Cinexamine: Ben-Hur 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition

New DVD & Blu-Ray Collection Update

Film and Television collection update featuring old and new releases. Includes TV and Movie Reviews.




Featured Films

Ben-Hur

Directed by William Wyler (The Letter, The Memphis Belle),

Written by Karl Tunberg (Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?)

Starring: Charlton Heston (The Ten Commandments, Planet of the Apes), Jack Hawkins (The Cruel Sea, The Long Arm, Man in the Sky, The League of Gentlemen), Haya Harareet (The Interns), Stephen Boyd (The Oscar), Hugh Griffith (How to Steal a Million), Martha Scott (Charlotte's Web), Cathy O'Donnell (The Best Years of Our Lives), Sam Jaffe (The Day the Earth Stood Still), Finlay Currie (Stars and Stripes Forever), Frank Thring (King of Kings, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), Terence Longdon (The Avengers) and George Relph (The Final Test).

Top 10 Best Films of 2012

Better late than never, right? At least this list has the benefit of time and a few re-watches!

The Best of 2012 Films

Better late than never? Here are my picks for the best in film of 2012!

Retro DVD/Blu-Ray Update Week #35

DVD & Blu-Ray Collection Update #33 "Schism"
Date Posted: November 19, 2012
Summary: New DVD & Blu-Ray Collection Update. Check out my DVD & Blu-Ray collection update featuring old and new movie releases. Television Series' also featured. Mini Review included.

DVD & Blu-Ray Collection Overview: 5 Years Later

New DVD & Blu-Ray Collection Overview

Check out my film collection four years after starting to collect! Featured: Movies and TV Shows!

Where You Can Find Me
The Thinking Lens Blog: http://thethinkinglens.blogspot.ca/
Tumblr.: http://thethinkinglens.tumblr.com/
Gomiso: http://gomiso.com/u/crisrav1138
last.fm: http://www.last.fm/user/SexySeb1138
Film Aficionado: http://crisrav1138.filmaf.com/
letterboxd: http://letterboxd.com/crisrav1138

The Thinking Lens Brain Flares #1: Top Ten Best Film Heroes

Top Ten Greatest Movie Heroes and Heroines

James Bond. Indiana Jones. Han Solo. Spartacus. Superman. Lassie. Ellen Ripley. Cinema has no short supply of great heroes in film. This list explores my picks for the 10 best movie heroes and heroines.

"The Thinking Lens": Commentary on Film, Music, Video Games, Television, Politics and Pop Culture.

Where You Can Find Me
The Thinking Lens Blog: http://thethinkinglens.blogspot.ca/
Tumblr.: http://thethinkinglens.tumblr.com/
Gomiso: http://gomiso.com/u/crisrav1138
last.fm: http://www.last.fm/user/SexySeb1138
Film Aficionado: http://crisrav1138.filmaf.com/
letterboxd: http://letterboxd.com/crisrav1138

The various use of media material is protected by the Fair Use Clause of the U.S Copyright Act of 1976, which allows for the rebroadcast of copyrighted materials for the purposes of commentary, criticism, satire/parody and education.

Every Journey Has An End

This is it. Following my latest DVD & Blu-Ray Collection Update video (seen above) I revealed that it would also, in fact, be my last. This was a long time coming and there is little to no chance I will go back on this decision, but what does this mean for the future of my Youtube channel and my involvement in this Film Fan online community that I’ve become a part of? Well here’s the deal:

1) I’m Not Going Anywhere: My Youtube channel will remain open and all previous videos will still be available for viewing. I’ll still be watching and commenting on videos from the people I’m subscribed to, especially from those who were kind enough to take the time to regularly view my own, and I’ll still be present online where the DVD Collecting Community generally ‘hang out’ on social networking sites such as Twitter, Tumblr, Last.FM, DVD Aficionado, and Gomiso.

1) No More DVD/Blu-Ray Collection Update Videos: This is a final decision. The reasons come down to the basic fact that even when putting a minimal amount of effort into getting the update videos online and with at least some sense of quality, it still takes more time than the rewards are worth. I don’t want to come across as someone whining about a lack of comments or views on my videos recently, but facts are facts and there seems little point in putting work into something without an audience. Naturally I will still be collecting films on DVD and Blu-Ray, and I will still share my recent buys with the online community, however these new “updates” will either take the form of a simple image of recent hauls or a blog post featuring brief reviews of the films I’ve collected. This takes me to my next point…

3) The Thinking Lens Blog!: Considering I’m now in full-time University studies in a Film Studies program, I’ve more than decided that a career in film journalism is the path I’d love to pursue. While I’ve made blog posts in the past, I’ve generally done them sporadically and in moments of boredom. Now I’ve decided, for the time being at least, to focus on this blog first, foremost, and with greater frequency. While Tumblr is a great place to write, posts can easily get lost among the reblogged images, GIF’s, and works from others. This blogspot site will be devoted exclusively to whatever written posts I may conjure up. If nothing else the writing will be good practice for whatever future endeavors I may embark on. This blog will unsurprisingly focus on film, television, music, literature, politics, and everything else going on in the world worth discussing! Hopefully many of you will swing by and visit!

4) Future Youtube videos?: Does the end of DVD/Blu-Ray Updates mean the end of new videos? Not permanently…but probably for a while. While a traditional short Christmas related video will likely be up for the holidays, chances are it will be the last video of any sort for some time. So what’s planned for the future? Some of you may have watched two of my videos uploaded under the title The Thinking Lens (and to those who did, I thank you) which focused on analyzing various media related topics of my choosing. While the videos didn’t exactly turn out how I planned, I have learned from them and developed new ideas for the ‘series’ in the process. Therefore the future for my Youtube channel will consist of videos part of a series titled The Thinking Lens which will continue to explore and discuss all things media. The key difference this time is that I will be putting a lot more effort into these videos in terms of producing better quality work. Hence why it may be a while before you see new videos as it will take considerable time to get them to where I want them to be and I am still a full-time student with other responsibilities. Some would argue why quit making Collection Update videos due to low viewership only to begin making more ambitious ones? We’ll my logic is that if I’m going to put up videos at all, they may as well be ones I’m proud of putting up and hopefully the audience can grow from that. I’ll update you all on when you can expect to see these videos, however in the meantime this blog is where I will be most active. Hopefully you will stick around here now and in the future!

There you have it. I’ve enjoyed my time sharing the films I’ve collected with you all and will continue to share in the discussions with all of you. This is far from the end for me on Youtube or as a member of this great community. It’s a fun group which looks to be adding newer and greater members as time goes on and I look forward to future material from all of you. This is just a step in a new direction for me that I hope turns out well. Until then, thanks for the support and take care!

-Seb 

"The Tree of Life" Movie Review

C-Rav ponders over the meaning of it all as he reviews Terrence Malick's Experimental Drama Film: The Tree of Life.

Film Info

Plot: The origins and meaning of life are explored through a middle-aged man's childhood memories of his family living in 1950s Texas, interspersed with images of the origins of the universe and the inception of life on Earth.

Written and Directed by: Terrence Malick (Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line).

Starring: Brad Pitt (Seven, Fight Club, Snatch), Sean Penn (I Am Sam,Mystic River, Milk) and Jessica Chastain (The Help, The Debt, Take Shelter).

The various use of media material is protected by the Fair Use Clause of the U.S Copyright Act of 1976, which allows for the rebroadcast of copyrighted materials for the purposes of commentary, criticism, satire/parody and education.