . Very few movies have the power to make a whole story out of characters and situation alone without feeling the need for some ridiculous set piece or blaring thrash metal guitars . In fact Bruce Broughton's score is the wonderful opposite of that . The performances , especially the two leads , are flawless and the direction is far more refined than the typical . Everything in this movie comes together perfectly to make a film so unique and charming . If you have lost your faith in the current dreck that graces our screens and if you want a family movie with some meaning and subtext then check this out . And keep an eye out for director John Carpenter as on of the Coupe De Villes . The DVD is in 1 . 78 : 1 anamorphic widescreen and in Dolby 2 . 0 . It has an introduction by Jay Underwood and director Nick ( Michael Myers ) Castle , they also feature in a commentary with Lucy Deakins and Fred Savage .
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563,756 | 102,816 | 191,831 | 10 |
I believe it's real
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You know what this film is , you've seen it on The Discovery Channel or a Sci-Fi Channel documentary . It's the one with a Bigfoot walking into the woods while constantly looking back at the man with the camera . Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin , the men behind this little miracle , were out in the wild forests of Northern California looking to capture the mythical creature on film . By sheer luck they did . While coming upon Bluff Creek , both horses they were riding on were startled by a dark figure in the distance . Patterson immediately got out the camera and captured 952 precious frames of the figure which turned out to be Bigfoot . Apparently it was cleaning food on the rocks of the creek before being scared back into seclusion . Skeptics love being skeptics . One can watch this film with an already non-believing eye and see only what they wish to be proved a hoax . But this film has never been proved to be a hoax . Or real for that matter . Patterson was not a rich man . And therefor the possibility that he had this suit made seems a bit far-fetched . Plus the creature was well over six and a half feet tall . And it's arms were longer than a human which is pretty hard to fake in a suit . Plus there was muscle texture , breasts ( it was female ) and a possible hernia on the thigh . To have all of these on a suit that no one has been able to prove is a fake back in 1967 made by a guy with little to no money doesn't seem likely . And if it was a fake then where is the suit ? It would be worth a pretty penny today . But you also have to consider Patterson's luck . I mean he did set out to capture Bigfoot on film and through a one in a billion chance actually did . Well , most people venturing out into the woods to find Bigfoot are going to bring a camera right ? It would always be a one in a billion chance of coming across one . Not just sheer coincidence that a camera and bigfoot come together . They are both there for that purpose . Patterson also had many scientists and film technicians analyse the footage . Which would be pretty brave for a man who has simply played a prank on everyone . Sadly , Patterson died in 1972 and since then Bob Gimlin has only suggested once , in a roundabout way , that the only way it would be a fake is if Patterson staged it all without his knowledge . But considering the points above , I think it is for real . Personally , if there are Bigfeet , Sasquatches , Skunk-Apes out there I don't want any REAL conclusive evidence of them as it would be another thing that Mankind destroys . May Bigfoot live forever in uncertainty .
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564,539 | 102,816 | 220,454 | 10 |
A must for KOF fans
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Not a revolutionary animated movie by any means but this sequel to Fatal Fury has a reasonably good story and interesting characters . The color scheme is bright and easy on the eye and the animation style is better than most Japanese anime in which everyone looks like Asian / American to appeal to both audiences . I thought that Krauser was a cool bad guy and , for once , one that I doubted the hero ( Terry Bogard ) couldn't defeat so easily . His costume was a bit excessive and it is hard to believe that he could be so agile under such a suit but one can overlook such a flaw easily . Terry's brother Andy returns and so does Joe Higashi but it's the 2 new characters that are the best thing about this movie . Kim is a teenage boy who idolizes Terry and considers him to be a real role model . But he is gutted when he discovers that Terry is just a burnt out drunk and will do anything for him until he gets back on his feet . The other new character is Mai and she is a very " bouncy " character if you know what I mean . The fight scenes are very well thought out and vivid . Every punch and kick looks painful and the other heavies look pretty mean too . But we all know that in the end Terry is gonna beat the crap out of them . Just like the video game says ? Terry Bogard is the King of Fighters . But at 68 minutes you feel a little cheated . But with such a short running time there is no room for fat .
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563,899 | 102,816 | 120,917 | 10 |
My fave Disney animated movie
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But the typical faults of all the other recent animated movies are still evident . I'm talking about the loud , loud , LOUD soundtrack that gives you a massive headache . That is about the only bad thing I can think of . The main reason TENG is better than other Disney rubbish is the ( almost ) complete absence of stupid , moronic songs that are typical for Disney output . I found this quite refreshing and made the film easier to watch . I thought that David Spade and John Goodman , as Emperor Kuzco and Pacha , gave some of the better voice performances in an animated cartoon and the animation style was always cool to look at and colorful . The jaguars were funny and Yzma was so disturbing that maybe some of the younger kids in the audience had nightmares about her . But the best character was Kronk , the dumb but kind-hearted assistant to Yzma . This is a great example of how an animated character can still be as likable as a live action one . I have to admit that when I first saw the trailer for this film I was not impressed . It seemed like yet another kid's movie about a king ( Prince of Egypt ) and his life etc . But when he turned into a Llama the look of the film radically changed and I looked forward to seeing it . It is a wonderfully original idea and it is executed with great wit and self-aware humor . If only most Disney animated movies were this good , that means we would not be subjected to such hell as Dinosaur and Tarzan . But I recommend that you buy the DVD of this movie to watch it as seeing it with a theatre full of kids and parents who don't really want to be there is not the preferred viewing experience .
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564,006 | 102,816 | 328,832 | 10 |
Now THIS is more like it !
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The idea of the Matrix is so full of potential and could be taken in so many , many directions . The movies decided to go in the direction of pretension but the Animatrix goes EVERYWHERE the movies don't . It is so far superior and well worth the time . It's a shame that most audiences don't consider Anime or any form of animation to be ' real ' or something that they should take seriously ( sadly even Matrix fans feel this way and won't watch it simply because it's animation ) because they're missing out on something very special here . It's not original to review this DVD by going thru all the shorts so I'll just stick to what I like best ( which is most of it ) . First of all , ' The Second Renaissance Parts 1 and 2 ' is absolutely VITAL as backstory to the first Matrix film . And it's a zillion times more interesting than the sequels in terms of drama , irony and subtext . ' The Final Flight of the Osiris ' takes place before Reloaded and leads us into story of the machines beginning to drill down to Zion . And it's very cool . ' Detective ' is a story of a private eye trying to find Trinity and discover what exactly the Matrix is . But Agent Smith comes after him to put a stop to that . It's in black and white and has a wonderful atmosphere of 1950's dime novel pulp fiction . ' Matriculated ' is the story of a captured machine who is taught / hypnotized into feeling what it's like to be human . It's a very clever story that manages to provoke feeling for the characters ( and even the captured machine ) , something the movies never did . ' Kid ' is about the kid from Revolutions who takes over the Mech at the end and manages to open the doors to Zion . Apparently , before being freed , he was a schoolkid who met Neo online and wanted to ' wake up ' . But the best one is ' Beyond ' . A magical tale with an atmosphere so solid that it's almost tangible . It's about a girl who goes looking for her cat in an old abandoned factory with some other kids . But in this factory the Matrix is having problems and ' reality ' for the characters doesn't quite work properly . It's a very interesting tale that really makes you think . There are numerous extras on this DVD , all of them more interesting that the other Matrix DVDs . All 9 of the shorts are presented in 2 . 35 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5 . 1 sound . It's truly for all fans and non-fans of the Matrix universe .
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564,384 | 102,816 | 302,596 | 10 |
Cozy Xmas Cartoon
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Is it just me or do the Garfield TV specials seem to have a real emotional touch to them that gives the whole series higher integrity than the average children's animation . If only the movie were this good . It's Xmas time once again and Jon takes Garfield and Odie back home to the farm for a good , old-fashioned country Xmas . Originally against the idea , Garfield quickly becomes accustomed when he remembers how much he likes Grandma . John and brother Doc-Boy behave like kids again and can barely contain their excitement at the forthcoming prezzies ( who can ? ) and what on earth is Odie up to in the barn ? The Garfield Christmas Special is a warm , sentimental and meaningful cartoon with great songs ( once again ) and the kind of everlasting charm most would kill for . Highly recommended !
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564,448 | 102,816 | 318,155 | 10 |
Quite frankly , the BEST MOVIE EVER MADE ! ! !
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Well , it took over 4 years but I finally have a new best movie . And not only that but it's the funniest movie ever also . It's quite possible you'll die of oxygen deficiency , you'll be laughing so hard . Taking place in what is essentially the same universe as Who Framed Roger Rabbit , the movie begins with both Daffy Duck and DJ Drake ( Brendan Fraser , who also plays himself as well as Taz ) getting kicked off the Warner Brothers lot at the same time . Daffy follows Fraser home only for both of them to make the astonishing discovery that Brendan's movie star dad Damian Drake ( Timothy Dalton , who doesn't appear to have aged a day since License to Kill ) is a REAL secret agent as well as playing one in the movies . He's been kidnapped by the Chairman of the evil Acme corporation in an attempt to find a mysterious diamond called the Blue Monkey and Brendan and Daffy team up to rescue him . But the Warner Brothers soon realize that without Daffy the Bugs Bunny cartoons are not worth anything . So Bugs and the Head of Animated Comedy ( Jenna Elfman ) go looking for him , inadvertently getting dragged into the Blue Monkey plot . It's not only a wild collection of increasingly insane set-pieces . Looney Tunes Back In Action is quite possibly the most intelligent and brilliantly crafted film of 2003 . It's devastating that cheap nonsense such as Scary Movie 3 makes over $100 million while Looney Tunes barely scrapes $20 million . I blame the marketing . The trailer for this film was absolutely awful . And even I thought it looked really bad . Only my dedication to the Looney Tunes made me see it out of obligation . Thank God I didn't judge it by the trailer . I'm assuming most of the potential audience did . Plus it did have to go up against stiff holiday competition such as Return of the King and Elf ( ! ) . Both of those movies had stronger marketing campaigns which is the only explanation I can offer for Elf doing so well . A few critics blasted Looney Tunes for being no more than an exersize in boosting sales for the Warner Brothers catalogue of characters . This is in no way true . While it's true that merchandise follows this movie ( as does every family film ) I simply do not see how it's pure exploitation . Space Jam was pure exploitation and an unashamed merchandise excuse . Back in Action fixes everything that went wrong with Space Jam . So much so that Joe Dante nicknamed this the ' Anti-Space Jam movie ' . Back in Action is good , old-fashioned Looney Tunes mayhem . I can't think of a more perfect director for this movie . Joe Dante is the most underappreciated director in recent history . It's obvious from his previous movies that he just loves the Looney Tunes and Back In Action surpasses even Gremlins 2 in terms out wall to wall madness ( and correct me if I am wrong , but didn't the Looney Tunes run riot in that movie too ) . This is his most perfect movie to date and I am sure it will be appreciated by a wider audience once it hits DVD . The best thing about this movie ? The fact that Daffy Duck gets the most amount of screen time . And his outrageous , anarchic antics never fail to amuse . At one point Daffy and Bugs are chased by Elmer Fudd through a bunch of paintings in the Louvre art museum . It's a crazy sequence in which you simply cannot deny the movie's genius . The merging of live action and animation is seamless . It looks like Brendan Fraser and Daffy really are acting together ( and for all we know , they are ) . Their chemistry is perfect and when Bugs joins the team there's so much going on that just one viewing isn't enough . There's hundreds of in-jokes ( as you would expect from a Joe Dante movie ) and none of them are of the cheap , post-modern kind . Looney Tunes Back In Action has more class and more genius than any other comedy in the past few years . Even Steve Martin's performance as the man-child chairman of the Acme Corporation is a return to his edgier roles in movies like The Jerk and is far better than the ' family man ' trash he's been doing for the past 10 years . He's practically an animation himself in this wonderful movie that's bursting at the seams with madness .
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564,512 | 102,816 | 374,526 | 10 |
So totally cool .
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Man this short movie rocks . Made for a mere $30 , 000 , Sandy Collora proved that even with a tiny budget he could bring a truer , darker and superior Batman to life than Joel Schumacher could with zillions of dollars and A-List names at his disposal . Gone is the stupid molded plastic physique and overuse of the bat-rope / grapplehook thingy . In it's place we have a Batman closer to the comic book . The unknown playing did so with attitude and anger , just like the character is supposed to be . And the dude who played the Joker was much better than Jack Nicholson and he didn't ask for £20 million for it either . This is a movie made by people who love movies , not by studios looking for a profit . Once the Joker is snatched away the movie becomes more than just a cool short , it's an action-packed mini epic . The Alien creature effects are flawless considering the budget and the Predator looks mighty cool . The fight scene with him and Batman is wicked and flawlessly choreographed . Though Batman doesn't know what he's let himself in for as half a dozen other Predators ( all seriously cool looking ) show up ( as do more Aliens ) for a royal rumble . It's at this point the film fades out , leaving us wanting more . A feature length version of this story would be MORE than welcome but what we get at the moment is ACE ! It's worth mentioning the music . It's all temp score but it's seamlessly put together . Using Shirley Walker's score for Batman : Mask of the Phantasm , Alan Silvestri's Predator Theme and James Horner's Aliens music ( the best of the four ) we have a movie with a score from beginning to end that is made of themes we all know and are familiar with . No Batman , Alien or Predator ( yay ! ) fan will be left disappointed or distanced . Sandy Collora's direction more resembles Tim Burton's dark visions on the first two Batman movies and nothing like the camp , neon coated nonsense of the last two . Batman : Dead End is more than enough to set the balance straight and make up for the travesty of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin . Give us the DVD please ! I will gladly pay top dollar !
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564,012 | 102,816 | 42,418 | 10 |
No one leaves empty handed
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A rather different approach to a ( radio ) quiz show . If you don't answer the impossible questions in a ridiculously short time you get tortured with falling boulders , cascading water , conveyor-belts with those spinning saws and whacks of a mallet to the head . Daffy Duck is wonderful as the demented host dishing out pain and humiliation to Porky Pig . But even Porky has his limits and soon turns the tables on the delightfully devilish Daffy . The entire cartoon is set in a sound studio so there's not much going on with the backgrounds . In this respect it's kinda simplistic . But when that small space is filled with such hyper-madness who can refuse ?
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564,820 | 102,816 | 79,833 | 10 |
Best Animated Movie Ever
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The second big screen outing of Lupin III is already one of the best Anime movies ever made , while rivalling anything Disney or Pixar has to offer . Green ogres , fat superheroes or a zillion gigabytes of computer animation still cannot compare to 12 frames of hand drawn charm . For the uninitiated , Lupin III is the grandson of Arsene Lupin , the gentleman thief , created by Maurice Leblanc in the Twenties . He's always breaking into some impenetrable vault , or has a zillion gadgets up his sleeve to help with escaping if things go awry . He's also rather wacky and buffoonish , which makes his antics a joy to watch . Hayao Miyazaki ( Spirited Away , Howl's Moving Castle ) , in his movie debut , tones down the out of control wackiness of the Lupin III TV show and gives Lupin a rather decent plot to dig his teeth into . This is not an excuse to string together a bunch of insane set pieces . Seconds after robbing a Monte Carlo casino , Lupin and Jigen discover that every dollar note they have swiped is a fake . Only one place in the world is known to make these counterfeits and Lupin's underworld knowledge leads them to the tiny European country of Cagliostro ( think Luxemburg , only much , much smaller ) . Half a moment after crossing the border , Lupin and Jigen are involved in a car chase and rescue the Lady Clarisse from a bunch of goons . But she's promptly kidnapped again , though manages to leave Lupin a clue in the form of a strange wedding ring . Their suspicions over the kidnapping lead them to the titular castle where they discover that an evil Count has seized control of the country , using - guess what ? - funny money . And the ring is the key to a great treasure that can only be uncovered when the Lady Clarisse is married to the Count . Lupin deliberately blows his cover to Inspector Zenigata ( the perpetually stressed Interpol officer who is always chasing him ) as a diversion , while he breaks into the castle to rescue Clarisse . What follows is scene after scene of hairs breadth escapes and impossible scenarios . Miyazaki's attention to detail is what truly elevates this beyond typical animation quality . There are enough moments of quietness and atmosphere to balance out the loud scenes . A strong sense of setting also comes from the imaginative " photography " . Too many animated movies disorientate the audience with frenetic direction and over-indulgence , but Castle Of Cagliostro works so much better by taking its time and choosing the best angles to cover the action . His trademark flying machines and overeating scenes make their first big screen appearance here . Far from his typical sub-genre of eco-friendly animation , Miyazaki is obviously a big fan of Lupin and has made a movie that refuses to be missed . Even Spielberg called CoC " one of the best adventure movies ever . " Any fan of Miyazaki should check out this film immediately . One should be aware that the Maurice Leblanc estate doesn't entirely approve of the Lupin III franchise . As a result he is mostly known in the new Optimum Region 2 DVD version as " Wolf " ( get it ? ) . The Manga release of this film was entirely re-dubbed in English with Lupin restored but the new Optimum DVD uses the original English voice actors .
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564,039 | 102,816 | 118,880 | 10 |
Best action film of the late 90s
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Jerry Bruckheimer's production style rarely makes a good movie but Con Air is one of those rare exceptions in which all the OTT mayhem and full-on action make a film so exciting it scorches when you watch it . Nic Cage ( in a typically bad performance ) is Cameron Poe , a US Ranger who is sent to prison for accidentally killing a thug who attacks his pregnant wife . After 8 years of porridge he is freed and hitches a ride home on a prison plane called The Jailbird . But this is no ordinary flight . On Board are a small army of America's toughest crooks including Cyrus ' The Virus ' Grissom ( John Malkovich ) a men on death row for murder , robbery , kidnapping and extortion . Nathan ' Diamond Dog ' Jones ( Ving Rhames ) , a black militant inside for murder . Billy Bedlam ( Nick Chinlund ) , inside for killing his cheating wife's family and dog . Pinball Parker ( Dave Chapelle ) , a pimp and drug-dealer . Swamp Thing ( MC Gainey ) a pilot who knows a few things about a good hijack . And finally Garland Green AKA The Marietta Mangler ( Steve Buscemi ) a serial killer in for killing a zillion people and crossing 2 state borders wearing a girls head as a hat . As you can tell , with such a eclectic bunch of psychos on board it's only a matter of seconds before all hell breaks loose . As soon as the plane is in the air the cons have taken over , restrained or killed the guards and have changed the destination from prison to South America . Poe , being the good-hearted sort of chap that he is , doesn't rat out as his best pal needs his insulin shot and no one else will help . It's up to Poe to sneakily round up the baddies until US Marshall Larkin ( John Cusack ) and the cavalry can get there . Easier said than done , as double-crosses , suspicious cons and incompetent authority foul everything up . The result is action overload as the film blazes through to it's anarchic , devastating climax upon another anarchic , devastating climax . At the end you'll be left breathless and your senses stinging with over-stimulation . Con Air is everything an action film should be . Steve Buscemi steals the whole show . His deadpan , bug-eyed and dare I say ' innocent ' portrayal of a deranged killer is the centrepiece of the whole film . The scene where he sings with a little girl ( and continues later on ) will either freak you out or steal your heart . And the ending is the best you could hope for . Mark Mancina and Trevor Rabin provide a loud , blaring score of thrash-metal and acoustic guitars with the usual Media Ventures flare . It's brilliant stuff and I suggest you hunt down the ( sadly incomplete ) score CD . And this really did deserve the Best Original Song award over that pansy Titanic one . Superior to both The Rock and Face / Off , Con Air is Nic Cage at his ( worst ) best as an action hero and Bruckheimer at his best as an action producer . See it , for the love of God , see it .
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564,234 | 102,816 | 469,607 | 10 |
My favorite Spy vs Spy game
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This one was almost tying with Spy vs Spy 2 but it comes out on top . Our spies are now in the North Pole after escaping the volcanic island on a submarine and once again have to outwit each other . Only every so often you have to go back to your igloo to warm up in case you freeze to death . Obviously there is a whole new range of booby traps and other dangers such as Polar Bears . The aim of this game was to escape in a rocket into outer space . An event that was supposed to lead into a fourth Spy vs Spy game , but it never got made . Damn good fun nonetheless . Graphics B Sound Gameplay A Lasting Appeal
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563,999 | 102,816 | 95,016 | 10 |
The most influential action film of the last half-century
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In the Sixties , author Roderick Thorp wrote a novel , The Detective , which was turned into a movie , starring Frank Sinatra in the title role of Joe Leland . A sequel was written , in which Joe becomes trapped in the Claxxon Oil Corporation skyscraper after it is taken over by German terrorists and he has to rescue his daughter and grandchildren . Two decades later , the skyscraper becomes Nakatomi , the daughter becomes the wife , Leland becomes John McClane and the title becomes Die Hard . To say that Die Hard sets new standards for action movies is like calling Bill Gates well off . The movie was so innovative and groundbreaking that dozens of rip-offs followed - Passenger 57 , Under Siege , Cliffhanger , Sudden Death , et al . Hostage / terrorist movies were all the rage in the early Nineties . Very few came close , because Die Hard had so many strong points , not least of which was Alan Rickman's marvellous performance , as Hans Gruber - also the name of the villain in Our Man Flint - the classically educated , smartly dressed terrorist leader . This is not some hammy guy in a chain-mail shirt with spikes on his gloves ( Commando ) . Gruber would have been well at home on Wall Street . His plan is to break into the vault on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Plaza and take away $640million in negotiable bearer bonds . When he and his 12 European henchmen round up the office workers , who are enjoying a Christmas Eve party , one man slips away unnoticed . He is John McClane , a New York cop who has come to LA to settle down with his estranged wife , Holly ( Bonnie Bedelia ) . The odds are against him . But that's just the way he likes it . The terrorists even have names . And we remember them . Most action movies these days have unidentified heavies , played by stunt men , who are lined up and knocked over . In his battle to save his Holly , McClane is scorched , torched , beaten and blown up . He jumps off the roof and falls through air ducts . He uncovers deception and double-cross and picks broken glass out of his bare feet . No help comes from the naive and incompetent police , who are unable to get inside , and even less from the FBI . McClane is not a supercop . He is an ordinary guy , who doesn't want a fight . When he is shot , he bleeds . He hurts . All he has are his pants , his vest , his gun - which runs out of ammo . This is the first realistic connection the audience has . When you don't want to be in McClane's position , it makes for much excitement . John McTiernan , who's only previous mainstream movie was Predator , uses awesome photography and technical skills to give the film a truly polished and sophisticated look - it was nominated for four technical Academy Awards . He also allows for enough time for decent character development , most of which comes between McClane and a cop ( Reginald Veljohnson ) he makes friends with on a CB radio . Die Hard manages to be heart-pounding and teeth-gritting every single time . And if you are one of those many people who have only ever been able to watch it on TV then now is definitely the time to rediscover a cool , classic and creative action picture .
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564,070 | 102,816 | 77,402 | 10 |
An Epic , no doubt
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George A . Romero's HUGE-scale sequel to Night of the Living Dead takes his simple , but scary , idea and expands from an isolated farmhouse to the whole planet . The zombies are EVERYWHERE and there is no escape . Resistance is futile . A couple of SWAT team members quickly figure this out and skip on their evacuation duties to just get out of the city in their own quicker way . Hooking up with a couple of traffic reporters in a chopper they take off in search of a safe haven . Along the way they see the world below react to the oncoming Armageddon and end of civilization . After spotting a deserted shopping mall below the quartet land on the roof and barricade themselves inside as the world very quickly crumbles . Hope is rapidly running out and much time passes with no word from what remains of the world . While not as scary as the remake , this film does make up by having a sick sense of humor and a larger story to tell . I won't pass off cheeky subtext as my own discovery ( every other review here does ) but it is quite intelligent ( if a bit dated in the present day ) . There's a lot of depth to Dawn of the Dead and it's all well thought out and planned rather than being generic and unoriginal like so many other modern horror movies . There characters ( especially Ken Foree ) are all strong and believable and react with logic and sense rather than annoying panic . It's interesting to see how normal people take on facing the end of civilization ( if not the end of the world . . . just humans ) with just simple tools and the bare minimum at their reach . The opinions over the original and remake are pretty much split . I think that both are very strong efforts at true horror and instead of regarding them as original / remake I think it's wiser to consider them as two separate stories both happening at the same time . Each film has their weaknesses and strengths . The zombies in the original are a bit too comical to be truly threatening . While in the remake they'd be on you , ripping your throat out before you can even say ' What the . . ? ' And the actual ' DAWN ' of the dead was more emphasized in the remake . Though the original has more of a true epic feel to it . Currently , the 156 minute director's cut of the original is only available in an OOP DVD from Anchor Bay . But if you hold off until September then a massive box set from AB feature 3 different cuts of the film and loads of extras will be released . This is definitely a horror classic , far above Psycho and Silence of the Lambs . True greatness . Keep a lookout for Jason make-up man Tom Savini as Blades and remember Ken Foree's chilling prophecy . . . ' When there is no more room in hell , the dead will walk the earth '
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564,189 | 102,816 | 103,776 | 10 |
The only good Batman sequel
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And a perfect film to watch during the holiday season as the winter / Xmas atmosphere that Burton creates for Gotham City is way cool . It's weird that Warner decided to release this as a summer film . It doesn't fit . But what's even weirder , when you consider the content of this film , is that it was aimed at families . An upper-class family throws their mutant baby down the sewer , a socio phobic billionaire dresses up in leather as a flying rodent , a lonely secretary dresses up in leather as a feline and a freak runs for political office . And S & M and bondage are presented in a very perverted way . But Burton got away with it . His visual style in this film is at it's best . This and Batman : Dead End are the only true live-action incarnations of the comic-book character . True , the animated series was the closest to the source material , but compared with Batman Forever and the un-nameable one after that , Batman Returns is the best of the four . Darker and more violent than the first movie , the sense of Gothic pathos reaches a new high . I was quite keen on Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne ( don't even get me started on George Clooney ! ) , he displayed the right balance of weirdo loner and cool crime fighter . Michelle Pfieffer is great as Catwoman ( much sexier and more ' realisticly ' cat-like ) , she wears that leather outfit better than Halle Berry . And Danny DeVito was so convincing as the Penguin that his scenes became disturbing to watch . And Christopher Walken is brilliant as the spooky Max Shreck ( if you think you recognise Chip Shrek it's none other than a very young Leatherface / Butterfinger ) . Danny Elfman's score is also even better than it was first time round . His powerful and engaging themes are way better than the dross that followed in the later 2 Schumacher movies . This movie is the Batman phenomenon at its Zenith . Forget the following sequels and stick to the animated series after this . Let's hope that Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale can bring some integrity back to the live action Batman with their movie next year . This DVD was one of the first ever DVDs released by Warner ( almost 7 years ago ! ! ! ) and as a result there are NO features and the case is a snapper . Pick it up cheap like I did and hope for an SE in the future .
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564,419 | 102,816 | 131,857 | 10 |
A VERY VERY FUNNY MOVI
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For a comedy this has a decent and inventive plot and Trey Parker and Matt Stone's comic timing is perfect . There are dozens of funny moments to this fantastic movie . I especially like the multitude of colors and the way the clash in the sports arena scenes . Robert Stacks Unsolved Mysteries spoof is also very amusing .
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564,283 | 102,816 | 290,978 | 10 |
Cringeworthy genius
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Set in the bleak , awfully-named industrial town of Slough and the fictional office of the Wernam-Hogg paper merchants , a BBC film crew documents the expressionless workers , ringing phones , copiers churning out clone after clone after clone , pointless meetings and pointless bureaucracy that exist within typical , uninspiring companies . Sadly , the majority of people in Britain work in dull , dead-end office jobs with lives that go nowhere and even the most meager of ambitions going unrealized . Maybe if they had a boss like David Brent their day would be livened up . Not because he's the ' boss / entertainer ' he thinks he is , but for the morbid curiosity of watching a desperate , delusional and detestable man slowly crash and burn . The majority of laughs in The Office come from awkward and embarrassing situations . Brent constantly forces his bullheaded and bawdy humor on unwitting staff . At first they appear scared of his ruthlessly imposing presence but towards the end they all ignore him completely . But he never realizes this and resorts to even more tasteless ways of getting attention . He loves the camera and rather than acting ' normal ' for the purposes of the mockumentary he exaggerates his beastly character to the point of being sickening . He gets what he deserves in the end and by this point the audience has lost all sympathy for him . His brutalized and beleaguered staff struggle to get on with their work as Brent's tyranny escalates . Among them we have Tim , an increasingly unhappy man who wishes to escape the monotony and drudgery ' ordinary life ' brings him . He's long had the confidence crushed out of him but still has more humanity than anyone else . Gareth is Tim's worst enemy . A dorky , 95 pound weakling who boasts of being in the ( territorial ) Army and is keen to assume more and more power from Brent's failing management . Like Brent , he has no clue about social interaction and behaves strangely among potential friends . Dawn is the receptionist . She is engaged to a controlling , unloving boyfriend who insists she spend her life doing dull work despite the fact that she has higher and happier dreams . She has feelings for Tim , and they are more than mutual . But fear of change and happiness stops her from falling for him . As soon as once branch of Wernam-Hogg incorporates the other it becomes clear how useless Brent is . The new staff are amazed at how such a horrid man has been employed at all , never mind become a boss . Complaints and unfinished work rise and the upper management are forced to take action . Sadly , Brent just won't learn . In the end , his staff have the slightest chance at happiness and escape . Brent however doesn't learn from his mistakes and will probably go on to have an endlessly miserable life . If you work in an office , get out ! Among the blackest of humor there is a message ; office life is fit for no human being . And Ricky Gervais ' dark comedy is filled with thousands of examples of why this is so . It's absolutely classic stuff that is far ahead of dozens of canned laughter sitcoms .
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564,102 | 102,816 | 290,983 | 10 |
Now THIS is more like it !
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Truly the BEST ever incarnation of Spiderman and the best animated show EVER ! ! ! Compared to previous animated Spidey's this was bold move , taking it in new , more mature and realistic directions . The 60's and 90's shows seem tame and childish in comparison . Taking place after the Spider-Man movie this show revolves around the college adventures of Peter , Mary-Jane and Harry who have much better chemistry , character and dialogue than the movie ever offered . Each episode provides more drama and development and creativity . The stories are very imaginative and are obviously written by people who are passionate about Spiderman rather than a studio hashing a product together . The computer animation is superb and resembles The Ultimate Spiderman comic book ( my fave ) more than anything . And I know Mary-Jane is only a CGI character but she is so beautiful , and she's voiced by the equally gorgeous Lisa Loeb . Neil Patrick Harris is the voice of Peter Parker and even in this performance he is a hundred times better than Tobey Maguire . The show also offers some new , interesting characters like Indy , Cheyenne and Silver Sable and gives us alternate takes on Electro and Kraven . Though I was curious as to why Aunt May was not involved . There is plenty of action and excitement to be had in every episode , all backed up to great music , MAN IS THAT THEME TUNE AWESOME ! Where is the soundtrack CD ? The show could not have asked for a better DVD presentation . Not only do we get an absolutely stunning 1 . 78 : 1 anamorphic widescreen presentation but a thumpingly good , totally engaging DTS 5 . 1 soundtrack too . Each episode is a 22-minute movie that is far superior to anything the live-action effort was . There are also an abundance of extras on this 2-disc set , some interesting , some not . But a seriously good package for a great show . You must buy ! Fan or no fan of Spidey this DVD is too good to be without .
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564,431 | 102,816 | 81,562 | 10 |
' Arrrgh ! I can't feel one of my legs ! '
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Stir Crazy was one of the first films I ever remember watching , it came out the year I was born and I always associate 1980 with the time I came into the world and Stir Crazy . I was about 3 or 4 and my grandfather rented the video ( back in the early 80s , this was INCREDIBLY sophisticated ) . Even though it's pretty much an adult film , with swearing , nudity and adult themes , I found it to be hilarious at such a young age and I watched it few times . Over the years I've watched it more and more and I only just got round to buying the DVD a few days ago . And now , at 26 , the film is still just as funny as it always was . There is not a single unfunny moment from the beginning to the end , even though the last act gets serious and suspenseful . Gene Wilder and the late Richard Pryor play Skip Donahue and Harry Munro , two NYC losers who are making no money in their dream jobs of play-write and actor . Stuck with insulting service jobs they both get fired on the same day , at the same moment , for various reasons . Skip , the apparent ladies man and ever the delusional optimist , talks Harry into seeing it as their big chance to escape NYC and head for LA ' where you smile and they just POUR money on you ' . In their rusted , derelict combi , they make it as far as Glenboro , a hicksville backwater desert town , where they are promptly framed for bank robbery . Their lawyer is utterly useless and they are in jail before they know it , literally . Skip only realizes the seriousness of the situation as they are being shown into their cell . But when Skip shows he has undiscovered talents as a rodeo champ the crooked Warden forces him to compete in the annual rodeo competition , giving Skip , Harry and some others a chance to escape . The chemistry between Wilder and Pryor is insane . Skip is innocent , optimistic , romantic and sees the good in everything . Harry is cynical and reactionary and is frequently the real victim of Skip's impossibly good-natured personality . Everything they say and do is brilliant and every scene has something special about it that you'll remember always . It's literally impossible for me to pick out one in particular as they are all as great as each other . It's hard to believe that auteur actor Sidney Poiter directed this movie . I've never really seen in do a crazy , comedic performance , so for him to be so on-the-ball and humorous behind the camera is always a surprise when watching Stir Crazy . There's so many things that Stir Crazy has going for it . It's not just a crazy comedy , it's also a character drama with wonderfully surreal and authentic moments ( mass-mass-mass murderer Grossberger sining ' Down in the Valley ' and proving to be as timid as a kitten being one of them ) . If you don't find Stir Crazy funny , you're dead . And if you've never seen it . . . you're certainly no movie buff .
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563,920 | 102,816 | 134,033 | 10 |
Great entertainment
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This movie almost has everything . The action is cool , it's funny , 2 great leading men and a truly nasty villain that I REALLY hated . Not a lot of films have BAD bad guys . Just mainly comic book villains . He really does deserve a might ass kicking . Jake Scott really does have his fathers talent for knowing how to make great visuals . The direction is faultless and has an irresistible lighthearted feel . I don't usually like films set in the old days but this I liked a lot because it makes a point of boring like so many other period films are ( Sense and Sensibility , Age of Innocence and the absolute worst . . . Lady and the Duke ) . This will restore your faith . Thanx mostly to Craig Armstrong's amazing score . The music is both atmospheric and ethereal and in scenes of action it is very exciting . The DVD is in Dolby 5 . 1 and has a very grainy and muddy looking 2 . 35 : 1 anamorphic picture .
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564,808 | 102,816 | 114,563 | 10 |
Everything the movie wasn't
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In my opinion the movie didn't exist . This Animated version of the Streetfighter story is a zillion times as good . The characters are stronger and although there are quite a few of them they are all developed enough for us to sympathise / hate them . It seems as if the makers of this film paid extra attention to every area of production in order to make a film that couldn't possibly be improved upon . They almost succeeded . Unfortunately I saw the " Americanised " version of the film which replaces an awesome musical score with grunge rock music and cuts out Chun Li's nudity before her fight with Vega . Speaking of Vega , doesn't he remind of Jason Voorhees . He was definitely a cool character . They all were apart from M . Bison . He is the only fault the film has because for a central villain . He doesn't do much apart from stand statue still and say in a very deep ( that MUST make him evil ) voice that he is superior to everyone else and that they are all " weak pathetic fools " and that his henchmen must " seize them " . Boring . It is such a shame that a great movie had such a lame villain . But it's the set ( ? ) pieces that make this film stand out from other Anime movies . The fight on the wing of the plane is ultra cool . Ken Masters is just driving thru the Pacific Northwest countryside when this huge plane comes out of nowhere and he is suddenly fighting M . Bison on top of it . The final battle outside Honda's shack in the mountains is also very cool . I reckon Honda is my fave character . The ending was a little suspicion tho . Just what is the deal with that truck ? Anyways , the Streetfighter franchise knows it's full potential and I recommend that you check out all of the DVDS that are available out there .
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564,321 | 102,816 | 91,080 | 10 |
BETTER THAN IT'S REP SUGGESTS
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It was the most professionally one so far when it was made and they stopped using that awful grainy film . But they still lacked it in the scriptwriting dept . The same old trash with bad dialogue and teens finding some dumb reason to walk off into the woods and get killed . A few neat sequences and some elaborate deaths redeem it . Just don't count how many goofs there are . You'll be watching all day if you do .
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564,659 | 102,816 | 81,568 | 10 |
The truth only depends on the angle you're watching from .
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This was director Richard Rush's dream project and it took him nine years to get it on the screen . And , of course , it would ! It's multi-layered , original , funny and packed full of story and circumstance that makes you think . Why would any studio want to touch it ? Fox even sat on it for two years before giving it a limited release . Now , Anchor Bay has created the ultimate DVD and I urge you to buy it . The Stunt Man is a movie you'll never forget and even on its umpteenth viewing , still manages to be as intriguing as the first . It is a story told from the view of Cameron ( Steve Railsback ) , a Vietnam vet on the run from the law . He stumbles onto the set of a WWI movie and accidentally kills a stunt driver . The director of the movie is the eccentric and megalomaniacal Eli Cross ( Peter O'Toole , in one of his best ever performances ) , who takes Cameron under his wing and protects him from John Law , as long as he keeps his mouth shut about the accident . Cameron practices to be a stunt artist and takes the place of the man he killed . But as the movie shoot becomes more elaborate and dangerous , he falls in love with the leading lady ( Barbara Hershey ) and starts to suspect that Eli is trying to capture his death on film . Although it seems nasty , the movie is wonderfully light-hearted and the outrageous stunt scenes are backed up by a joyous score by Dominic Frontiere . I've been humming that theme since I was 12-years-old . A long scene with Cameron running over a rooftop , as biplanes attack and enemy soldiers give chase , is the stuff of legend . There is a great comic sense of humor in watching them trip over each other , fall off and get blown up . John Law do not back down on their suspicion of Eli and , through half-heard conversations and eavesdropping , Cameron's paranoia becomes increasingly justified . Because the movie is seen through his eyes we never quite know what is going on with Eli . Is he a madman , or just a crafty director ? Would you believe that O'Toole based his performance on his experiences with David Lean ? Why he never won an Oscar - it went to Robert DeNiro for Raging Bull - is beyond me . He truly gives the performance of his career , far exceeding even Laurence of Arabia . It also sucks that Rush never won for Director , or Adapted Screenplay . Had he been awarded the golden statuette , maybe he would have received more recognition . He's clearly a better filmmaker than most of today's hack artists . You simply have to see The Stunt Man . It's an overlooked gem and , despite the wide praise it received , it has never really reached a large audience . Now is definitely the time to rediscover this forgotten classic .
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564,087 | 102,816 | 114,608 | 10 |
Zane steals the show
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I was a big fan of the Tales from the Crypt TV show . Thus , I am a big fan of this movie . It feels a lot like one of the Creepshow movies but has enough gore , humor and OTT carnage to make it stand on it's own as well as being a big screen spin-off . Brayker ( William Sadler ) is a drifter who stumbles upon a lonely desert town after an explosive confrontation with The Collector ( Billy Zane ) , a supremely evil being with Satanical powers who is desperate to get his hands on Brayker's mysterious talisman . Brayker spends the night in a shabby motel but The Collector soon turns up and unleashes hell upon the motel and it's inhabitants . This is where the fun really kicks in . The Collector has fun enticing the residents ( made up of Dick Miller , Charles Fleisher , Thomas Haden Church , Brenda Bakke , Jada Pinkett-Smith and CCH Pounder ) to join him on his dark quest and steal the talisman from Brayker . Director Ernest Dickerson ( who also did Surviving the Game ) does not hold back on the gore as he spoofs 1950's B-movies , honor's the TV show and pays brilliant homage to the Tales From The Crypt comic book legacy . It may seem like a cheap , horror comedy with no artistic integrity but Dickerson successfully pulls of a movie that will satisfy and entertain anyone who watches it . Of course half of the movie's appeal lies with Billy Zane who acts out the role of The Collector with such wicked charm and delightful evil . You can tell he's having a great time and he makes a formidable villain for Sadler's dishevelled hero . They should make more Tales From The Crypt movies , but producer's Robert Zemeckis , Gilbert Adler and Joel Silver ( Walter Hill and David Giler ducked out ) went on to found Dark Castle , the production company behind House on Haunted Hill , Thir13en Ghosts and Ghost Ship . The new DVD by Universal is better than the old one from Image . This time be get the film in it's proper aspect ratio of 1 . 85 : 1 anamorphic with a Dolby 5 . 1 soundtrack . The old snapper case is gone and in it's place is a sturdy keep case . Demon Knight is definitely one to get .
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564,562 | 102,816 | 114,898 | 10 |
Why do people hate this film ?
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I honestly don't understand what all the fuss is about . Why do people hate Waterworld ? Why was it instantly disregarded before it was even released ? When you really think about it , how much different IS Waterworld from the more recent Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest ? They are quite similar if you think about it . Waterworld also cost $75 million less than DMC . But because it has Johnny Depp in mascara the whole world loves it ! Hypocrisy ! With a lot of behind the scenes trouble ( Reynolds walked off the film and Costner had to finish the final third of filming himself ) and negative pre-release buzz , everyone expected Waterworld to fail . Boasting a budget of £175 million ( the most expensive ever until Titanic 2 years later ) it was sure to be a flop , especially with the snooty public and critics blasting it before its release . Then , the unthinkable happened . Upon release , Waterworld actually managed to prove critic expectation wrong and be a good movie , receiving good ( albeit ignored ) reviews and finally earning a grand total of $255 million at the Box Office . This is before video , laserdisc , TV , DVD and HD-DVD sales . Does sound like a flop to you ? The plot is far-fetched . Yes , but so is a plot involving fish-men , giant squids and Orlando Bloom as anything remotely masculine . But you accepted that quite easily . So just , for a minute , believe that if the polar ice caps DID melt that the world WOULD be covered in water . Set hundreds of years after this particular cataclysm , Waterworld follows the journey of The Mariner ( Kevin Costner , who is only referred to a few times but never actually named ) , a man who is one step beyond human as he has the ability to breathe underwater and has webbed feet . Early on in the movie , The Mariner comes across an Atoll , a floating small town complete with its own hill . . . er Waterbillies . When the Atoll is seized by crazed madman baddie boss Dennis Hopper as The Duke of the Deez ( as in Exxon Valdeez ) , The Mariner escapes with Enola , a little girl who may hold the secret of Dryland and her guardian Helen ( the totally gorgeous Jeanne Tripplehorn ) . Not happy with anyone leaving the party The Duke sends his army of filthy smokers to catch The Mariner and discover Dryland for himself . Waterworld has a lot going for it . It's everything an action / sci-fi movie should be . There is so much escapism in the stunning seascapes and tropical feel . James Newton Howard's exotic score ( replacing a rejected score by Mark Isham ) is breathtaking and I seriously recommend you hunt down the soundtrack CD . The action is almost entirely special effects and stunt-work and it's brilliantly done . The editing is also quite impressive as is the amazing sound design . Waterworld is far superior to many , more expensive action films but still carries this burden of negative , unfair public opinion . I have only ever seen the 136-minute cut of Waterworld that was released into cinemas and subsequent VHS etc . But a Director's Cut of 176 minutes has been shown on TV in America several times . This version apparently restores several scenes that tie up loose ends and answers a lot of questions about how the this particular watery future works as well as revealing that Dryland is actually Mount Everest . Other than TV airings , this version has never made available to the public . Which is quite annoying as there is a huge fanbase for it . Don't have prejudices against this movie . Think different and see for yourself how cool it is .
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564,376 | 102,816 | 114,906 | 10 |
Disturbing but funny , even it makes you feel guilty
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Welcome to the Dollhouse is a lot like the recent Napoleon Dynamite . Both have the cast decked out in hideous wardrobes with horrid 1970's-looking environments . Both are about high-school oddballs who face torment from the shallow popular kids . But while Napoleon Dynamite is rather light-hearted , WTTD is really dark and will make you cringe with guilt and quite often make you feel really uncomfortable . In fact , it has more in common with a true horror movie than it does a dark comedy . Heather Matarazzazzazzo plays the unfortunately surnamed Dawn Weiner , a girl blessed with strange looks ( meh-I like her ) and an uncaring ignorant family . E-ver-y-one around her is UN-BEE-LEEV-ABLY cruel to her in every way possible . And rage unconfronted continues forever . As are her bullies bullied themselves , Dawn goes on to bully others etc . It subtle idiosyncrasies like this that might go unnoticed in single viewings . Other characters are quite well drawn , especially Brandon , who didn't get enough screen time . His relationship with Dawn is quite intriguing . Most would think he's using her as a way of making himself feel better but when you think about it that's probably not entirely true . Perhaps Brandon likes Dawn because she isn't nasty to him like Cookie and the other girls were . She wasn't tarting all over him like Lolita in the library and she stood up to Brandon for punching Troy . Also Brandon apologises to her for vandalising her locker and the sad looks he gives her in the library appear to be a look of longing and wanting . Ironically , the biggest monster in the film is Dawn's own mother . She's a beast of a woman , completely ignorant of Dawn's needs and infatuated with her other younger daughter and far too supportive of her arrogant older brother ( his character is further developed in Todd Solondz's 2004 movie Palindromes , played by the same actor ) . Any scene with her will make you grit your teeth and shake your head no doubt . Too bad Heather Matarazzazzazzo is married ( err . . . to another woman-sigh . . . no chance for me now ) cause she's actually quite attractive in real life . Though I must say again her wardrobe in this film is ' EEK ' Seriously , you'll be questioning Dawn's fashion sense . But then she's probably only wearing what her mother buys for her and wants her to be seen in . If this movie impresses you then I dare you to check out Todd Solondz's follow-up Happiness . Now THERE is a film to dark and so unbelievably horrifying you'll be watching it through the gaps between your fingers and biting your lip in an effort to restrain the guilty laughter . But on it's own , WTTD is a great movie . Just don't show it to kids if your not down with frank portrayal of teen sexuality or bad language . Or do show them as a lesson in how NOT to treat people . The DVD is in 1 . 85 : 1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 2 . 0 sound . The print is a little beat up with track lines and speckles but it doesn't distract too much . There are no extras but I don't care .
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564,420 | 102,816 | 116,830 | 10 |
I love it to death
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This has to be one of the best action , western and gangster movies I've ever seen . Willis was perfect for the part of John Smith ( his voice-over has some of the best dialogue ever and if you don't believe me check out the opening scene ) , a gun for hire without a conscience . All elements of each genre are highly spoken for . The editing , dialogue , cinematography , music , direction and acting are all top class . Everything is fantastically overblown but never preposterous . As for the film itself , it is very empty but the mood and tone are so very distant and weird , and I totally love it . Walter Hills direction is a well balanced cross between Sam Peckinpah and John Woo . And Cooder's score will transport you right into the movie even on it's own . This wall always be one of my fave movies and it is very much worthy of 5 stars . The 2 . 50 : 1 anamorphic picture is stunning and there are rumors that Hill originally wanted to make it in B / W but New Line Cinema would not let him . To test this out turn your color right down and see how much the film's atmosphere is enhanced from already gloomy to undeniably depressing , BUT IT IS SO COOL . The DD 5 . 1 sound quality on this DVD during the gunfights is absolutely amazing . It will bug the hell out of your neighbors , but who cares ? Every now and again Walter Hill injects a sudden burst of ferocious , furious and brutal violence that takes your breath away . When people are killed they don't just fall down , they FLY across the room and thru windows . Extras are brief and not very good ( Cast Bios say that Die Hard 4 was released in 1998 ! ) and there is a cool clip of Loaded Weapon 1 hidden in there too .
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