Topic: Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVDs

[addicted2dvd]

Weekend Movie Marathon
Unwatched DVDs
While I was going through my unwatched shelf I discovered I have over 100 DVDs... movies alone... that I have not watched yet! So... I thought this weekend I would try to see how many of them I could watch. So this weekend I watched...

Swearing Allegiance
Based on a sensational true story, 'Swearing Allegiance' is an engrossing and tragic story of young love twisted by the demands of adulthood and the inevitability of growing apart. Diane Zamora (Holly Marie Combs) and her boyfriend, David Graham (David Lipper), are ideal all-American teenagers - good grades, good looking, bright futures - and they are very much in love. They enroll in seperate military academies for college, but sweare to each other that they bound together by their devotion. They believe that nothing will ever come between them. But something does in the form of David's beautiful new classmate, Adrianne (Cassidy Rae), who he finds impossible to resist. Confessing his transgression to Diane, he fears her rage but gets an ultimatum instead: he can erase his infidelity if he helps Diane kill Adrianne. Can a plan this diabolical save their love, and if it does, can they get away with their heinous crime?

My Thoughts:
This is a TV Movie that is also known as "Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder".... that stars the always lovely Holly Marie Combs (Piper on Charmed)... I have been a fan of hers since I first saw her many years ago in the movie "Dr. Giggles". This was a Blind Buy based solely on the fact that Holly Marie Combs is in it. The movie itself was a pretty good story... I enjoyed it. But... as much as I hate to say this... I don't think Holly Marie Combs was right for the part. Not do to her acting ability... because she was great as usual... but because I didn't buy her as a teenager fresh out of high school. Granted... she does look young for her age... but she was 24 playing a 17yr old... and it was just a little bit of a stretch in my opinion... because she was already matured more then what I picture as a teen fresh out of high school. Of course this wasn't such a big problem that it will stop me from watching it again... it is still a decent movie... and lets face it... it is still a movie with Holly Marie Combs. 

[addicted2dvd]

The Animal: Special Edition
He might not look like much, but it's what's inside that counts. Comic genius Rob Schneider, TV's "Survivor" Colleen Haskell, John C. McGinley and Edward Asner star in the most outrageous and hysterical comedy of the year.

When evidence clerk Marvin Mange answers a 911 call of a burglary in progress, his dream of one day becoming a cop seems to be coming true. But a freak car accident en route to the crime leaves Marvin and his dream a shattered mess. When Marvin awakens a week later, he finds that a deranged scientist secretly used animal organs to rebuild his broken body. Energized by his new and improved parts, Marvin achieves instant fame as a super cop until his animal instincts start taking over his body at all the wrong times. And when he finds himself falling for the lovely and sexy Rianna, it's animal magnetism at its craziest in the funniest and wildest comedy of the year!

My Thoughts:
This is one that a friend gave to me because she didn't see herself watching it that often. I do know that have seen this one before... but it has been so long that I barely remember it. I didn't even remember if I enjoyed it much... so I went into this one not really knowing what to expect. It was a pretty good movie.... had some really funny parts in it. It was a bit more on the silly side then what I am normally used to... but that is to be expected with what the movie is about. This is a decent release of a special edition... I didn't watch many of the extras... but I did check out the deleted scenes. Anyway... is  a fun movie... and I can see myself watching it again at some point.

[Najemikon]

I don't think Holly Marie Combs was right for the part. Not do to her acting ability... because she was great as usual... but because I didn't buy her as a teenager fresh out of high school. Granted... she does look young for her age... but she was 24 playing a 17yr old... and it was just a little bit of a stretch in my opinion... because she was already matured more then what I picture as a teen fresh out of high school. Of course this wasn't such a big problem that it will stop me from watching it again... it is still a decent movie... and lets face it... it is still a movie with Holly Marie Combs. 

I was shocked when I discovered the ages of the "kids" in Buffy. Of the main cast, only SMG was near her characters age. Born 1977, she was around 20 when it first aired. Charisma Carpenter on the other hand was around 27!

[Tom]

I was shocked when I discovered the ages of the "kids" in Buffy. Of the main cast, only SMG was near her characters age. Born 1977, she was around 20 when it first aired. Charisma Carpenter on the other hand was around 27!

Charisma Carpenter was the one I had the toughest time with accepting her as an 18 year old. On Angel it also seemed, that the producers chose to ignore that her character was only about 20 and instead let her act more like her own age.
Also Nicolas Brandon as Xander: Hard to take serious as a teenaged boy.

Alyson on the other hand was a much more believable teenager.

[addicted2dvd]

I agree about Charisma Carpenter... she was pretty much the same way. Nicolas Brandon didn't seem to bother me none... I kinda bought him as a teen... and yes... Alyson Hannigan did a great job.

[addicted2dvd]

Prison of the Dead
Kristof, an eccentric rich kid, tricks his high school friends into getting back together for a reunion of sorts, under the pretense of a funeral. The group of twenty-somethings is forced to spend the night in an old abandoned witches' prison. During a Ouija Board séance, the schoolmates accidentally unearth three dead executioners from their graves. A little confused, and quite a bit angry, the Crypt Keepers initiate a killing spree that will only end when everyone is dead. Fortunately, the schoolmates all wore black. Too bad it's for their own funerals...

My Thoughts:
This is another one that my friend sent me. She said she didn't care much for this one. So I went into it with low expectations. But... even with low expectations I have to admit... I wasn't sure I would get through this one. I have to admit... I am not sure I really understood the whole thing... of course I am not sure understanding it better would help anyway in this case. The dead in it was laughable the costumes/makeup was so bad. The special effects/gore was limited and what was shown was really low budget. Definitely a sub-par movie... not one I would recommend to anyone.

[addicted2dvd]

Vault of Horror
Get ready for to descend into the darkness of horror! In this "frequently macabre and eerily funny" (Cue) collection of tales, five unsuspecting hotel guests step out of an elevator into a vault deep underground. Trapped with no way out, each guest shares a gruesome story of an encounter with death. But as the stories unfold, the men begin to suspect that their presence in the vault is no coincidence, and they may have already found that the only way out...is death!

My Thoughts:
I got this double feature DVD (Tales from the Crypt/Vault of Horror) cheap last month during Amazon's huge horror sale. I watched "Tales from the Crypt" last month during my month long marathon... but never got around to "Vault of Horror"... so thought I would watch that disc now. I never seen this movie before today. I really enjoyed it. I especially liked 2 of the segments... the first one with the vampires... obviously since I love vampire stories... and the last one with the voodoo. The only extra on this disc was the trailer for the movie... Though I do find it odd that the trailer was in B&W when the movie was in color. Another thing I found odd on this DVD is... since the only extra was the trailer... why did they make a special features menu?... they could have saved some work... and us a click of the remote if they just put the trailer link on the main menu where the special features link was.

[addicted2dvd]

The Skeleton Key
Kate Hudson stars in 'The Skeleton Key' - a supernatural thriller that weaves a tale of terror and suspense! When Caroline Ellis (Hudson) takes a job in Louisiana's bayous, she unlocks a deadly secret involving magic, conjure and sacrifice that pulls her into a terrifying world of strange, frightening and unexplained incidents. The key to escaping may lie in a decrepit attic, but if she dares to believe in what she discovers, everything she fears will become real! Filled with endless suspense and bone-chilling scares, hold on for this terrific ride with "one of the best twists since 'The Sixth Sense'" (Melanie Moon, 'WB-TV')!

My Thoughts:
This is one of the ones that I actually have seen before... just not on DVD. I watched this one on On-Demand a while hack.... and I enjoyed it so much then that on my very next DVD order I ordered myself a copy. I enjoyed it this time just as much as I did the first time I watched it. With it having to do with voodoo it is different then what I normally watch... and was good for a change. If you never seen this one I would recommend checking it out.

[Lithurge]

The Skeleton Key
Get ready for to descend into the darkness of horror! In this "frequently macabre and eerily funny" (Cue) collection of tales, five unsuspecting hotel guests step out of an elevator into a vault deep underground. Trapped with no way out, each guest shares a gruesome story of an encounter with death. But as the stories unfold, the men begin to suspect that their presence in the vault is no coincidence, and they may have already found that the only way out...is death!

My Thoughts:
This is one of the ones that I actually have seen before... just not on DVD. I watched this one on On-Demand a while hack.... and I enjoyed it so much then that on my very next DVD order I ordered myself a copy. I enjoyed it this time just as much as I did the first time I watched it. With it having to do with voodoo it is different then what I normally watch... and was good for a change. If you never seen this one I would recommend checking it out.

Think you've got the wrong synopsis 

I must say I was quite dissapointed by this film personally. I'd read a lot of positive reviews but found it dragged and that the ending was totally predictable.

[addicted2dvd]

lol... forgot to fix the copy and paste 

I will fix that shortly. I quite enjoyed it... but that could be because I don't normally watch the movies involving voodoo... so nothing much to really compare it to.

[Lithurge]

It's probably just me, all the reviews I've read have been positive and I've not got too many voodoo movies either, the only one and a half that spring to mind are the Serpent and the Rainbow and Revenge of the Zombies (which is the half as it's as much about 'Nazi science' as voodoo).

I probably went in with too high expectations from the positive reviews saying it had a really good twist ending. 

[addicted2dvd]

that also could have helped me with it... as I never read a review for the movie... I went into it with no expectations what so ever.

[addicted2dvd]

Taking Lives
Your name...credit cards...life. It's the ultimate identity theft. An elusive serial killer has for 20 years assumed his victims identities. But now there's a breakthrough. And FBI profiler Illeana Scott is assigned to the case.

Angelina Jolie portrays Scott in an edgy cat-and-mouse thriller directed by D.J. Caruso and also starring Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland and Oliver Martinez. It's Scott's job to know what makes a killer tick. To anticipate his moves. To close off countermoves. But somehow this killer knows even more about Scott. "You'll be guessing all the way till the end, and you'll still be wrong," Greg Russell of WDWB-TV/Detroit says. It's that unpredictability which makes Taking Lives so very, very right for thriller fans.

My Thoughts:
This one was also a gift from a friend of mine. She gave it to me while cleaning out her DVD collection. I never even heard of this one before... but it has a couple good stars in it that I enjoy... Angelina Jolie... I really have not seen a lot with her... but what I have seen I enjoyed. And Keifer Sutherland... him I have liked every since I first saw him in The Lost Boys. Well I admit with these 2 actors in it my hopes were probably up a little high. I mean I was really enjoying the movie... but only until they put a twist into it about the last half an hour of the movie. I won't go into what the twist of the movie is... but I will say that I don't think it was handled right... it could have been a good twist... but after the twist the movie became slow and then if that is not enough... it didn't completely explain everything in the ending of the movie. As for the 2 actors I like... I thought Angelina Jolie did a great job as the star. Keifer Sutherland also did a really good job... but he was in a much smaller part. I would have liked to seen a little more of him in it. Over-all a good movie that I kinda felt let down by the ending. But unfortunately the ending is a very important part of any movie. I am sure I will give this one another chance... but not for a while.