DVD Movie Review #100 Revolutionary Girl Utena the Apocalypse Saga

Hello again and we are back for another of the DVD movie reviews. This time I am reviewing the third box set in relation to the Revolutionary Girl Utena show. Well this box of course was necessary to complete the series so of course for my reasons please see my review of box set one.
This set includes season 3 and the movie so you will see reviews for both here.

Season 3 picks up where it left off with the mysterious "End of the World" revealing himself and taking one more stab at trying to take the Rose Bride from Utena utilizing the student cancel to do so. The saga comes to its conclusion in a heart pounding battle that will keep all on the edge of their seats.

The Utena movie is a different animal all together this movie follows the girl Utena who in seeking to find her prince has decided to be one herself. She meets up with the Mysterious Rose bride and finds herself caught up in a strange duel for her hand in this strange homoerotic fantasy.

The quality of the animation is better this season and I must be happy as it concludes with a bang. The return of the major characters such as the greek chorus that disappeared in the first season is a welcome return. The plot is well written and you will be very happy with the writing and the depth of the characters. In the end this is well worth watching.

The Animation in the movie is very very high quality. I was impressed by the action the color and the general pleasing nature to the eye. The music was well done and the action scenes were superior to anything that I saw in the series. This is a nice bit of 80 minute eye candy.

Well in the end there are other issues that I am seeing here that are similar to the second season. The battles are sadly not very different when it comes to the action as they utilize nearly the same animations each time. I can also say that he story may be a bit odd for some audiences. Of course there are the homoerotic elements in play but in the end it is hard to decide weather this is a good or a bad thing.

The Writing in the movie is its weakpoint. I feel that the writers must have had a maijuana, vodka mocha late before starting this as it is off the hook. It starts out well enough with Utena being a more believable prince and then takes a strange turn that can't have been other than drug induced. I've watched the series that this was re-hashing and I still don't know what I watched. This is a sad ending to an otherwise good series.

In the end this is much better than some.

Rating:  7/10

This is the Third of the Right Stuff Limited Edition Sets.

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SeptumSin's Blue Ray & DVD update Blog 3/30/14

Hello again and welcome to another update on what DVDs I have gathered throughout. This time I have managed to obtain a number of mailed items as I am addicted to Amazon for deals. I will throw out some wonderful things that I have managed to come up with through the week.

3/29/14 20 Feet from Stardom: This was the winner of the Best Documentary this year and it was very cheap on blu ray ($13) I want to keep adding to my Blue Ray oscar winning collection and hopefully keep up with the continued recent winners. Matter of fact I hope one day to collect all the winning films (still a work in progress). This is one of the documentaries that I wasn't able to watch and for that matter it won (I feel that the winner of this award is kept from public audiences as the academy likes to hide its good works).  I very much look forward to seeing this one.

3/25/14  Action Packed Double Feature The Barbarians & The Norseman:  This is something that I found per chance when I was working through some of my old favorites and found this which finally gives me a chance to drop Barbarians on my pre-recorded VHS and now I can have it for my own. My father loved the Barbarian brothers and this translated to me liking them. Sadly their work was small and didn't translate to DVD. I am still hoping for Think Big to come out. Now as for the Norseman well lets just see...

3/28/14 Don't Drink the Water:  I am a Woody Allen Collector and after watching the documentary on his film making career it started me back into converting the chinese cheap copies that I originally got back when I was looking for quantity and not quality in my collection. This one is one of two that was $3 on Amazon.com and this is very sad as a lot of them tend to go out of print quickly and ratchet up prices. (Just try and get What's up Tiger Lily or What's new Pussy Cat). I actually liked this version much better than the original theatrical version that was done and look forward to seeing it again.

3/28/14 The Front:  Ok read the above to get the explanation of purchase. This one is one I don't remember that well and hope that it will be a good experience. I admit seeing the high prices on previously less expensive movies.

3/29/14 Golgo 13 Queen Bee:  I got the more recent series of this thinking it was the original and as this is an icon of classic anime I had to get it. This is the sequel to Golgo 13: The Professional which I also have on order. This one was such a high priority that I went ahead and watched it already. (Review Pending)

3/28/14 The Piano: $4 and and Oscar winner this is a wining combination. It is sad that the DVD version of this at one time was going for around $150 due to its rarity. I know this is a necessity and I am hoping that this will be as good as I have heard.

Well that's it for now I hope you all enjoy your week!

DVD Movie Review #99 Journey Quest Season 1

Hello Yet again I am back with another of my wonderful DVD movie reviews. This time I am looking at a web series by Dead Gentlemen called Journey Quest. I had been vaguely interested during the time the Gamers 2 came out. I finally decided to catch up with my indie gamer films like those from Dark Maze, X-Strike and of course Dead Gentlemen.

This is the tale of an adventuring group with a female elven archer, a dumb fighter, a human cleric and a cowardly wizard. The group is trying to save the world getting a massively powerful sword. Due to a run in with orcs and a meddling bard the group lands into something that changes how they see things forever.

I enjoyed the brand of humor here. As a gamer myself there is a lot here for me. When you look at the production cost this is actually very nice when you look at it. Their acting has improved greatly over the years and the music is ok.

The overall is much lower than what most will hope for with low grade special effects and music. The plot is pretty fun but to most who expect higher you will not necessarily love this. This appeals to a limited crowd of people.

In this end this is a fun little series and look forward to the second season.

Rating:  7/10

I got the only DVD release here yay!

Used:    Not applicable

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A Retrospective on Glee

Hello, normally I do reviews and sometimes I do other things as well and after this weeks episode I was struck by nostalgia for a show that I never really got all that into...glee. ***There are lots of spoilers here so if you don't want them then don't read***

I remember five years ago I had heard about this show and I had also spends a lot of time in my youth in various choirs and glee clubs. I was also considered a freak and loser in school so I was naturally was drawn to this show. I was quickly drawn in by the series as it had a super strong start introducing the quirky characters and the strong rival character that was played by Jane Lynch.

The show quickly fell in quality starting in the first half of season 1 and bottoming out in the abysmal season two. Yet through it all the continued synergy that was the New Directions kept drawing me back episode after episode. Culminating in the graduation and first nationals win of season 3.

This is where the show should have ended yet it decided to struggle on with an odd uneven season for with less memorable characters and lack of full rich story as the story lines were split between the high school and New York City. This split didn't give us the character development needed and of course left us without any real attachment to the new kids leaving us feeling empty with the strange end to season 4 not even allowing the class to finish out the year.

The end of season 4 brought us the end to Brittany and of course my favorite character in the series Lord Tubbington who had the most personality that season. Season 4 tried to focus all story in New York and the writing for the High school stories was wrought by some sort of strange psychosis that I believe was mushroom induced.

Of course over the summer we lost Finn...I was kind of sad at the loss not for the character but for what he represented in the show which lead us to the uneven season 5 with old wounds reopened that had been closed since season 3 and the same strange two world split with New Direction's survival depending on Nationals.

Sadly the Glee club didn't win and yes they are no longer and entity and this was driven home by episodes 100 and 101 where they managed to bring back the cast and work hard at tying up all the loose ends that were left from the past problems. The latest group graduated and we left the choir room and sang Don't stop believing one last touching time.

This is a fitting end to the series yet sadly this is not the end...shoot this isn't even the end of the season. They are placing their bets on the strong original cast taking the series entirely to New York for their last hurrah and one more season. I find this as a sad way to conclude the series but I don't run things here. In the end I feel it was a shaky 5 years but one that I will hold onto farewell glee you didn't deserve the sad crap to follow you now that you have been put to rest.

DVD Movie Review #98 Arakawa Under the Bridge 2

Hello and welcome back true believers to my next DVD movie review. This time I am doing the second half of the Arakawa series from NIS America. This series had my attention as it looked strange and it continues to be strange in the second half. I am OCD so when I have one half I have to get the other and this is bad when it comes to NIS America and even worse if the series is from Aniplex.

This story follows a very successful young man fresh out of college and already at the start of the business world. he unfortunately falls off of a bridge and is saved by a strange young lady named Nino. Hating having to be in debt to anyone he insists on trying to find a way to pay her back. She tells him then he needs to become her lover (keep in mind to Nino she doesn't understand what a lover is) and stay with her living under the bridge. Our friend quickly finds out that Nino thinks that she is from Venus and lives with a host of mentally unstable river dwellers. The story continues this season round with Nino's parents communicating that they want to take her back and they quickly go through the process of preparation.

This is a fun series filled with colorful characters. I really enjoy the writing here as it is suitably insane and even with that the characters have depth to therm making you want to learn more about them. The voice acting is good though only in Japanese. The color and action are very well done making this a nice series to see on Blue Ray. The music is good I really enjoy the opening and ending themes here with some of them done visually in live action and experimental art style. In the end this is a good series to watch.

I feel that there was no real plot development here. I was kind of frustrated as it seemed to start a storyline and then left it hanging in favor of just returning to the random comedy that the series is primarily made up of. I feel that this places the series a rung below the first one.

Still overall I enjoy this series and it is worth getting.

Rating:  7/10

I have the NIS Premium Set Pictured Below It is well worth the money if you get before going out of stock the Full color booklet is also very nice to flip through.

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DVD Movie Review #97 Big Bang Theory Season 3

Hello again and we are back with another of my wonderful DVD movie reviews. This time I am covering the third season of Big Bang theory. Again I got this series as a bundle and I feel it was and forever will be a good buy and a fun show to watch with my girlfriend.

This season continued with Leonard and Penny in their relationship full swing and how it effects the group dynamic. This also works towards changing things as the group gets to do things such as meet Stan Lee and fun into a host of new characters.

This season is as fun as the last two. I like the comedy that is utilized as it doesn't really get old. The relationship changes with the group are very good for the series as a whole I must admit that the relationship between between Penny and Leonard is one of the better writing points in this season. I also feel that the acting remains top notch.

Well humor wise there isn't anything new here. The same types of gags with only a slight twist to them. If you are looking for something different here then you should go elsewhere.

In the end more of the same with a slight tightening of the group dynamic.

Rating:  7/10

This is the standard DVD version

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SeptumSin's Blue Ray & DVD update Blog 3/23/14

Hello again this one took a little time to go into production as I started off getting something and I really didn't want to update for just a few things so I figured I'd wait will I had a minimum of 4 Items. I will, however put in the dates I received the items in question.

Frozen 3/18/14:  This is a must buy for any Disney fan. This one I watched right before the oscars and of course didn't realize that it would be as big a winner as it was. (Please see my Oscar Predictions to see how terrible my guesses are.) This film was still quite a gem and if anything could beat The Wind Rises this was the one to do it. On top of things it also has one of the best songs that really in my mind deserved the win despite the academy giving the finger to Nelson Mandela and U2. This is a must add to any collection and Blue Ray is the way to go.This was purchased on Pre-order from Amazon.com and is well worth it for the 50% off price.  I will be watching this copy tonight! :)

Eden Log 3/20/14: This is one of 6 movies for $6 that I got at moviestop as a part of a one day promotion. I had found three movies I really wanted that were $1 and I ended up getting three others due to it being buy one get one. This movie is one of the ones that I didn't initially want but at the same time it defiantly peaked my interest. This film looks to be a sort of Bioshock type with a supposed underground city and its odd and mysterious end. I am looking forward to watching this today.

The Fear 3/20/14: This is not the version I have but I could not find a picture of it. It has the same cover minus the gold series collectors edition on it yet it comes in a yellow case which made it look interesting. This is something that looks like I will enjoy. I have discovered it has a sequel and hope that I will not be trapped in buying that and instead enjoy getting hold of it. This film is one of those that utilizes the main character's greatest fears against them.

Freakshow 3/20/14: This cover was hard to find which makes this version likely hard to find. The "banned in 43 countries" did appeal to me in getting this one. I am actually looking forward to watching this as it seems to be another one of those freaky horror films and I like strange stuff so this will be a great addition to my collection.

Hell's Angel's 3/20/14: This is a major film in history thrown together by none other than Howard Hughes and wads of money. This was considered a very expensive movie for its time and I have been wanting to see it ever since I heard of its existence. A price tag of $1 makes this irresistible to a collector such as myself.

The Man Who Fell to Earth 3/20/14: This is one of the other must buys. I never thought about it but this also was released on really expensive criterion. This is also David Bowie's first movie experience. This film was considered quite important and I believe the soundtrack is also acclaimed as unbelievable cool. I have been a Bowie fan since high school and continue to want to see more of his work.

Tree of Palme 3/20/14: This movie is the last of the three that I had been interested in. It looks like a rather interesting anime movie in the spirit of those like Akira and from the same director. I have looked at the description and animation pics on the back and am genuinely interested. I hope that this turns out well.

Fairy Tail Part 10 3/22/14: This is not an impulse buy but this is related to my OCD nature. I have to keep collecting this series as it comes out. These long series tend to build up otherwise as I had thought about waiting for a price drop on Naruto previously and it just didn't pan out. This series is light and fun and very addictive. If you like series like One Piece, Naruto or Slayers you will like this anime. I am personally looking forward to more with the one of the characters being brought back from the dead so to speak. This came from Rightstuf.com which I usually buy my anime from and this is a pre-order.

DVD Movie Review #96 Andy Griffith Show Season 7

Hello again and we are back with another of our fun movie reviews. Today we are doing the Andy Griffith Show season 7. This continues my trudging into the series. I am almost through it with one season to go making my 2 year trek almost complete. Yay only 30 more episodes to go!

This season is the second color season of the series. We continue to explore Andy's friendship with the county clerk and have two visits from Barney Fife making that the major highlight in the show. We bid goodby to Otis the Darlings and Floyd the Barber this season. It feels like the entire cast is leaving us...

This series manages to hold up well with the same humor that had made the series. I feel that this series did peak in season 4 but still I really do still enjoy each episode. The series is well written and if you enjoyed the rest of the show you will enjoy this season.

This series really did peak at season 4 and went downhill from there. The characters that we have known to love have been disappearing slowly from the view and the writing can be a tad repetitive. I also feel that Andy's character had become more abrasive this season more easily angered and ready to punish others that made him upset.

In the end this is still a good series and I will continue for one more romp to Mayberry.

Rating:  6/10

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DVD Movie Review #95 The Dead hate the Living

Hello again and welcome to another fun DVD movie review. This time we cover the movie "The Dead Hate the Living". This movie is one that I thought might be fun as it was only about $1.50 at Movie Stop and it was an ok project as a group of friends of mine named their punk band after the film. Now I have watched it and I can tell what I feel about it.

Well this film starts with a bunch of college students who are using an abandoned hospital for their horror movie film. They of course stumble on a dead body and immediately feel that it would be a good one for their film. Well a little botched resurrection spell and they all start coming back to life and trying to make an army of the dead to kill everyone.

Well the film has a fun B-Movie quality to it. Of course this is a B-Movie and you can tell this from the acting. It is a decent fright fest with the zombies killing everyone. I feel that the location is pretty creepy and thought he music is cheap it is still pretty good.

I donno the plot is pretty lame and the acting pretty much sucks. The Makeup is bad with you being able to see where the lines are on the prosthetic. There is a supposed love story in this somewhere but I have to admit it is pretty much lost in the bad film feeling I get. The predictable course of the film aslo doesn't help much in this case.

In the end this is a cheap horror romp feel free to try and enjoy.

Rating:  6/10

This is the plane DVD version.

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