RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Cinderella and Dark Shadows

Funnily enough, I read a portion of "The Princess Bride" while subbing for an English teacher TODAY...had no idea it was coming out on Blu-ray! It's a great movie, but I've seen it so many times that the last time I saw it was probably in 1999 or something.

Anyway, I'm probably going to check out DARK SHADOWS and PEOPLE LIKE US, despite the rather blah receptions. I've actually seen some of the original Dark Shadows show, although it was all pre-Barnabas stuff. Plus, the women...OH GOD...I LOVE ALL the women in DARK SHADOWS: Michelle Pfieffer, Chloe Moretz, Eva Green and...um, and....oh, f*ck!

Oct 1 - 05:54 PM

Kurtiss Keefner

Saw "Dark Shadows" in theaters. Meh at best. Already own "The Princess Bride" on blu-ray, and Cinderella doesn't resonate too much with me. Might rent the rest on a bored night. Overall, meh week in general.

Oct 1 - 05:55 PM

Kadeem Stewart

Well, Dark Shadows, in my mind, was a disappointment but it has enough laughs. So I'll rent it on Redbox.

The Princess Bride and Cinderella. I gotta buy it this week. Thanks to Disney for the re-release. Now I'm hoping that Aladdin and The Little Mermaid is next in line for a 3-D release.

Oct 1 - 06:16 PM

Big Brother

Dark Shadows was crap, the first 2 acts were forced and off with only occasional moments of quality. The final act is a trainwreck of epic proportions.

Let's ease off on writing Chris Pine off just yet. Star Trek and Unstoppable put him miles ahead of some would be stars I could name **cough cough Ryan Reynolds cough cough**

Oct 1 - 06:31 PM

Bret Gammons

Chris Pine hasn't proved himself capable of Herculean performances like those demonstrated by Reynolds in 'Buried' and 'The Nines.' All Pine has done is played bland characters rather blandly, and, yes, I'm referring to 'Star Trek' and 'Unstoppable.' Let's face it: Pine has nothing to do with why either of those movies are enjoyable, whereas Reynolds is the only reason 'Buried' works at all.

All of this probably comes off more harshly than I'd like, but really, if you think 'Star Trek' and 'Unstoppable' put Pine "miles ahead" of Reynolds, you just haven't seen the right Reynolds movies.

Oct 1 - 11:06 PM

Val Mordas

Ryan Reynolds sucks massive hairy balls. I'd take Pine over Reynolds any day, at least I don't hate his face.

Oct 2 - 11:48 AM

Big Brother

How was the guy who played Capt Kirk not integral to a Star Trek movie? He also held his own next to Denzel Washington in Unstoppable much better than Reynolds did in Safe IMO. Neither is on Denzel's level obviously, but Pine seemed a much lighter load than Reynolds. Even if we accept the premise that Pine had nothing to do with those movie's being successful at least those movie's were successful unlike almost everything Reynolds has been asked to anchor. Reynolds is decent in joint roles and small scale films, but everytime he steps up for a big film he seems to revert to Van Wilder: Action Star. He's gotten dozens of chances to stamp himself as an A lister, just saying we shouldn't write Chris Pine off after what 4 movies, two of which were rousing successes, the other is a rom com that scored just below fresh and the last even Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy couldn't save. That's not a horrible track record to me.

Oct 2 - 04:30 PM

Brad Hadfield

Star Trek 2 is a given hit, so I'd say his upcoming Jack Ryan reboot will be the true test.

Oct 2 - 07:54 AM

Christopher Kulik

Sorry Big Brother, but I have to go with Bret on this one. I'm no Reynolds fan, save for BURIED (he was, quite frankly, award-worthy), largely because I have a strong hatred for his comedy stuff like VAN WILDER and WAITING. Someone recommended to me SAFE HOUSE, which I had decided to pass up awhile back even though I like Denzel Washington. He was great, as always, but it was really Reynolds who impressed me. As Brad says, the Jack Ryan reboot is going to be Pine's true test.

Oct 2 - 11:13 AM

Big Brother

I'm not saying Pine is a sure thing by any means. I'm just saying what I think you're saying that it's too early to write him off as a failure. I agree with you on Buried, less so on Safe House which I think Denzel carried like a boss. Just using Reynolds, who I don't hate btw as an example of someone whose had waaaayyy more chances to succeed, and is still in a similar place to Pine despite being years further along the path.

Oct 2 - 04:33 PM

Jacob Holmes

I'll rent Dark Shadows...eventually. I'll get Cinderella at some point down the road.

Oct 1 - 07:21 PM

Linda Burke

Love Cinderella, but I'm not sure it's worth the upgrade. The non blu-ray already looks great. We'll see. The Hole looks like it might be worth a rental. A definite no to Dark Shadows.

Oct 1 - 07:26 PM

Bradly Martin

I enjoyed Another Earth so Sound of my Voice it is.

Oct 2 - 07:30 AM

Billy Rutledge

Princess Bride is one of the few rom-coms I actually like (even though the score sounds like it came out of an '85 Yamaha keyboard) so I may end up getting that one. Being a Disney collector, Cinderella will most likely end up in the library.

May rent Dark Shadows.

Out of the other ones listed, I know my best friend will probably get Iron Sky. He's a connesour of bad movies.

Masters of the Universe on Blu-Ray?! Why?! FUUUUUUUUUUUU

Oct 2 - 08:51 AM

Janson Jinnistan

"In the Mood For Love" isn't my favorite Wong Kar Wai (that would be a toss-up between "Fallen Angels" and "Chungking Express") but the fact is that I've never seen a WKW that was too far below excellent. The only possible way this could be more of a must-purchase was if they added its sequel "2046" to the mix.

"Sound of My Voice" is one I'll definitely check out, hopefully making it an intriguing companion piece to last year's "Martha Marcy May Marlene". I'll also have to judge "Red Lights" for myself. "Dark Shadows" was cute fun, but hardly something to add to the library. And "Iron Sky" - look! If you can't get excited by a film that stars Udo Kier as the Goddamn MOON FUHRER that you obviously know nothing about gall bladders (or "Flesh For Frankenstein" references - what can I say? It's October, bitches!)

I think I'll skip "White People's Problems" and "Masters of the Lubriverse" (for those who weren't there, He-Men were entirely about the cool-ass toys, nothing more).

Oct 2 - 09:43 AM

King Simba

Agreed about the original He-Man series, though I must say the 2002 remake was surprisingly good. More than anything, I think the difference in quality between the two demonstrates just how much animated series have evolved since the 80s when they were basically nothing more than commercials for toys.

As for the movie, for a guy who supposedly has an incredibly high IQ, it's amazing how bad Dolph Lundgren's movie choices have been.

Oct 2 - 10:38 AM

King Simba

Kind of a weak week. Out of all of these the one I'm most interested in is Princess Bride.

On a side note, I think the 97% approval rating for Cindrella is a little too high. It's a good film and the pumpkin transforming scene is one of the most iconic scenes in animation, but it's still nowhere near as good as most of the stuff early Walt Disney, 90s Disney or Pixar produced. Like a lot of early Disney princesses, Cinderella is just too bland of a character and every time the film switches to her and away from the mice or Fairy Godmother the film suffers.

Oct 2 - 10:52 AM

Val Mordas

Agree, but it's rated highly because it came before these films and blazed the way for it's predecessors. Many 'classic' films have inflated ratings just due to being landmarks.

Oct 2 - 11:51 AM

Big Brother

I agree with Val, I think Cinderella gets points for setting an achetype that was followed/imitated for 30 years after it was made. Ask most girls born from when this movie came out to say the 90's when Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Alladin to name 2 princesses and you're probably 90% of the time going to get Cinderella or Snow White.

Oct 2 - 04:38 PM

Linda Burke

Yeah, she is a little boring. Let's face it, though. If Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty were the Three Stooges, then Cinderella would definitely be the Moe of the group. Granted, showing off her new dress to her jealous sisters wasn't the smartest move, but there's an underlying wit to the character that I've always enjoyed. Of course, she is something of an imperialist, taking those poor little mice out of their natural environment, dressing them up, forcing them to assimilate to match her definition of "civilized." Who does she think she is, anyway?

Oct 2 - 11:46 PM

Big Brother

So, would that make Belle Shemp? :)

Oct 3 - 07:11 AM

Linda Burke

Sure, why not :) Ariel's a slut and a hoarder, so she doesn't get to be in the Stooges.

Oct 3 - 10:12 AM

Janson Jinnistan

Oh! But dwarf-slavery - that's acceptably Stoogish.

Oct 4 - 10:29 AM

Linda Burke

In the Disney Universe, yes :)