Dark River: Other DVDs I have seen

This is the list of DVDs I have borrowed or rented or seen on diverse occasions:

The Driller Killer has often been used as an example of why the "video nasties" should be banned but it is actually quite a good film. We see the character of Reno becoming slowly mad and eventually turning into an homicidal maniac. But the gore is kept to a minimum. The oppressive atmosphere is well rendered by the use of colored lights, the music and the claustrophobic directing. It is really a shame that the copy on this DVD is of such poor quality. (11.2001)

This Polish epic is pretty good but requires a good knowledge of the history of Poland in the mid 17th century. Not having this knowledge I probably noticed a lot more the flaws of the film. Its main problem is its excessive length. There is no reason why it should be so long: many of the scenes are completely irrelevant (the witch, for example, belongs to a different film). I was a bit annoyed at the fact that the director didn't seem to know which story he wanted to tell or which overall mood the film should have. It goes from cheesy to absolutely horrifying from one scene to the next. Most of the actors are excellent but the beautiful Izabella Skorupka is terribly boring. It may not be entirely her fault as her role is almost inexistant. Even with these problems, it is an enjoyable film. But it is not very different from a big budget Hollywood film.

I must admit that I have been disapointed by Eyes Wide Shut. It is well acted (Cruise can be annoying as usual sometimes) but I couldn't help but wonder what is the point of the film. I guess that is the effect it is supposed to have on the viewer but still... The "I'm a doctor" line becomes tiresome after a while: being a doctor doesn't necessarily makes you a better person or gives you right to look into other people's life. All that said I couldn't have stopped watching the film so there is definitely something good here. (09.2000)

The Limey is a revenge story but the stylish direction makes it a lot more than that. There is a strong sense of time "deconstruction" with present, past and future beeing mixed artfully. The commentary track is interesting for a while but the constant complaints of the writer are soon becoming tedious. (08.2000)

The Straight Story might be an unsual film for David Lynch but it is an fantastic success. 73 year old Alvin travels on a long trip to see his brother on a lawnmower! This is a very deeply emotional drama that is filmed with great sensibility. (08.2000)

The Faculty is an amusing mix of two genres: the teenage film and the alien invasion. The last twenty minutes or so feel like déjà vu but the fast pace of the film (especially at the beginning) makes it a success. The picture is cut to 16:9 and there is no extra on the disc. (06.2000)

This Hong-Kong martial arts movie launched the career of Jackie Chan. If the story is virtually inexistant it is more than compensated for by the charisma of Chan and the well choregraphed fighting and training sequences. The picture is cut to 16:9 just after the opening credits which tend to isolate the action from the surroundings. :-( (06.2000)

As pure entertainment End of Days is not doing too bad. But from the story point of view this is just exploiting the "end of century" fears and doen't even try to make any sense. (04.2000)

Gattaca is a grim vision of a possible future where genetic engineering went too far. In this near future only people who have perfect genes can access to the best jobs. (04.2000)

So there is excellent actors in this version of Zorro (including beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones), a great opening sequence, sword fights and more, but it is still a bit disapointing. Some scene are taken directly from the 1940 The Mark of Zorro. (04.2000)

This film is truly strange. It starts as the particularly boring story of a few teenagers in a facist utopia. It then turns into mayhem when war against a race of intelligent bugs is declared. The facist background is present until the end with nazi uniforms and propaganda clips... (04.2000)

Antz is a masterpiece a computer animation. Not only because of the graphics but also because of a good story and brilliant acting for the voices. The short sequences explaining the creation of the characters are interesting too. (04.2000)

This first and best film in the Highlander trilogy has a good story, charismatic actors and great landscapes. And Christophe Lambert has a French accent. ;-) A shame that the picture quality is not that good. (04.2000)

OK, the idea of having those two teenagers sent into a 50's black and white TV series by a remote control is quite silly. But this leads to clever comedy following the changes that they cause in this idealised city (the changes are shown as "becoming in color"). By the way, how can the basketball team win a championship as there is nothing outside of Pleasantville, so there is no other team?! (04.2000)

Event Horizon is not the best ever Sci-Fi horror but this "Hellraiser-in-space" is still a success. The sense of imminent disaster if not as strong as in, say, Alien, because the danger is too elusive being mostly represented as "visions". I gave the French soundtrack a little try: it sounds like a bad TV sitcom, terrible! (04.2000)

I never was a big fan of the TV series but this adaptation was still a big disapointment. I don't think Val Kilmer was the best actor for the role and the rather tepid script doesn't help him at all. There is no extra feature worth mentioning on this DVD. (04.2000)