Snowtown [Blu-ray]

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Price: $121.30   

Product Description

All Regions release, playable on all world-wide blu-ray players.

Sixteen-year-old Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) longs for an escape from the violence that surrounds him in Adelaide's northern suburbs. His salvation arrives in the form of John (Daniel Henshall), a charismatic man who unexpectedly comes to his aid. However, as events occur around him, including the disappearance of several people, Jamie begins to harbour deep suspicions about John and his motivations. When the truth is finally revealed, Jamie s hopes of happiness are threatened by both his loyalty for, and fear of, his father figure - John Bunting, Australia's most notorious serial killer.

Snowtown [Blu-ray] Review

This is not a horror movie. It's far more frightening, if considerably less entertaining. It's not a suspense thriller; its agonizing tension comes from the dread of witnessing the inevitable.

I don't know whether to envy or pity the reviewers who found this "boring," "slow" and "dull." Since "Silence of the Lambs," we've become slowly inured to the titillating entertainment value of the serial killer. (The current nadir is the incredibly bland, implausible and desensitized TV show "Criminal Minds.")

"Snowtown," by contrast, feels horribly real. Killings happen not in stylized torture chambers but in the same dreary, downtrodden homes the rest of the movie takes place in. Nearly unbroken, subtly handheld camera shots take us from social backyard bonfire to bagged and barrelled corpses, from front porch on a balmy day to kill zone, with a documentarian's unblinking eye... as if murder is one more mundane thread in the fabric of everyday life. For John Bunting, it probably was.

The scariest thing about Daniel Henshall's Bunting is his chipper, everyman banality. Bunting was no loner. He recruited at least 3 others to help carry out his killings. The complaints about numerous peripheral characters drifting in and out of the narrative unannounced are valid, but these interactions show us Bunting's disarming camaraderie, moving him out of a loner's hovel and squarely onto the throne at Jonestown or overseeing Manson's commune. The consensus Bunting cheerfully bullies out of neighborly, impromptu kitchen-table tribunals (we've all been at one) becomes, in his mind, the razor-thin justification needed to act on his obsessions... and to groom accomplices.

Jamie is also a unique character in films (and real-life cases) such as this. The movie successfully forces us into a struggle of conscience over Jamie. We condemn his choices throughout, and we valiantly resist the special pleading of the Rousseauist, 'product of his environment' case for social determinism that "Snowtown" could be construed as arguing. Only long after the film was over did I find myself conceding that Jamie is a special case. He's not a serial killer himself, for whom nature vs. nurture wouldn't matter... psychopaths will be psychopaths. There IS something about his personality, about his victimhood, which multiple abusers sense opportunity in and exploit. And we can't help but notice it too... alongside Bunting, creepily enough.

The film chooses to exclude the cruellest and most horrific details of the real-life killings, which I only learned about after googling it online later. I for one am very grateful NOT to have endured their portrayal in this film. The details we do get are excruciating enough. Their necessary dilution (if not, who could bear to watch?) is not just an act of mercy, but part of the film's strategy: all sensationalism has been methodically drained from this account, leaving us no other option but to bear witness to the awful potentiality of human impulse. I appreciate why, but this approach bound me in a moral dilemma for days after seeing "Snowtown:" SHOULD the film, by soft-pedaling the truth, allow us to care more about Jamie?

I never once felt sorry for Jamie Vlassakis. You could argue the film never asks us to. But "Snowtown" never holds Jamie accountable for his weakness of character, either. It starkly observes, but never evaluates, his pitiable lack of resistance. At a key turning point, Jamie is asked: "Do you like to get [raped]?" For a split second we're not sure the incident in question was rape or not, so passive was Jamie's endurance of the assault. The question itself feels like an assignation from a new abuser, and it is... in far worse ways than Jamie can fathom at the time. Bunting is the vampire invited across the threshold. I found Jamie's complicity just as disturbing and haunting as Bunting's sociopathy... and somehow, against all my instincts, I can't quite call that complicity indefensible.

Is it the film's achievement or its failure that I can't put into words what Jamie is or does? To me, his choices ultimately don't wash. Never mind that they actually happened (although many aspects of the true-life case remain sealed, and for all we know Vlassakis is a psychopath himself). They weren't just atrocious choices, they were hideous actions. They ended innocent people's lives in horrible ways, people that Jamie knew, sometimes at Jamie's own hand. The plot may want us to buy into a classic tragic arc... to believe Jamie is struggling inside more than his behavior belies, right up until a point in the film when a perfect opportunity for escape, rescue and salvation is decided against and squandered. But contrary to the script's possible intentions, we begin protesting Jamie's decisions before he is even a witness, let alone an accessory. And our questions keep piling up.

Why, Jamie? The answers aren't to be found either in the unfilmable truth or the euphemized "Snowtown"... and perhaps there are none. Consequently, I thought at first that perhaps it would have been best if this story was left unfilmed (or at least unwatched!). In the end, what redeemed "Snowtown" for me (if not its characters) is how it re-injects serial murder with all the senseless ugliness it deserves. It's a sobering antidote to absurd modern antiheroes like Hannibal Lecter, whom yuppie audiences (financially insulated from real-life violence) relish as the ultimate arbiter of manners; or Dexter, the equally ridiculous "serial killer with a conscience."

John Bunting doesn't have a conscience. That's why he's a serial killer. For all his public rants of righteousness, he never killed for justice. Bunting is (like most of his kind) a sadist who tortured for pleasure and preyed on the weak. His "moral code" is a pathetic attempt to justify his compulsions in his own mind. John Bunting killed more innocent people than anyone else in Australian history. "Snowtown's" Bunting leaves many of his wounded victims alive... Jamie; Jamie's family; and now us, the audience.

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Taxi - Seasons 1-3

You looking to find the "Taxi - Seasons 1-3" Good news! You can purchase Taxi - Seasons 1-3 with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $107.69    

Product Description

This sitcom followed the life of a group of cabbies in New York. The group, employees of the Sunshine Cab Company, was made up a motley crew including Bobby (Jeff Conaway), a frustrated actor, Tony (Tony Danza), a struggling boxer, Louie (Danny DeVito), the tyranical dispatcher, and Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd), a spacey ex-hippie. The classic ensemble sitcom was hailed by critics and audiences alike after premiering on ABC Sept. 12, 1978. It's a vehicle with heart, as well as humor, and won three straight Emmys as Outstanding Comedy Series.

Taxi - Seasons 1-3 Review

I currently see prices on Amazon of $31.99 for Seasons one through 3 of Taxi.....this adds up to $95.97. Why this package is currently selling for $107.99 is beyond me. I am cognizant that Amazon changes prices from individual to individual (a little known secret), but the abyss between this package and the individual titles, with no apparent additions in DVD extras, is astounding. With the Seinfeld you get a puffy shirt or napkin holders from Monks coffee house; this package does not appear to offer anything extra.

The show gets 5 stars, but adding up the show with the value per dollar, I am forced to give this package 3 stars. Sad, because it is one of the greatest shows to ever grace television in my opinion.

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Dudes 3 Pack (Grandma's Boy / Dodgeball / Freddy Got Fingered)

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Price: $118.03   

Product Description

Disc 1: Dodgeball WS Disc 2: Grandma's Boy WS Disc 3: Freddy Got Fingered WS

Dudes 3 Pack (Grandma's Boy / Dodgeball / Freddy Got Fingered) Review

Three hilarious movies in one bundle. Definitely for the "dick and fart joke" set. Plus there's a topless chick in Grandma's Boy.

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My Family: Seasons 3 & 4

You looking to find the "My Family: Seasons 3 & 4" Good news! You can purchase My Family: Seasons 3 & 4 with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $127.01   

Product Description

When Janey leaves for university, the burning question is not whether she'll be missed, but who will get custody of her room? The realisation that she's now the only woman in the Harper household begins to take its toll on Susan, and Michael fears his mum will turn him into a girl if she continues to ask him for advice on dresses and make-up. Ben's cousin's daughter, Abi, could be the ideal solution as she's looking for a place to stay while she attends college. Meanwhile, Nick's attempts to raise money result in a variety of jobs - none of which lasts very long thanks to abject incompetence, and Ben wonders whether he is the only sane member of the family, while the family wonder whether he has finally flipped.

My Family: Seasons 3 & 4 Review

I watch My Family on PBS. I decided to go online to see if I could purchase this TV series on DVD from Amazon which I have. I have purchased Seasons 1 & 2 and enjoy them very much. Season 3 & 4 have the charactor Nic on them. The actor who plays this charactor is very funny and entertaining. He is the main reason I watch the series. The other actors are just as wacky and fun to watch. This is a very difuctional and funny family. I give seasons 3 & 4 a thumbs up.

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New Getter Robo - Complete Box Set

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Price: $99.95   

Product Description

Contains Episodes Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4. Huge monsters stalk the earth! Resembling the ancient legends of the Oni, the monsters begin attacking the laboratory where Prof. Saotome is developing the Getter Robo, a robot so powerful it overwhelms ordinary pilots! Prof. Saotome then locates three of the most dangerous men on the planet to draft as pilots: Ryoma the fighter, Hayato the beserker and Benkei the giant!

New Getter Robo - Complete Box Set Review

For something so deeply steeped in history and reputation, 'New Getter Robo' may be the most interesting Getter anime incarnation yet.

Then again, I've only fully watched 'Getter Robo', 'Shin Getter Robo Vs. Neo Getter Robo' and 'Getter Robo: Armageddon' previously (Have never completed 'Getter Robo G' and 'Getter Robo Go'), so that could be a hollow statement. But I'll start off by saying that this is probably the best way to enter the Getter Robo universe. It has a very bold look using heavy, sketchy blacks, a scattering of hatching lines and vivid colors that work very well, making itself distinct against the modern template as well as a throwback to the classic. The series requires no previous knowledge, though there are various salutes to older fans, doesn't play to the villain of the week model and makes some relatively daring moves for a genre based on basic good vs. evil plot-lines.

The series protagonists are stock in many ways, but there's a lovable repugnancy they share that's uncommon. Getter pilots Ryoma, Hayato and Benkei and Getter Robo inventor Dr. Saotome are sociopathic maniacs. Somewhat excluding Benkei, who's vices are more or less limited to being a lazy hornball, the characters are hyper-violent, ego-centric and hypocritical. They seek to protect humanity but at the same time have a burning animus towards it. It's hard to say they're even anti-heroes and some of their antics are genuinely upsetting, but I think its reason for praise. It can be challenging to follow despicable people without any guarantee of redemption; to be only able to relate to characters through a shared, dark sense of misanthropy. There's a dissonance to them and it's easy to become affixed as they develop along with their adventures. Some of the characters even become better human beings (Key word is 'Some'.)

But, as I've mentioned, there's plenty of mediocre commonality to its genre mates; It's just generally less so. For example, there is a stock transformation scene reused through the series, but it's about 5 seconds long. Character development is minimal, but the characters never truly say exactly what they're feeling. The ending's vague, but there's definite thematic intent. There's more testosterone-fueled punching than anything but...well...at least it's exciting. Moreso than anything, it's not thoughtless and doesn't feature the constant, shrieking emoting considered to be 'good characterization' in anime today. The series also has an interesting take on the tired theme of violence and delves into anime-existentialism (I'm guessing a reader just wished they could slap me.)

Point being, I recommend this series. The price-tag is hefty and it doesn't stray drastically from the mold but 'New Getter Robo' uses an arguably successful formula and brings something fresh to the table.

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