Twin Peaks – Definitive Gold Box Edition (2007)

When “Twin Peaks” aired in 1990 no one thought it would have much of a chance as a TV show and even today one must wonder why or how it did become such a phenomenon. Was it because of the cherry pie and the fine cuppa Jo? Was it because the mystery of Laura Palmer’s murder kept people coming back to “Twin Peaks” each week? Was it Dale Cooper’s (Kyle MacLachlan) messages to Diane on his Dictaphone? And who the hell is Bob?

“Twin Peaks” was and still is full of mysteries, mysteries that will never be answered. Some of them should have better remained unanswered but such is life, you seek the answer until you finally get it and then you move on. And what about Laura Palmer’s murderer? You really needed to know, didn’t you? I won’t spoil it for you here, so read on!

Shoot ‘Em Up (2007)

I went to see “Shoot ‘Em Up” (2007) directed by Michael Davis without reading anything about it and so I was in for quite a surprise.

The film starts out with the hero “Smith” (Clive Owen) sitting on a bench at night waiting for a bus, munching on a carrot when a pregnant woman in a yellow raincoat stumbles by moaning. She disappears in a nearby alley and is being followed by a very angry man with a gun. This prompts our hero to get involved and angry, too. From that moment on it is all about shooting people.

Dexter Season 1 DVD

With Dexter Season 2 starting Sunday, September 30th 2007 on Showtime, it is high time to watch Dexter – The First Season again, soon! The 4 disc DVD Box will be released on August 21, 2007 – at a great price, too.

Veronica Mars axed

Take out your hankies and wave bye-bye to Veronica! It was nice having you around Veronica. No truck load of mars bars can save you now. CW just canceled the series. There will be no Season 4 of Veronica Mars, ever. Pity, now we’ll never know who will win the sheriff election! Bummer.

The Departed (2006)

Martin Scorsese delivers with “The Departed” a superb thriller that leaves nothing to be desired. Scene of the crime: The Irish mafia against the FBI in present day Boston. Who wins? It wouldn’t be a Scorsese movie if it wouldn’t boil down to “organized crime doesn’t pay”.

I hear people say this is better than “Goodfellas“, is it? I’d say no, simply because it lacks the level of class “Goodfellas” had. “The Departed” is modern, it is crude, the story is secondary, it is merely about the good guys vs. the bad guys and that there are only losers and no winners in this whole circle of violence and corruption called “organized crime”.

Find Me Guilty (2006)

Vin Diesel stars as Giacomo “Jackie Dee” DiNorscio in Sidney Lumet’s “Find Me Guilty” (2006), a mobster who defended himself in court during the longest mafia trial in American history in the mid 80s.

I was sceptical at first with that Riddick image imprinted on Mr. Diesel, but all and any doubts were completely unfounded, to say the least. Jackie Dee is as convincing a character as he can be, and the performance is great throughout the movie and simply a joy to watch.

Running Scared (2006)

“Running Scared” is your regular action movie with a straightforward plot and some twists mixed in between. It also has some artistic shots thrown in and does tend to get rather graphically violent when bullets fly, and they fly a lot.
The movie starts at the end, and we rewind 18 hours and watch the events that lead up to that first scene. Joey Gazelle (Paul Walker) works for the mob. He disposes of “hot” guns used in mob shootings, and this time it’s a special gun used to kill a cop. Joey puts it where he put all the other guns, in the basement of his house behind a wall. Oleg (Cameron Bright from “Birth“), the neighbour’s kid and Joey’s son Nicky were playing hockey in the basement, and they quickly hide when Joey comes down to stash the guns. Oleg, who regularly gets beat up by his father, later steals that special gun and so the story unfolds.

Veronica Mars – Look Who’s Stalking

Love is in the air in Neptune this week and the prom just got cancelled but thanks to our rich school mates “Alterna Prom” is the next best thing if not even better. Meanwhile, in another part of town Woody has a little mistress problem.

Veronica Mars Season 1 Verdict

Another 48 hours later Veronica Mars and me are best buddies, after all we’ve been through. What would that be, you ask? Without spoiling it for you, I’d say just your regular teenage high-school stuff, really. Sounds boring? Well, it would be if it wasn’t for Veronica’s relentless crusade to find out the truth about the Lilly Kane murder. As much as we’d like to say “the butler did it”, it wasn’t so and there are but a few possible choices.

Veronica Mars

So my good friend Cédric keeps recommending “Veronica Mars” (UPN) to me. “The show is so cool”, he says, meaning Kristen Bell is hot, no doubt!

Yesterday I finally gave in and watched the pilot. Am I hooked now? “Veronika, der Lenz ist da?” Nevermind, I am indeed contemplating watching a few more episodes. It does have its charm and light humor but it also has its yawners and especially Veronica’s monologue at the end of the pilot almost made me trash the DVD. Valiant Veronica vs. the rest of the world. She will stop at nothing until her family is reunited. How quaint.