5 Buck Review

25 Mystery Classics

It has 2 double sided DVDs — over 30 hours of movies!

There were some Sherlock Holmes movies (The Sign of the Four and The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, Murder at the Baskervilles, The Woman in Green, Terror by Night, Dressed to Kill, A Study in Scarlet), some Tales of the Unexpected (The Sound Machine, Shatterproof, The Stinker, I’ll Be Seeing You), some Mr. and Mrs. North episodes, some Crime Stories (Highway Patrol, Boston Blackie, Public Defender), and some stand alone movies (Death Sentence, Dangerous Assignment, Mr. Wong Detective, Midnight Manhunt, Murder by Television and The Black Raven).

I just love the old mystery movies and TV shows! It has provided hours and hours of great old classic movie watching!

Amazon has some great combo DVDs of old mysteries too, including the one at Target but it’s not on sale for $5 (at Amazon it’s still the normal $5.98):

All I can say is wow! What a powerful movie. It was wonderful to see so many great actors and actresses in this movie, as well as those I hadn’t seen before, and all doing such a tremendous job.

John Grisham’s bestseller A Time to Kill hits the screen with incendiary force, directed by Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever, The Client). Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey and Kevin Spacey portray the principals in a murder trial that brings a small Mississippi town’s racial tensions to the flashpoint. Amid a frenzy of activist marches, Klan terror, media clamor and brutal riots, an unseasoned but idealistic young attorney mounts a stirring courtroom battle for justice. The superb ensemble also includes Brenda Fricker, Oliver Platt, Charles S. Dutton, Ashley Judd, Patrick McGoohan, Chris Cooper and both Donald and Keifer Sutherland. These and other talents make A Time to Kill “one of the year’s most powerful films” (Jeffrey Lyons, SNEAK PREVIEW/ABC WORLD NEWS NOW).

This is a tragic, heartwarming, heartbreaking story. It is a must see movie, and an amazing book by John Grisham. I can’t say it enough … it was an exceptional movie. My copy of this DVD movie is an older, two sided DVD that has the cardboard snap cover on it, rather than a standard plastic DVD cover. I got it from a bin somewhere, maybe Walmart, or maybe even a thrift store somewhere, or maybe even on eBay’s Half.com. I can’t remember for sure as I have had it for several years now. The movie itself was done in 1996.

If you ever have an opportunity to rent or buy this movie, I don’t think you can be disappointed in it.

The big names, the well known actors and actresses were fantastic in their roles, as was the leading role played by Matthew McConaughey (he did a great job!), and his wife by Ashley Judd were very deep roles, as was Sandra Bullock’s role. It was great to see father and son (Donald and Keifer Sutherland) in the same movie and playing such dramatically different roles. I don’t think I remember seeing the two of them together in a movie before. Have you?

You wouldn’t know it by watching the Batman movies they collaborated on, but this smart adaptation of John Grisham’s novel proves that director Joel Schumacher and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have some talent when the right project comes along. Schumacher had previously directed Grisham’s The Client, and brought equal craft and intelligence to this story about a young Southern attorney (Matthew McConaughey, in his breakthrough role) who defends a black father (Samuel L. Jackson) after he kills two men who raped his young daughter. Sandra Bullock plays the passionate law student who serves as McConaughey’s legal aide and voice of conscience in the racially charged drama. Added to the star power of the lead roles is a fine supporting cast, including Kevin Spacey, Ashley Judd, and Oliver Platt. –Jeff Shannon

Karate Kid (2010) was a thoroughly engrossing and great movie. It had all the the same elements as the original Karate Kid. Jackie Chan and Jayden Smith did a great job.

I found it exciting, engaging, heartwarming, and a great sequel to the original Karate Kid. I found it refreshing that they decided to use Kung Fu (one of my favorite TV Shows too), instead of Karate this time around, and who better to show that off as the teacher then Jackie Chan! He did a great job, and Pat Morita was a tough act to follow. He was wonderful in the Forbidden Kingdom as well, BTW.

I was highly impressed with Jayden’s first truly leading role, hats off to you Jayden. Great job. I am sure Dad, Will Smith, and the rest of your family are very proud of the job you did.

This is not Jayden Smith’s first movie though, he also played Jacob Benson in the new The Day The Earth Stood Still as well. Another movie where I enjoyed the remake as much as the original.

Considering that the original Karate Kid movie got high ratings, as it should (it is one of my favorites, btw), it was a tough act to follow, even though it was done back in 1984. Which is all the more reason that Karate Kid (2010) still stands tall as a great flick, to me. And the fact that I can say that many good things about this movie, gives Jayden’s performance even more of a thumbsup. And who better to take over the role of reluctant Kung Fu teacher than Jackie Chan, the drunken immortal from Forbidden Kingdom…and all of his other wonderful, action packed films. I make it a point never to miss any of Jackie Chan’s movies, or Jet Li’s for that matter.

I thought it was great to take this remake to China. The scenery was gorgeous and so fitting for such a movie.

I saw Karate Kid was out at Red Box, so I figured what could I lose, right? But to my surprise was thoroughly pleased with the choice and the movie. When I got it, I got it from Red Box on the movie name alone. I didn’t realize who was it it. Just wanted to see the remake for myself. Very glad I did!

Like they mentioned in the Editorial Review at Amazon, I too agree that this should be 8-12 or older, with parental guidance. But with that guidance, I think it would be an inspiration to most kids in that age group, or kids of any age.