Hitman (Unrated Edition)

This was a hit with me
I didn't expect to be impressed with this movie because in my mind it was simply another flick made from a video game but man, I was blown away! In fact it was so enjoyable that ten minutes after finishing it I wanted to see it again, and that rarely happens. Never mind the few geographical errors, this movie is all action and there is no waste of precious minutes on mindless love scenes - the one actually has one cut short by the main hero and it was humorous, how he was all business, him being this monk killer for hire who lives a chaste life. In a way it was like a James Bond character who actually didn't try to bed all the babes, impressive. And Timothy Olyphant was flawless, even thought I prefer men with longer hair he looked cool and totally acted the part, mysterious, brooding but with a heart in there somewhere.

Bald and serious, dressed in an expensive suit, red silk tie and an impeccably crisp white shirt the Hitman is a force to be reckoned with. He's not too...

It helps that he is a little bit HOT!
I really enjoyed this movie....I mean what is there not to like. You have a hitman (the sexy #47) who has been trained from childhood to be the best at what he does. Trained to hold his breath, shoot anything that moves from any distance, armed with sexy weapons and a barcode (tattooed beautifully in his scalp), along with an air of calm (that would make anyone scared who he faces), he is the perfect killing machine and running for his life. Determined to protect Nika, a prostitute to the President of Russia, from who else (her lover), #47 goes about the task of fighting the bad guys and righting what he thinks are wrongs. With a Interpol Cop on his heels, he attempts to uncover the truth about why someone he thought he killed wants him dead and what the whole thing is about. I enjoyed this movie...with its cool fight scenes and nice special effects. It was definitely worth renting on a Sunday afternoon.

Much Better Than I Heard
I had heard a lot of bad things and bad reviews about this movie. I was suprised when I watched it that it was as good as it was. I thought Timothy Olyphant did a good job and that the girl who played his love interest was also good and HOT. The guy that plays T-Bag on the TV show Prison Break was also good. I have never played this game but I thought the story was pretty solid. It kind of reminded me of The Bourne Identity as he is a trained super assassin from a place that churns them out and he has flash backs of good and bad things.

Anyway, the action rocked and it was exciting and entertaining beginning to end. It was pretty good and fun to watch.

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The Civilization of Maxwell Bright

Starts off a little rough, but evolves into a sensitive, moving experience
I picked this DVD largely for very shallow reasons.....the cover picture. I like Patrick Warburton from his Seinfeld appearances and was curious about his attractive co-star. The first fifteen minutes, however, left me wondering about the wisdom of my choice and that of Mr. Warburton. In amateurish, hand-held porno-grade video, our man Patrick (alias Maxwell Bright), completely naked for all to see, is depicted having a profane, physically violent altercation with his similarly (un)attired girlfriend on a public street. Bystanders, police, and the audience are all left gaping at the spectacle, while Pat/Max, spouting some seriously politically-incorrect epithets at everyone involved, is finally silenced by his disgusted, hoe-swinging girlfriend. As my wife eyed me from across the room, contemplating what punishment I should face for picking this train wreck, we both considered pushing the STOP button on the DVD player and calling it a night. I am glad we didn't.

What...

The Civilization of Maxwell Bright - Perhaps The Most Surprisingly Good Movie I've Seen In Years
The Civilization of Maxwell Bright has the grainy appearance of low budget filming and a story that seems tailor made for Lifetime Television or late night Cinemax. So it's only natural to think that the bare bones production probably produced an unimpressive movie. And yet, I found this movie to be engaging and powerful.

The story does not break familiar ground. All the clichés under the sun are here. An over-aggressive type A American man thinks the cure to his woman problems will be a submissive Asian woman. The Maxwell character will remind you of dozens of disgruntled controlling men portrayed in many movies. They don't hide from the cliches; in fact they embrace them. All sorts of taboos are touched upon here: sex, religion, and displays of polical incorrectness that will make you laugh and cringe from one moment to the next.

But the way the story unfolds feels so real...

For those who worship Warburton
This film is mostly for people that think Patrick Warburton is the hottest man in the world. For those who wanted to know what he looks like in boxers, in swimming trunks, in Speedos, then this is for you. We see much more of him than we were fortunate enough to see in "Big Trouble." In fact, he gives us his all, if you know what I mean. He doesn't stay on screen as long as M.C. Gainey blessed viewers with in "Sideways." Really, if you blink you'll miss it. Still, for those who have wanted to see Warburton as a main character, rather than a peripheral one and who want to experience more of his corporeality, then this is for them.

This is a low-budget, indie film. You can tell by the few cast members and the way the camera focuses on small areas of space. This film has several of what Brad Pitt called cigarette burns in "Fight Club." The character played by Simon Callow wears an earring in his right ear, though he has a wife on-screen. If this weren't made before...

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Chicka Chicka Boom Boom... and More Fun with Letters and Numbers (Scholastic Storybook Treasures)

amazing stories, told amazingly well
My 2 1/2 year-old son *loves* this video. At first it was just "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," which is a story about the alphabet with a super-catchy tune. (Different from the Ray Charles version that comes with the book, but good on its own merits.) Then he loved "Wild About Books," a story about the librarian who drives her bookmobile into the zoo and gets all the animals hooked on reading. (Narrated wonderfully by Catherine O'Hara.) This story can be easily enjoyed by a 2-year-old and still has some things that will entertain an adult.

There are just so many great books narrated (and animated) on this DVD: "Blueberries for Sal" is a classic, as are "A Story, a Story," "Inch by Inch," and "Millions of Cats" (although personally, I don't like the last book). "Five Creatures" was new to me, but I also recommend it.

The animations on this DVD and the choices of stories are wonderful. We put on the subtitling, which highlights the words as they are being read. This...

So whimsical and fun!
This is one of my favorite Scholastic Read-along DVDs! The stories are all so CUTE!!!

CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM is a great alphabet sing! It has a very singable chorus (I'm a music teacher, so I really appreciate a good sing-along story!), and is animated very well

WILD ABOUT BOOKS is an adorable story with very current references to popular children's books. The animals are illustrated by the same guy that illustrates the "Arthur" series, although I find these illustrations even more whimsical than Arthur. The best part is during the credits, they made fake bloopers!!!! SO funny and cute!!!!!

INCH BY INCH is a great story about an inchworm who proves his usefulness by measuring different parts of different birds (the tail of a robin, the legs of a stork, etc.) so that he won't be eaten! He finally comes across a stubborn nightingale who tells him to measure his song or he'll eat the inchworm! Beautifully illustrated, and very cute!

FIVE...

Great fun with a little learning on the side!
My 4 yr old granddaughter loves this video. We play it every time she's here. I even find myself singing along with it! I highly recommend this for your preschooler.

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La Fea Mas Bella

It's a souvenir, not a substitute.
Wow. Don't buy this unless you've already seen most of series, especially towards the end. That way, your memory can fill in the large gaps left behind by merciless editing. Otherwise, I don't think this DVD set is going to make much sense to you.

When I heard this set was going to be less than 20 hours, I got worried. The actual series was about 300 hours long, minus commercials. Even though that included a lot of filler material I knew I'd never miss, I didn't think there was any way to get it down to 20 hours without losing some important plot points.

Well, maybe there is a way to do it, but this DVD set isn't it. The runtime is 15 hours, 24 minutes, which means (predictably) that there's a lot of stuff missing.

The packaging is very cheesy - inside the box, there's just one small sheet of paper (printed on only one side) that lists the chapter breaks for the main program. If you want to know where the extras are, you need to hunt around the disks...

Sorry Explanation for bad editing
I'm seriously upset with the DVD set, many of the already posted reviews match everything I would say... so I'm only going to post what happened when I emailed the CEO of Xenon Pictures.... This does not make up for anything maybe if more fans emailed Xenon and complained something better might come out of it.

"Hi Cynthia. I'm sorry you were disappointed with the dvd version of La Fea Mas Bella.

As you are aware, the original telecast versions of La Fea and other telenovelas are often up to 300 hours in length. If we were to release an unedited version of any particular show, we'd be asking consumers to pay $150 per telenovela given the fact that it would be a 25-30 disc set. We tested a full length version of Amor Real (the most popular telenovela of its time) and no one wanted it at that price. Another difficult issue is music clearance costs which makes a full length version too expensive to produce.

In terms of what you saw in the final product of...

You won't get the whole story!
This DVD set has already been released in Mexico. Although there are four DVDs you will not get the whole set of episodes that were shown on TV. They are edited and a lot is missing, especially toward the middle and end. The main story is there, but you might have to look up an episode guide on the internet to make sense out of some of the plot. Otherwise there will be some very strange jumps in the story. Other than that, this is a great series with excellent acting and a lot of it is laugh-out-loud funny, so you will probably enjoy it even when the plot seems a little incoherent.

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The Last Emperor (The Criterion Collection)

Blu-ray edition is not a direct carry over from the deluxe 4 DVD edition
When I was informed that the Blu-ray of the deluxe 4 disc Criterion edition would be missing the extended cut of 218 minutes, I sent an e-mail to Criterion to confirm this information. I have included my e-mail and the response I received from Jon Mulvany at Criterion. I hope this helps in your decision if you are planning to upgrade to the Blu-ray.

Dear Jon,
I have long been a fan of your company and the fine treatment it gives to movies. I originally purchased one of my all time favorite movies, The Last Emperor earlier this year when it was given the deluxe 4 disc treatment, I was thrilled with all of the extras that were included. I was most impressed that both versions of the movie were included for me to chose from. When it was announced that it was coming to Blu-ray, I sold my copy and was waiting to upgrade. I was! I have learned that the 165 min. version is the only one that will be included on the Blu-ray and not the 218 min (my preferred version) cut...

Magnificent Criterion Set... Mouthwatering Extras... Some Caveats... Notably Ugly Cropping
I won't go into the movie itself. It is already well known. It swept the Oscars winning all 9 for which it was nominated, including Best Picture and Best Director. A first for an independent foreign film. It is an historical epic about a culture which until then was little known in the West. It tells the story of China's Last Emperor, a weak and ineffectual man who came to the throne hailed as The Son of Heaven and The Lord of 10,000 Years. His misfortune was to be born at the twilight of Imperial Rule in China. Enthroned as a God, he is cast out by Chinese Republicans, used as a puppet by the invading Japanese, humiliated by the Communists and then "re-educated" to finally become a "useful" member of society - a common gardener. It is the story of one man's tragedy and of an ancient civilisation's painful march into the modern era. A film not to be missed.

This is a truly magnificent set. Criterion at its best. Spread over 4 discs, it includes both versions of the film,...

"Director's Cut" versus "Theatrical Cut"
This review is not so much a review of the movie or this release in particular. It would seem that there will be no shortage of glorious reviews of this movie and I would just be adding my voice to the gale winds of appraise. I write this to clear up the common mis-perception that the longer cut of this movie is a director's cut.

The previously released longer cut of The Last Emperor which was released on DVD and subsequently labeled as a "Director's Cut" is in fact a longer, made for television mini-series version that was made to satisfy a particular distribution/production deal. Bertolucci himself has gone on record to say that the actual version of the film that he envisioned is the one that went out to theaters, thereby making the shorter "Theatrical Cut" the actual director's cut.

Being the huge fan of this movie that I am, I can't help but want more of this movie, but I'd be lying if I said that the shorter version isn't great just as it is. The movie does...

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The Fugitive - Season One, Vol. Two

Finally, Dr. Kimble Runs Toward Our DVD Player
At long last, the groundbreaking television series, "The Fugitive" comes to DVD. This show, which lasted from 1963-1967, was suspenseful, moving, engaging, and original. This was the first successful television show that took the dramatic formula of putting the hero with new characters and in new situations every week to another level. In previous shows such as Cheyenne, Maverick, and many others, the hero was a wanderer going from town to town to earn a living. In this show, the hero had no choice. He had to run to stay out of jail.

Charged with murdering his wife, a crime he did not commit, Dr. Richard Kimble, played by David Janssen, escapes from the law when the train taking him to his execution wrecks. Tracked doggedly by police inspector Gerard, Kimble wanders across the country running from the law while trying to track down the one-armed man he saw leaving his house the night his wife was murdered. As he wanders the country, he helps many people with their problems,...

THE FUGITIVE KEEPS RUNNING!!
The review by Desilu Trek "Live Long & Prosper" is right on! TV viewers today simply do not realize the dramatic depth of this classic TV show! I cannot recommend it highly enough to TV fans who love great drama! David Janssen was simply perfect for the role of Richard Kimble, and the hang-dog looks of humiliation that he can display as an M.D. on the run from blind "justice" - while constantly searching for clues to the whereabouts of the "one-armed man" whom he saw running from the scene of his wife's murder - are truly fabulous! Moreover, the guest stars on this TV show read like a "Who's Who" of 1950s-1970s television and movies - some of my favorite guest stars on The Fugitive include Leslie Neilsen, Diana Hyland (=doll), Warren Oates, Carroll O'Connor, Vera Miles (=babe), Brian Keith, Suzanne Pleshette (=doll), Pat Crowley (=babe), Sandy Dennis, Ed Nelson, Susan Oliver (=doll), Robert Duvall, Angie Dickinson (=babe), Beverly Garland, Alejandro Rey, Brenda Vaccaro (=doll),...

Worth whatever they want to charge for it!
This is the second half of Season One of THE FUGITIVE, television's best drama series by more than one account. This is the continuing pursuit of the innocent Dr. Richard Kimble by the relentless Lt. Philip Gerard. The episodes that are included in this volume are:

16 The Garden House
17 Come Watch Me Die
18 Where the Action Is
19 Search in a Windy City
20 Bloodline
21 Rat in a Corner
22 Angels Travel on Lonely Roads (1)
23 Angels Travel on Lonely Roads (2)
24 Flight from the Final Demon
25 Taps for a Dead War
26 Somebody to Remember
27 Never Stop Running
28 The Homecoming
29 Storm Center
30 The End Game

This series is so good that it's worth whatever CBS/Paramount wants to charge. Their mastering of the first half-season was pretty good, and I'd expect the same here.

Bring on more of THE FUGITIVE!

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Ghost Hunters: Season 3-Part 2

Season 3 is where the team is in top form!
The team bickering that plagued season 1 & some of season two is down played in season 3. Jason & Grant's team works more like a well oiled machine. If you are new to the series, you should start with either of the season 3 sets. Watch the earlier seasons afterward to see how it started.

There is one ghastly episode: the "Manson House". Those who are old enough to remember the Charles Manson massacres in the 1960's may find this bringing back bad memories. Even Jason & Grant looked disturbed by the gruesome details.

The top-notch episodes in this half of the season are:

U.S.S. LEXINGTON & WARWICK CITY HALL

THE JIM HENSON STUDIOS & THE "MANSON" HOUSE

NORTHERN STATE HOSPITAL & UNDERGROUND TUNNELS

SAN FRANCISCO PRESIDIO & LULLABY LANE

THE GIBBONS HOUSE & MOORE THEATER

A PRIEST HOUSE & SPRAGUE MANSION

LYCEUM RESTERAUNT & HAWTHORN HOUSE

WAVERLY HILLS SANATORIUM & ATHOL...

Great Show, Awful DVD Quality
The Show is Great, what I could see of it!!! I purchased a copy here on Amazon and it froze so many times on disc three I thought I had a bad set, you know bouncing through the mail and all, then I purchased one at Target same issues on disc three, discs one and two had a few spots too. This is a quality issue with the discs seeing that I have now two differant copies from two differant retail outlets. I thought Big Vision may have learned from Season Two's sound issues but it seems that although Ghost Hunters is very good and well worth the watch, but not worth the frustration of the quality issues and lack of advertised "additional Investigations", also the quality is so poor the deleted Scenes on Disc three don't even play. Stay Away until Big Vision corrects the quality.

I never grow tired of this show
Like other people who have written reviews, this is absolutely my favorite program to watch. I can't wait for Wednesday night to see the show, even if its a rerun. I've watched other 'ghost hunter' shows (such as Most Haunted) but it doesn't even compare to this. Grant and Jason are awesome, along with Steve, Brian, Tango, Kris and Dustin. I do enjoy Brian - he's a little quirky, but it adds to the chemistry of the people. Hope this is on for years to come!

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Sliders: The Fourth Season

A truly mixed bag
First the technical stuff:

In a very good move, the disks in this set are single-sided! An improvement over season 3. The box (exterior and interior) design is similar to season 3 with different art/colors. It's a 5 tray digipak design with a tape hinge that's glued to a flexible green translucent plastic "wrap around" cover. The portion of the cover hidden by the slipcase has episode information screened on it, which is nice and a first for this series. Video is Full Frame (1.33:1) as originally broadcast, and looks very good. Audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0. There are English subtitles. Disks 1, 4, & 5 have 4 episodes each with disks 2 & 3 having 5 each. From all appearances, "missing scenes" have been restored to the appropriate episodes.

Comments about the season:

Sliders moved from Fox to the Sci Fi Channel beginning with this season. The first episode garnered the highest premiere rating that the Sci Fi Channel had ever received up until...

Better VERY late, than never
It took a big swift kick in the tush to get Universal Studios to FINALLY release season four of Sliders and now we fans own the DVD before they are all in their 70s and in rocking chairs! It was probably the studio's latest battle with the bootleg industry that finally got them listening.

Although this season lacked the humor of the other three seasons (I deeply miss John Rye Davies) this season has the most action of any other. Unlike any other season the Kromags were given a role as a group of villains identical to the Nazis. Many episodes were actually downright scary.

The very best episode of all is "California Reich", in which the sliders land on a world that still discriminates by race and surgically converts blacks into faceless beings called "eddies". The last part of this episode is really a shocker.

One very major change is the character of Cleavant Derricks. In the first three seasons the character "Rembrandt" was a bit similar to that of...

Very Underrated Season
Season 4 of Sliders is actually a much better season than the ultimately disappointing 3rd season, as the show returns to the basics and concentrates on building the chemistry between the travelers instead of the movie-spoof of the week format the now departed David Peckinpah forced on us in the previous season.

Some of the very finest episodes of the series are in this season, presenting some novel sci-fi concepts and furthering the show's mythology.

There's an episode where an alternate Quinn accidentally slides his entire world away, an episode where all citizens are forcefully medicated by the government, an episode where the sliders are turned into computer data, and episodes dealing with themes as diverse as racial cleansing, reality television, an anti-Kromagg virus, the technological divide, cloning for body parts and rapid aging.

This is truly this troubled but fascinating show's last hurrah and well worth adding to your collection.

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Wristcutters - A Love Story

Amor e morte
Most romantic comedies take place in... you know, the world of the living. They rarely star dead people. And not suicides, either.

But "Wristcutters: A Love Story" is not going to be tied down by that. This delicious, dark little cult film is about people who have committed suicide, and are now stuck in a limbo zone that is just like the living world, but less appealing. It's also dark, funny and poignant -- everything you want in a very original little indie movie.

Because of a breakup, Zia (Patrick Fugit) has decided that life is no longer worth living. He cleans his house, slits his wrists -- and finds himself in a strange twilight-zone with no sunshine, smiles, or appetizing food, and entirely populated by suicides -- think a Midwestern small town, but more depressing. He eventually gets a job, a nasty roommate, and befriends Eugene (Shea Whigham) a likably bombastic Russian rocker.

But then Zia learns from a new suicide that his girlfriend,...

A Unique Uplifting Dark Comedy
This film goes far beyond the short story "Neller's Happy Campers" by Etgar Keret found in The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories. It is about the weird world that suicides go to. (A world just like this one only worse).
You will see some strange things on the journey you take in this film with the characters.
The acting is excellent.
The soundtrack ranges from the otherworldly to Eskimo throat singing. (You've got to hear it)
It is a very dark comedy but has a surprisingly light touch and a goofy feel-good style. It is hard to describe. It is like "Crossroads" meets "Road Warrior" but everybody is already dead.

a hopeful message for the hopeless
A heartwarming romantic comedy that's about the afterworld for those who commit suicide and wind up in a gloomier world than our own. The movie is funny and poignant and, although, offensive to just about every group of people, it's light and hopeful at the same time. A gem of a movie and a definitely deserving of its Sundance win.

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The Shield: Season One

One of the Only Shows on TV Worth Watching!
I love this show! I first got into it after reading some of the reviews posted here on these Season One dvds, so I thought I would give it a try and I purchased this complete season. I am truly glad that I did. I was hooked from the first episode to the last and I am now watching Season 2 on FX. What makes this show far better than all the other cop shows is that the production value is more in line with HBO or a movie than a cable television show. The acting is extremely good as are the scripts and dialogue. Even though Vic and his team are labeled "dirty" cops you can't help but root for them in the end. Michael Chiklis deserved his Golden Globe award for best actor, he takes on this role as if Vic Mackey was himself in a former life. I was also glad this show won the award for best drama series on TV. If you haven't seen the show yet and are unsure if you would like it, give it a try. It's a bit brutal and graphic, but by the time you finish the final episode, "Circles," you will...

The best cop-drama series on TV bar none
Shawn Ryan's raw, gritty and excellent The Shield on the FX Channel gives the well-worn cop-drama genre a lethal dose of adrenaline. The Shield is not your dad's old type of cop show. Where shows like Law and Order (and its many spin-offs) shows cops at their honorable best, Ryan's series shows that there are also tragically flawed men who wear police blues.

The Shield and its main character Vic Mackey (excellently played by Michael Chiklis) shows the dark, seedy underbelly of police work in a multi-ethnic district of Los Angeles. The show uses the real-life, scandal of the LAPD's RAMPART Division and runs with it. Instead of South Central, the show primarily uses the fictional LA district of Farmington as their base of operation. It is an area rife with gang activity, violence and drug-dealing. There's also the racial divisions between the Latino and black communities always in danger of bursting into open violence. Through all this lies Vic Mackey and his RAMPART-like...

Mercilessly unflinching L.A. police drama!!
Thank God for cable TV!

"The Shield" is the most intense new cop series in a decade. The action centers around an proto-experimental police precinct in South Central L.A. The action is violent and intense and pulls no punches. Series lead Michael Chiklis stars as Vic Mackey, leader of an elite squad within the precinct. Mackey is corrupt, amoral, but a great and effective cop. Even when you want to hate him you can't help but root for him. The precinct house's new Lieutenant makes no secret about wanting to bust Mackey as part of his political aspirations, but Mackey isn't going down without a fight. And he certainly has the fight in him.

The final scene in the first episode set the tone for what kind of cop Mackey can be. But throughout the whole first season viewers are treated to a level of grittiness and action rarely seen on television. Always intense!

One particularly satisfying story arc in the first season centers around one of the precinct's new detectives...

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Bette Davis Centenary Celebration Collection (All About Eve / Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte / The Virgin Queen / Phone Call from a Stranger / The Nanny)

Three films new to DVD, two double-dips
This is the second of two boxed sets celebrating the one hundredth birthday of Bette Davis. The other one is from Warner Home Video, and since Bette Davis is often called "the fifth Warner Brother", obviously Warner's has a much larger library of films from which to choose. My main complaint with this set is not that the films are not good, but that two of the films - "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" and "All About Eve" have already been released by Fox under the Studio Classics label. That leaves only three films new to DVD in this set.

As for the three films that are new to DVD, chances are you may have never even heard of them, much less seen them. The problem is that Fox owns the rights, won't let anyone else such as Turner Classic Movies televise them, and would rather televise "Wall Street" ten times a month on the Fox Movie Channel rather than put these older good films on at all.

All About Eve (1950) - This film brought Davis' career back from the brink and...

TWO RE-ISSUES, THREE NEW TO DVD....
"All About Eve" & "Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte" are re-issued and re-packaged with new extras in this fine set. New to DVD are "The Virgin Queen", "The Nanny", and "Phone Call From a Stranger". All are encased in their own individual slim-cases with art work. For Davis fans, this edition is completely worth it. A bravura array of Davis performances is featured here. And the performances couldn't be more different: a Broadway star, a haunted Southern recluse, a Queen of England, a British nanny, and the small but pivotal role of a wife of a plane crash victim. The prints are fine and the extras are good including a 4-page booklet with added info on each film. As with all these sets, it just leaves you wanting more. However, this one was worth waiting for. Enjoy.

Fox's cheap shot
20th Century FOx doesn't hold many Bette Davis movies so they stash all of them in this fine box. But how? In slimline cases, so kinda cheap, maybe not, but what kind of idiot packs a two-disc edition in slimline case WITH a booklet inside that obvisouly is going to be punched through in the middle several times because that's how the casing works? Only idiots approve these. It's really a low low shot and I would not expect this from ANYONE, not even the cheapest studio ever. It's just unbelievable. And that's supposed to be the special edition movie of the pack!!!!
As for the content, no complaint there, and love the extras on Hush Hush where for the first time I see more than one still of Joan Crawford on the set and there's even a featurette on the backstory.

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American Dad!, Vol. 3

"Like a morally justified lethal injection"--Stan
American Dad gets wittier with every season it seems. Season 1 was good but didn't produce memorable episodes. Season 2 had two of my favorite episodes ("Lincoln Lover" and "Roger N Me") and season 3 offers another all-time favorite of mine "Vacation Goo." This season also includes highlight shows like "Meter Made," "Dope and Faith," and "Surro-gate." There are not many weak episodes here although "Bush Comes To Dinner" was a little much. Stan's one-liners are what make this show. They are often wittier and funnier than any lines on Family Guy and even South Park. Oh, and Roger is a great character! Lately, I've been enjoying the new American Dad episodes more than Family Guy which shows that, while FG seems to be digressing, AD is setting itself apart with smarter, more consistent writing and less filler.

Disc 1:
"Bush Comes To Dinner"--G.W. has dinner at the Smiths and Roger gives him booze which causes him to fall off the wagon. Meanwhile, Roger tries to track...

Why is this TV show not more popular?!?!
This show is just brilliant. I love Family Guy, but I just think the writing in this is even one step better. Smart and really funny... and the former is probably why it does not do better in the ratings.

God Bless America
America can rest peacefully with overprotective CIA agent Stan Smith on watch in the hilarious animated series "American Dad!". In this collection of humorous episodes, Stan is overwhelmed by all the attention from his family by pretending that they are the last people on Earth. Housewife Francine divorces Stan so he can experience again bachelor life and save their marriage. Daughter Hayley gathers evidence of President Bush's drunken antics to publicly humiliate him. Son Steve uncovers a 150-year-old conspiracy but a secret society will stop at nothing to prevent exposing. Roger the alien becomes a professional bounty hunter and joins Stan on the manhunt for Hayley's boyfriend. "American Dad!" is the hit animated FOX sitcom from the twisted minds behind "Family Guy". These 18 episodes from the second and third seasons feature some cutting-edge humor, memorable characters and guest voice stars like Peter Graves, Elliot Gould, Lisa Edelstein, Patton Oswald, Patrick Stewart and Academy...

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Walk Hard - The Dewey Cox Story (Two-Disc Special Edition)

A Showcase For Reilly, And Screamingly Funny To Boot!
Ya'd figure that classic zany comedy was dead. Sure, there have been ambitious stuff, but more often than not, a lot of today's "comedy" movies are either blatent "gross-out" fests written for 12-year-olds, or the tired "let's-make-a-satire-of-the-current-favorite-genre" formula. Truthfully, the last great American comedy for me was "There's Something About Mary." Sure, it was a stupid-humor film, but it had genuine laugh-out-loud surprises and, more importantly, heart. Basically, it was a sweet romantic comedy with slapstick thrown in for good measure.

Judd Apatow, whether he's directing or producing, seems to be the guy who'll revive well-done dumb-guy humor. All by himself, judging by the list of hits he's thrown out. "Walk Hard," unfortunately, was the least commercially success ful of them, and for what reason I don't know. He did satire right, focussing on one character through a much-travelled formula, created a believable (and funny) body of work for the...

Walk the Funny Line
(3.5 *'s) Judd Apatow's `Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' is a familiar project. As the producer of `The Forty Old Virgin, 'Knocked Up,' and 'Superbad,' he takes another irreverent comedy, this time a parody of music biopics of popular music icons. Sometimes savvy, sometimes obvious, the movie is mostly an effective and witty trip through pop music history.

One of the best decisions was to cast John C. Reilly in the title role. Watching the film, I kept thinking Will Ferrell could have been cast as Dewey Cox. As much as I like Ferrell, his overexposure to such familiar loopiness may have made the movie overwrought. With Reilly's fine performance as "Lefty" in 'A Prairie Home Companion,' they made the right choice. There's a certain restraint he brings to the role that's welcome and refreshing.

For those who have seen `Ray,' and, especially `Walk the Line' the referenced parody will be clear, but those who haven't undoubtedly will be in for a fun time, too...

For the dreamers out there who also like to laugh
I have never before been inspired by a satirical, fictional comedy. (Is that half redundant?) But by the end of Walk Hard, I felt fantastic! That was the unexpected curve. The comedy though, is what I was after and I got it by the fistfuls! Sight gags, the absurd, live action caricatures of famous people, plenty of drug humor, etc. There were aspects of Steve Martin being channeled by John C. Reilly. And, I feel you can't really go wrong with John. He's not Academy Award material, he's just a perfect character actor. I enjoyed immensely his will to succeed coupled with his faulty decision-making processes. He was an idiot, but an intensely focused idiot. They basically made fun of every "unknown boy from nowhere makes it big" movie that came before it. And they did it well. The beginning had me wondering if the level of comedy was going to be elemntary school or not. And maybe it was. Who cares? It got funnier to me the longer I watched. And it even had a moral to it.

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The Cosby Show: Season Seven

Welcome Erika!
The Cosby Show's seventh season premiered on September 20,1990 with the cast at its all-time largest. Erika Alexander joins as Clair Huxtable's(Phylicia Rashad) kid cousin Pamela Tucker who moves into the Huxtable household from a Brooklyn tenement. Pamela attends the same high school as the other Huxtable kids(except Rudy) did. Vanessa(Tempest Bledsoe),who went from the sophomore to the senior level during her high school years last season,leaves the Huxtable nest to attend Lincoln University. So 11-year-old Rudy(Keshia Knight Pulliam) is the only Huxtable kid left in the household(who hasn't yet left at all). Pamela occupied Vanessa's bedroom while Vanessa was away. Rudy and Olivia Kendall(Raven Symone) still share a bedroom and so do Olivia's father Martin(Joseph C. Phillips) and his wife,the former Denise Huxtable(Lisa Bonet). Theo(Malcolm Jamal Warner) is out of the Huxtable household again and back in his girlfriend Justine Phillips'(the late Michelle Thomas,recurringly). Martin...

episodes messed up
First off - I like this new format better - where they give the descriptions of the episode before viewing. However, as I was watching the episodes, I've noticed that two of them are messed up. My episode #14 is actually #19 and vice versa. Has anyone else had that problem, or did I just get a bad set? Otherwise - love the season - especially the characters of Lance, Charmaine & Pam. They crack me up.

A Great Cosby Season
Sadly for me anyway,this was The Cosby Show's final swansong for Lisa Bonet,who would be absent from the show by the season yet to come. As one reviewer also stated this season features the largest cast The Cosby Show ever had. This also introduces the character of Cousin Pam and her best friend Charmaine (soon to be a featured character on A Different World)-not only that but the community center where they dwelled became a platform for one of the best episodes of the season;the two part closer in which Theo,newly assigned to the center tries to encourage a young man who he believes is dyslexic as himself. There are many favorite moments to be seen on this season:one of them finds Denise and Martin looking for apartments,one of which is a cramped "crew quarters" with a shower in the living room. Another favorite involves the two characaters again-this time revolving around a "battle of the sexes" in the Huxtable clan surrounding Theo throwing the couple a bachelor party.Even the...

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Sunrise Earth: American Sunrises

A before-breakfast treat
This is a set of 3 DVDs, each with 3 high-quality, relaxing 52 minute videos. Each video is of one general location (but with several different views of that location) starting before sunrise and continuing until the day has gotten started.

The locations are widely varied, such as near the ocean, in Yellowstone national park, the New England countryside, and several coastal areas. City views? Forget it. These videos are all very much out in nature. Not the view out your own windows, or even from the windows of a vacation cabin.

Sometimes the videos include wildlife. Always lots of relaxing natural sounds too. These are great peaceful videos for those of us who rise later in the morning and don't get out away from town often enough. There are occasional small and unnecessary subtitles to help you figure out what is happening. They do not detract from these very nice videos.

finally!
I have been enjoying Sunrise Earth on Animal Planet for several months now. I have been so hoping they would put this on dvd so I could enjoy it without commercials.

Sunrise Earth has no narration and no music...the only sounds you hear are the natural sounds of the environment being filmed. Yellowstone Geysers is my favorite in this set. I often watch Sunrise Earth before bed and first thing in the morning to ease into the day.

AHHH so relaxing--
I bought this as a gift for someone but I have seen this series before on the Discovery Channel. I would get up at 3:30am during the early months with my twins. I had to have some time to wake up and this was usually on when I would get up. I couldn't have anything on that was too loud and the nature sounds just was so soothing. I'd drink coffee--and not miss seeing the sunrises I used to see too much. I saved one star because I think the hi-def version would be 5 stars! Great gift for a nature lover that doesn't have the time to get to nature or maybe for some reason can't get to nature (like during the winter when you're trapped in the house with kids) :-)

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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (20th Anniversary Edition)

A Fabulously Inventive & Moving Film Given A Washed Out Transfer Onto Blu-Ray...
(THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE "BLU-RAY" VERSION OF THIS FILM)

Sometimes you despair. A new format is trust upon us - and an opportunity is presented to the movie industry to finally to do the business by their classics - and what do they do - they give us the same old dull stock and rip us off by getting us to pay more for it.

Twenty years on, Terry Gilliam's 1989 fantasy epic is still extraordinary - inventive, funny, touching, and on a scale few movies today would even dare to go near. Unfortunately, the 2008 transfer of it to the new format is more Blur-Ray than Blu-Ray. And while it's not awful all the way through - it's not far off it. For large parts of the film there's grain and blocking - the colours in some instances are better for sure - but it's also obvious that little or no restoration has been done to the print - when like "Time Bandits" - here is a fantasy film that is crying out for a clean up - and would surely have been much more commercially viable...

Brilliant fantasy for all ages
The best fairy tales have as many -- if not even more -- lessons for adults as they do for kids. "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," directed by former Monty Pythonite Terry Gilliam, is a great example of this.

Mining a rarely tapped vein of German fantasy lore, the movie brings to life its unlikely hero in the form of a middle-aged, at times elderly, German nobleman. Munchausen wanders the world -- and occasionally places above and below -- seeking outrageous adventures with his marvelous companions: Albrecht, the strongest man alive; Berthold, the fastest man alive; Adolphus, who has amazing vision; and Gustavus, who has incredible hearing and powerful lungs.

In the movie, an elderly Munchausen disrupts a theatrical production of his adventures in a 17th century city under seige by invading Turks. Munchausen's efforts to set the record straight are in turn disrupted by a cannon assault, and his attempt to quietly die in the theater's ruins are interrupted by...

Remarkable. Unbelievable. Impossible. And true
The Age of Reason. A time when men are ruled by logic and emotions have no place. Fantasy is dead. Where does such frivolous things belong in the world today?

But their is always a place for war. And a city is besieged by the Turks, heroism met with death instead of cheers. Why? It's not rational. Even though the government frowns on it, the common people turn to fantasy to forget their woes. The theater is putting on a production of 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen', much to the Baron's chagrin. And so begins an adventure where the aged baron, longing to die then live in a world that has no use for him, goes to end the war because a little girl believes in him.

Along the way he'll find old friends, travel to the moon, inside a volcano, the belly of a giant fish and occasionally delight us with a tale of adventures past.

This delightful film is a marvelous treat for both young and old. The cast is delightfully filled with John Neville as Baron Munchausen, the wonderful Eric...

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Father Knows Best: Season One

Father Knows Best. . . .but Shout Factory does not!
Father Knows Best was a wonderful television program. A review of the show would get 5 stars. These reviews are not supposed to be testimonials or nostalgic trips back to one's childhood; they should be reviews of the product. That is the reason I am awarding this product a single star. There is no excuse whatsoever for a company to give the buying public edited versions of tv shows that have been in existence for so many years. I wrongfully assumed that since the Young family trust gave its blessing to this project that the dvd set would be top notch and first class. Shout Factory could not even present episode number one in its original form. The first show was barely 22 minutes with complete opening sequence and closing credits. The editing to trim the show by the three minutes was done with a hatchet that a child of four could notice. I suppose this is better than no Father Knows Best at all, but not by much. My advice is to check the manufacturer of dvd's and make sure...

Thunderous Applause!!
I grew up in a very difficult, unconventional family during the 1950s that was anything but conservative. Nothing about it resembled the "average, American middle-class" family - the Anderson's - depicted so flawlessly on Father Knows Best. My family didn't look like the Anderson's, they didn't sound like the Anderson's, and they certainly didn't act like the Anderson's.

Nonetheless, I loved everything about that TV family just because it was so completely foreign to my life. I was totally, hopelessly captivated by their perfectly rosy lives. It wasn't that I wanted the Anderson's to be my family, I just loved visiting them each week, sort of like going to another planet without needing a space ship.

I grew up to be a liberal feminist, so nothing about my adult life now resembles the Anderson's in the least, even now. But, I STILL love them! I love the warmth, the messages, and even the strong patriarchal structure. In fact, that is exactly what distinguishes...

Not a Buyer
This show was a wonderful classic production that I have been eagerly anticipating for more than a year. I was all prepared to purchase it the day of release when I saw the reviews saying that the company distributing the shows on DVD had chosen not to give us the full, unedited shows as orginally broadcast. Reviewers used the term "butchered" and that was enough for me to decide that I would NOT purchase this DVD set after all. So, Shout Factory listen up - the consumers want quality, full broadcast versions - not what you edit to fit on a minium amount of space! I urge all fans of "Father Knows Best" to wait for the best!

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