Month: March 2009

Movie Watchings 2009 – March

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Movie Watchings 2009

Deutsche Version | February | April

March, 1st

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Kristy Swanson … Buffy
Donald Sutherland … Merrick
Paul Reubens … Amilyn
Rutger Hauer … Lothos
Luke Perry … Pike
Michele Abrams … Jennifer
Hilary Swank … Kimberly
Paris Vaughan … Nicole
David Arquette … Benny
Stephen Root … Gary Murray
Thomas Jane … Zeph

Synopsis: Buffy is a normal highschool freshman and member of the cheerleading squad. But then she meets Merrick and he shows her what she really is: The Chosen One, a Vampire Slayer. Born with the strength and skill to fight the Vampires, to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. But she wants to stay a normal girl and wants nothing to do with such rubbish.

My Opinion: This movie may not be what Joss Whedon had intended or will do on the TV show. But it definitivly falls into the category of “guilty pleasure” and is a lot of fun if you’re willing to accept its cheesiness. And the dialogue is unmistakably Whedon. Also, Lothos used a Samurai Katana, that’s a plus in the book. 😀
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Guilty Pleasures

DVD / Blu-ray

Wikipedia defines Guilty Pleasures as:

A guilty pleasure is known as something one considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. Often, the “guilt” involved is simply fear of others discovering one’s lowbrow or otherwise embarrassing tastes, rather than actual moral guilt. Fashion, music, and food can be examples of guilty pleasures.

And here’s a list of my Guilty Pleasures on DVD:

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Buffy: Season 1

Buffy Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Deutsche Version | Buffy Marathon | Season 2

Disc 1

Welcome to the Hellmouth

Synopsis: Buffy and her mom have just moved to Sunnydale, California. She was thrown out of her old school in Los Angeles because she burned down the gym (it was full of Vampires). But she hopes that this part of her life lays behind her – how wrong she was. A very old Vampire – the Master – tries to free himself from the Hellmouth that is directly under the town. And she can’t even keep it a secret that she is the Slayer. Everyone seems to know: The librarian Giles, her classmate Xander and even some mysterious guy in the dark alleys.

My Opinion: I’ve seen this pilot for the first time on DVD on November 22th, 2007. And I have watched it 10 times in the past 16 months. I know all the lines by heart by now. “It’s dated?” – “It’s carbon-dated!” I have to say I liked it that the whole gang knew from the beginning. It separates it from other superhero shows (*cough* Smallville *cough*). That makes for a great foundation of their friendship even though each and every one will have secrets of their own over the years.

Shortly before Buffy killed her first Vampire on the show she made a remark that rang a bell – I had heard a similar remark spoken in a similar tone elsewhere. Wink

Buffy: Now, we can do this the hard way, or … well, actually, there’s just the hard way.
Darla: That’s fine with me.
Buffy: Are you sure? Now this is not gonna be pretty. We’re talking violence, strong language, adult content …

Jack O’Neill: Assuming – of course – you are the Tok’ra.
Cordesh: And if we’re not?
Jack O’Neill: Well, I guess we all start shooting. There’s blood, death, hard feelings. It’d suck.

The Harvest

Synopsis: She may have saved Willow and Xander, but she has lost trace of Jesse. But she won’t give up that easily and she has help: Giles is her new Watcher and Willow is a computer nerd who can find anything as long as it’s on the net. And she will need that help because the time of the Harvest is close and then the Master will rise if she can’t prevent it. Unfortunately there’s nothing they can do for Jesse: He’s already worse than dead: A Vampire.

My Opinion: I know that life had to go on, but I found the end a little bit cheap. All these victims at the Bronze should have been in terror and should be screaming instead of simply getting slaughtered one by one. And then the aftermath where everyone chose to ignore what had happened. But I don’t know a better solution either. And I loved how she outwitted Luke / the Vessel and then dusted him.

Witch

Synopsis: Buffy decides to try out for the cheerleading team. She has been a cheerleader back in LA and she wants to live a normal life here, too – as far as this is possible. But mysterious accidents seem to happen to the cheerleaders of this school and soon there’s no doubt that witchcraft is behind it.

My Opinion: The story of that episode wasn’t that interesting, but I liked certain aspects of it. For example Buffy singing “Macho Man” or her cheerleading tryouts. I also liked that they made their first magic potion with bio and chem class equipment (scalpel, test tube, …).

Teacher’s Pet

Synopsis: After their biology teacher had been found dead in a refrigerator, Buffy, Xander and Willow get a new substitute teacher – and she’s hot. Xander and all other guys totally fall for her and she obviously likes it. But what kind of woman is she really when even a Vampire is scared by her?

My Opinion: This is one of these episodes with the obvious storylines. There’s a new teacher when the old one was killed onscreen. You automatically know that she’s somehow involved. She’s insulted when someone calls an insect “ugly”. You automatically know she’s one, too. All the guys instantly fall for her? You automatically know pheromones or some other stuff is involved. Didn’t like it very much.
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Deep Space Nine: Season 7

DS9 Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Deutsche Version | Season 6

Disc 1

Image in the Sand

Synopsis: The Siskos have gone back to Earth where Ben works in his father’s restaurant. He’s still hoping to get an inspiration on how to re-open the wormhole. And then he finally gets a vision about a human female that’s somehow linked to his father. In the meantime Kira (who has been promotoed to Colonel) has to deal with the Romulans who want to open a hospital on one of Bajor’s uninhabited moons. And Worfs seeks a way to ensure that his wife passes the gates of Sto’Vo’Kor (the klingon heaven).

My Opinion: So Sisko’s mother wasn’t Sisko’s mother? This is a bit of a last-minute revelation, isn’t it? Apart from that this was basically just a prelude to the next episode.

Shadows and Symbols

Synopsis: Just as he was about to embark to Tyree where he hopes to find an answer to his vision, Sisko finds himself in front of Dax – Ezri Dax. Ezri never intended to get joined but the Dax symbiont was dying and she was its only hope. So she joins Ben, Jake and Joseph Sisko on their journey to Tyree. And Miles, Julian and Quark have joined a dangerous mission to honour their memory of Jadzia Dax. Worf and Martok plan to take the Rotarran deep into enemy territory where they intend to destroy a ship yard.

My Opinion: So Dax is back. Why? Why did they feel the need to introduce a new character (and that’s basically what she is) in the last season? She’s a babbling irritant and it will barely get better. And Sisko was conceived by a woman that was inhabited by a Prophet at that time? And he re-opened the wormhole. Hallelujah! Praise the Emissary! Yuck !
But I liked how Kira took a stand with her wing of impulse fighters agains a group of romulan Warbirds after they deceived her. And I liked the destruction of the ship yard – that should ensure Jadzia’s entrance into Sto’Vo’Kor.

But it was nice to see that they took the chance to show Casey Biggs (Damar) without a mask:

Afterimage

Synopsis: Ezri, who is a counsellor in training, has a hard time. She has to deal with all the memories of her previous hosts (especially Jadzia’s). But she also has to deal with all her – or Jadzia’s – friends aboard DS9 and of course with Worf. But she gets distracted when Garak’s claustrophobia panic attacks worsen and he nearly jumps out of an airlock “to get some fresh air”.

My Opinion: I liked Garak’s inner conflict about “betraying” his own people at the same time as I disliked the entire Ezri plot. And Garaks plot was basically written as a story device for her. If this would have been an exception I could live with it but we will see quite a number of Ezri episodes this season. They wanted to give her a proper profile and background but it feels forced. Ezri here. Ezri there.

Take Me Out to the Holosuite

Synopsis: The USS T’Kumbra (an all-Vulcan ship) comes to DS9 and its captain and Sisko have a history. He challenges Sisko on Sisko’s very own playing field – baseball. Sisko accepts of course and builds his very own baseball team and two weeks later the holo crowd is looking forward to a game of “Logicians” versus “Niners”.

My Opinion: I never cared for baseball but just as Major League this was fun to watch. The huge baseball cap to fit on a Ferengi head or Odo as the umpire or O’Brien’s scotch-flavoured bubble gum: great. 🙂 But I would have expected more of Worf. He’s a skilled klingon warrior and he can’t even hit the ball once? 😉
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