NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Season 8
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is the leader of a team of special agents belonging to the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) Major Case Response Team. Gibbs, a former Marine, is a tough investigator and a highly skilled interrogator who relies on his gut instinct as much as evidence. Gibbs' second in command is Senior Field Agent Tony DiNozzo, a womanizing, movie-quoting former Baltimore Homicide Detective, who despite being the class clown always gets the job done. The team also consists of Officer Ziva David, a Mossad officer who is a skilled fighter, as well as Junior Field Agent Timothy McGee, a computer-savvy agent often mocked by DiNozzo. Assisting them are Abby Sciuto, the energetic-but-Goth lab tech who is like a daughter to Gibbs, and Dr. Donald Mallard, nicknamed Ducky, the eccentric medical examiner full of unusual stories. This team of elite agents, based in Washington.

Episode Watched:
Cracked
Abby becomes fixated on solving a murder; DiNozzo'z latest fling leads to an interesting Halloween.

My Thoughts:
Last night they had a Halloween episode of one of my favorite TV Series. Though you can barely call it a Halloween episode. Halloween was only mentioned one time during the entire episode. Other then that it was a normal episode. But even with that said it was a good episode.

My Rating: 4/5


Count:
Movie Count: 94
TV Ep. Count: 50 I Made It! (10/20)
Other Count: 8 I Made It! (10/15)

Title: Return of the Living Dead 3
Year: 1993
Director: Brian Yuzna
Rating: R
Length: 97 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish


Stars:
Kent McCord
James T. Callahan
Sarah Douglas
Melinda Clarke [Mindy Clarke]
Abigail Lenz
J. Trevor Edmond

Plot:
In "Return of the Living Dead Part II," the chemical Trioxin turned people into flesh eating zombies. Now the government is trying to control these unstoppable cannibalistic killers.

The splatter-fest starts when a young man uses the chemical to bring his girlfriend back to life. It's a state of the art special effects show as she starts a chain reaction of the living dead by eating the only thing that will nourish her... human brains.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
This sequel is done with less comedy. At least with less intentional and obvious comedy. While I still like the first one better... this one is better then part 2. The way the character Julie (Mindy Clarke) mutilated herself is both wild and disturbing at the same time. Definitely worth a viewing.

My Rating: 3.5/5


Count:
Movie Count: 96
TV Ep. Count: 50 I Made It! (10/20)
Other Count: 8 I Made It! (10/15)

Just 3 to go. You can do it, Pete!

Title: Dead Set
Year: 2008
Director: Yann Demange
Rating: 18
Length: 142 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English


Stars:
Jaime Winstone
Andy Nyman
Riz Ahmed
Chizzy Akudolu
Liz May Brice
Warren Brown

Plot:
Starring Jaime Winstone (Donkey Punch, Kidulthood), Dead Set is E4's new horror series in which the dead are returning to life and attacking the living. Curiously there are a few people left in Britain who aren't worried about any of this - that's because they're the remaining contestants in Big Brother. Cocooned in the safety of the Big Brother house, they're blissfully unaware of the horrific events unfolding in the outside world. Until an eviction night when all hell breaks loose...

Kelly (Winstone), a production runner working on a fictional series of Big Brother, finds herself trying to fend off the walking dead alongside her producer boss Patrick (Andy Nyman, Severance), boyfriend Riq (Riz Ahmed, Britz) and the remaining Big Brother housemates. Featuring cameos from Davina McCall and severally former housemates, this is a cruel and twisted take on one of TV's biggest game shows.

Dead Set was created and written by Charlie Brooker (Nathan Barley co-creator and Guardian columnist).

Extras:
Scene Access
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Interviews

My Thoughts:
This is my second time watching this one after a friend sending it to me for last year's October marathon. After watching it today... I enjoyed it just as much as I did last time... so I will just repeat here what I said last year....

This is what appears to be a UK miniseries. I always include miniseries in my movie count since that is how I watch them. I think it is a plus when watching this if you are already at least familiar with the show Big Brother... if not a fan of it. I have been watching Big Brother for a few years now (though not the UK version) so I think that helped my enjoyment some. I will say that if you are not used to the slang that those in the UK use... some of this can be a little confusing at first. Though this is something I am getting used to myself now that I have a handful of shows from the UK. And I will give it to the UK... they don't have the hang-ups about what they put on TV as we in the US do. There is no way something like this could be aired on a regular TV Channel. It would have to be saved for the premium channels. Even though we aren't as strict as we used to be on the violence... they show violence, use bad language (that we would never get away with) and feel free to show some nudity as well. I see a show like this and wonder why we have some of the rules we have here in the US. And I must say... I had a real blast watching this show I think they did a great job with it. Even if there was a couple of things I could have went without seeing. Which I will leave out of this review. And I am not sure I cared too much for the way it ended. But it didn't effect my fun too much at all. The show uses the newer fast moving zombies instead of the slow/barely moving ones that you see in the original Romero zombie movies. Over-all I say this is a must see for any zombie movie fan.


My Rating: 4/5


Count:
Movie Count: 98
TV Ep. Count: 50 I Made It! (10/20)
Other Count: 8 I Made It! (10/15)

Title: Near Dark
Year: 1987
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Rating: R
Length: 94 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: DTS: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English


Stars:
Adrian Pasdar
Jenny Wright
Lance Henriksen
Bill Paxton
Jenette Goldstein
Tim Thomerson

Plot:
In the dusty heart of the American southwest, innocent country boy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar of MYSTERIOUS WAYS) is seduced by a beautiful girl (Jenny Wright) into joining a roving pack of vicious drifters led by the enigmatic Jesse (Lance Henriksen of THE TERMINATOR and ALIENS). But this is no ordinary band of outlaws; Caleb is now trapped in a nightmare of soulless evil that waits in the shadows, hellish mayhem that thrives on blood and absolute horror that begins NEAR DARK.

Bill Paxton (TWISTER) and Jenette Goldstein (ALIENS) co-star in this extraordinary shocker co-written and directed by Kathryn Bigelow (STRANGE DAYS) that Entertainment Weekly calls "ultrastylish, ultraviolent and altogether brilliant." This is more than simply the most ferociously original vampire movie of our generation; NEAR DARK is one of the best horror movies of all time.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned
THX

My Thoughts:
This is a movie that has seemed to fly in under the radar for most people. I discovered it while I was working as a manager of the local video store.... and everyone I ever suggested it to never even heard of it. But yet of the MANY people that took a chance on this movie because of my recommendation... I don't remember ever hearing bad feedback. As far as I remember everyone enjoyed it!

One of the things I like about this movie is that even though while watching it there is no doubt in your mind this is a vampire movie... they never once use the word vampire in the movie... and you never once see a set of fangs.  Another thing I like in this movie is the awesome bar fight scene. I have seen a few bar fight scenes in horror movies... and this is one of the best. Then you have the added bonus that one of the stars of this movie is Lance Henrikson.... a great genre actor.

Needless to say I was thrilled when I first heard this movie was coming out on DVD. I pre-ordered the title as soon as I was able to. And even better was the fact that the release is a 2-disc edition with a nice selection of extras. If you never seen this under-rated movie... I urge you to give it a chance... I really don't think you will be sorry.

My Rating: 4.5/5


Count:
Movie Count: 100
TV Ep. Count: 50 I Made It! (10/20)
Other Count: 8 I Made It! (10/15)

I popped one in... an '80s horror which I usually like... but this one may be letting me down.

Title: Chopping Mall
Year: 1986
Director: Jim Wynorski
Rating: R
Length: 77 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: N/A


Stars:
Kelli Maroney
Tony O'Dell
Russell Todd
Karrie Emerson
Barbara Crampton
Nick Segal

Plot:
Some people will kill for a bargain...and at the Park Plaza Mall they do! Here, you can shop until you drop...dead!

High tech robots equipped with state-of-the-art security devices have been recruited as the new mechanical "night watchmen" for the Park Plaza Mall. When a jolting bolt of lightning short circuits the main computer control, the robots turn into "killbots"...on the loose after unsuspecting shoppers. Four couples are trying to make it after-hours in a mattress store. They make it all right...in the morgue!

At Park Plaza Mall, you can save on everything but your life! PAUL BARTEL and MARY WORONOV of the hit thriller EATING RAOUL are reunited, plus RUSSELL TODD (FRIDAY THE 13TH), BARBARA CRAMPTON (RE-ANIMATOR, FROM BEYOND) and TONY O'DELL (THE KARATE KID). CHOPPING MALL...where they slash their prices and their customers!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
This is a movie I remembered enjoying back when it first came out. When I found it on DVD a couple years ago cheap I bought it for my October Marathon 2008. Unfortunately at the time I felt it didn't hold up well to my memory. I decided today to give it another try... without expecting too much this time. I enjoyed it maybe a little bit more this time then when I first bought the DVD... It is a decent enough movie for what it is.... but when I saw this originally (when I was a teen) I thought it was much better then it actually is. Unfortunately it just did not hold up well for me. I guess seeing it with adult eyes is making a difference. But one thing I did enjoy is seeing another movie with Kelli Maroney in it. As I really enjoyed her in Night of the Comet. In one scene Kelli Maroney is in a pet store hiding from the killer robots... and the robot comes crashing into the store...and knocks down an aquarium full of tarantulas... and of course they end up crawling all over Kelli. I so hate spiders! I could never do it! That one scene alone put chills through me! But not a bad movie over-all... slightly above average.

My Rating: 3/5


Count:
Movie Count: 101  I Made It! (10/28)
TV Ep. Count: 50 I Made It! (10/20)
Other Count: 8 I Made It! (10/15)

Good on you Pete.
Been enjoying your reviews
Cheers