Peter and the Wolf

Technically stunning, and thematically dark
"Peter And The Wolf" (2008)
Technically stunning, and thematically dark, this amazing adaptation of Sergei Prokoviev's classic children's piece, features marvelous stop-motion animation from director Suzie Templeton.

The film places "Peter" squarely back into its Russian origins, but rather than an idealized rural-agrarian past, it places the story in a more modern setting, amid glum, drab, rundown shacks and tattered forests, a grim vision of a Soviet-era or post-Soviet Eastern Europe, complete with gun-toting thugs (the hunters of the original story here seem more like cold-hearted militiamen) and the nearby village appears as a rundown, dismal cinderblock outpost. Amid this crushing gloom, Peter finds wonder and joy, unlocking a secret garden where he and his friends the bird and the duck (both crippled and unable to fly) are able to play and forget the bleakness around them.

While this may sound a bit miserable, the film itself is a marvel: the amount of...

Beautiful, stark and amazing!
Suzie Templeton may be little known outside of the world of stop motion animation circles, but she is an incredible talent with a penchant for dark, thoughtful and sometimes twisted short subjects. With Peter and the Wolf she delves more into the mainstream and handles her biggest project to date.

Templeton has weaved together an international co-production between studios in Britain and Poland, using stop motion animation and digital effects to create a modern retelling of the Sergei Prokofiev musical.

There are plenty of reviews of the movie itself, but the amazon.com description does not include information about the plethora of extras on this new Region 1 DVD. Included are:

The musical themes
The story in pictures
The making of Peter & the Wolf
Behind the scenes documentary
Audio commentary
Educational workshop

If you are worried about buying an $18 DVD for just a 32 minute feature, you can rest assured you are...

Peter without the narrative (or Prokofiev's ending)...delightful, brave and touching
For a young boy, unhappiness can be a natural state. Peter and his aged grandfather live in a scrabbly old farmhouse on the edge of a forbidding Russian forest. The grandfather has built a wooden fence around the dirt yard and forbids Peter to go into the forest, where dangerous things lurk, like wolves. Peter hates this. All Peter has for a friend is a scruffy, long-necked duck. When he goes into town two hunters bully him. Still, Peter is a good kid. He helps a bird with an injured wing fly again with the help of a balloon. He sneaks out and plays on the iced pond, skittering and sliding and joined by the duck. He accepts his grandfather's fat, fat cat as a creature perhaps not to like, but not to hurt. Peter even manages to catch the dangerous, hungry and mangy wolf in his net. Peter stops his grandfather from shooting the wolf. When he and his grandfather take it to town, Peter is a hero. But it's not to last. Those hunters show up to taunt and bully the wolf. Peter stops them...

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Sleepless in Seattle (10th Anniversary Edition)

My absolute favourite movie @>---
Other than The Breakfast Club, Sleepless in Seattle is my all time favourite movie. I know it's older now, but to me I will always watch it over and over again. I like to watch it a couple of times a year because I always enjoy it and never tire of it.

As everyone probably knows, Tom Hanks and his son move from Chicago to Seattle after Tom's wife dies and they need a new start. Hoping to find a new love for his father, Jonah calls a radio station to speak on a talk show to help his dad out. Their radio call name is Sleepless in Seattle. Listening to the conversation all the way in Washington DC is Meg Ryan who has just announced her engagement to Bill Pullman. She seems to fall in love with Sam (Tom Hanks) instantly as she finishes his sentances and is hooked by his story. Being a writer, she does a story on him and finds herself wanting to get in touch with him. She makes the journey over to Seattle and manages to say Hello to him (before almost getting hit by cars...

Christmas Magic
Some people have songs, my husband and I have a movie. We not only met in Seattle, my husband lived next to Lake Union, very close to where this movie was made. He actually saw them filming scenes from the movie.

You could say the roles were a bit reversed, being I was the one getting over a relationship and he was not really looking at the time. Having lived in Seattle for many years, I especially enjoyed seeing scenes from Pike Place Market and West Seattle.

Rosie O'Donnell adds to the wit with lines like: "You want to be in love in a movie." Tom Hanks gives a sensitive performance as Sam who lost the love of his life. He and his son Jonah, live on Lake Union. Annie (Meg Ryan) is caught up with plans for her wedding. She is engaged and not looking for love. Yet, as it so often happens, love does appear when you are not looking.

One night Annie hears a radio show where Jonah has called in to ask how his father could find a new wife. The radio host...

Two guy heroes, only one girl does not a "chick flick" make...
Most people think "Sleepless" is meant to please a female audience, but I think it is a dad/son bonding story all the way. I like it, I see parts of it as often as it shows up on cable, and it portrays man/woman love in a very good light. In this age of easy and too-often divorce, that's a positive. Yes, it is sentimental, but there is nothing wrong with provoking sentiment in an honest fashion. It is perfectly cast, competently written, directed and filmed, and only a Grinch could hate it.

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Deadfall [HD]

Best of Everything.. Don't miss this one!
Hardcore movie fan, especially Thriller/Mystery/Suspense/Horror-> I really enjoyed this movie. Unique story line that all weaves together in the end. Some amazing Graphics Scenes. The actor's chosen were great for their roles. Some gore...more shocking not scary. Definitely not a watch with children..intense sex scenes and believable "shocker scenes" (don't want to spoil it) I rated this 5 stars and would watch again. Don't miss if you want to watch something with great acting, unique twists, suspense, and just enough romance.

Feels Like a Film Noir
This film has action, violence, sex, and not a few stories about dysfunctional families. The script writing is fine, the actors are terrific and I loved seeing some old timers like Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson. I think the cold desolate Canadian filming locations certainly add to the overall feel of the film and definitely play background to the cold hearted killer's mentality. I could have done without the sex scenes, (we certainly didn't need them back in the day when Noir was gorgeously done.)and the love story was weak, but the overall subject of the film - don't treat your kids bad or they may turn out twisted - does work. There is a wonderful climactic ending - for once (in awhile) Hollywood gets it right. In a weird aside, I wonder what the film would have been like if Bana and Hunnam had reversed their roles AND if the film was shot in black and white. BTW, Bana was very good.

TWISTED CONUNDRUMS and one messed up Thanksgiving
A FANTASTIC THRILLER: with realistic action and broken people. Few characters in this movie are perfect, if any.

OK, I was really impressed by this little gem and had suspicions it was done on a limited budget despite the quality and effort clearly put into it. So I did some research. It was shot on $12M. After seeing that figure the first time I was actually disappointed because it seemed large to the ordinary person. Then I thought again - Many of the stars they brought together have probably commanded 12M just for their own salary for one picture. Clearly this was a labor of love by people who thought it should be made.

Seriously- Olivia Wilde - Kate Mara - Eric Bana - Sissy Spacek - Kris Kristofferson and others.

PLOT: A brother and sister team from a broken home in the south are fleeing an Indian Casino robbery they conducted not far from the Canadian border(in the dead of winter of course). Their car crashes on an icy road in the middle of...

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Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas

Mickey and company enter the digital age in spectacular fashion!
This is a movie you could watch every day for a month, and not fry your brain.

I know, because I had to. My son was obsessed.

The five shorts comprising "Twice Upon A Christmas" are all delightful, and perfect family viewing.

First I must say that the digital re-creation of our favorite animated characters has been done to perfection. Eye-popping crystalline perfection.

The Minnie-Daisy ice skating duel features those dancing hippos and crocs from Fantasia, and beautiful digital effects and designs.

Huey, Dewey and Louie's journey to the North Pole has a classic caper feel to it; it's fast and funny. When one of the little guys drifts a little too close to a snoring Santa's breath, he initially winces. Then he smiles and says, "Hm! Peppermint! With a hint of mocha!" It's cute. My wife and I laugh, and my 2.5 year old wonders why.

Goofy and his son Max has some nice musical numbers in it. Again, seeing these characters...

Stunning Animation and Great Slapstick
After getting this DVD from the library last year, I knew that my son was a big fan of Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. In fact, so was my husband. He's an artist, and very critical of shoddy animation. However, with this DVD, he often comments on the well-done, vibrant images of computer animation. (If you're a parent of a child, you probably already know how shoddy some of the CGI can be in kid videos! Happily, this is not rendered poory like some movies.) In fact, I was amazed at how Mickey's sweater looked so real, as well as the snow-covered trees, holiday lights and Christmas trees, Minnie and Daisy's gossamer skating outfits, and so on.

An open "Storybook" presents each tale, and we are whisked away into five magical stories showing true-to-life situations involving relationships. (And you KNOW how the whole family/relationship thing can get during holidays... *wince*).

Clever writing abounds, as well as numerous sight-gags. My son and I think it's...

Great stories. Wish it were longer though.
My only disappointment with this DVD was that it wasn't longer. The five shorts on this DVD were great, especially the one with Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck as dueling ice princesses and the story of Pluto's adventure's at the North Pole hanging out with Santa's reindeer. I thought this last story could've been a feature length tale in itself.

While I agree with many that seeing the characters in full-fledged 3D animation, I don't think this new rendering of these wonderful characters could have been done any better. No, it's not animation of the quality in the top budget motion picture releases, but it's nonetheless extremely well done.

If you love Christmas and you love Mickey and the gang, you and your family will love this DVD.

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Castle: Season 1-5 Box Set (2013)

Best way to catch up!
Getting the boxed set at this price, and still factory sealed, was a great way to add all past seasons of the show to the collection, and get this wonderful series for keeps! All that needs to be done now is to simply add Season 6 when it is released. This is one of THE best shows to come out of the last twenty years of television that isn't a stupid survivor-type show (there are too many....), a purely-drama cop show, or a show devoted to either some crass (and possibly rich and spoiled) family (like the ridiculousness of the Kardashians or the Honey Boo Boo idiots), or stuff that shouldn't be on prime time at all because the line of gore has been stepped over (such as Walking Dead).

If you like none of those types of shows and want pure entertainment, Castle is just plain fun -- gripping and suspenseful like any cop-show such as CSI, but full of occasionally smart yet sexy moments that really don't preclude someone of younger age watching it; good humor; life-reflecting...

Castle seasons 1-5 box set
I love mysteries. I love romantic stories. This show has it all. This show is funny, well written and has great chemistry between Castle and Beckett. The chemistry between all the of the people is wonderful. This show and Dr. Quinn are my favorite tv shows of all time.

Castle rocks
Love Castle, writers are doing sign excellent job in not letting the romance between Beckett and Castle take over the content of the show

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3: Dog Days

Refreshing and unexpected...
This was fun! I wasn't expecting it.

This was not movie I would choose to go watch.

We only went to see it, because the kids wanted to go to a movie, and this was the only one that was showing that they could go to (all other kids movies that were showing, we had already seen). This was the only one left, for us to go see, at the local theater.

I'm glad it was, and that the kids pressed on.
For me, it was refreshing, for once to watch a great non-animated kids movie. I (and the rest of the family) love animations. Disney/Pixar, DreamWorks etc. So Dairy of a Wimpy Kid, would not be something we would normally go for.

I have to say, I liked it very much. Lots of laughs. Mom, and the kids (7 and 12) liked it too.
Every now and then, I was looking to my right, just to watch our 7 year old luaghing out loud. He had a great time! So did his older sister.

Funniest One Yet, Don't Have to Have Read the Books to Enjoy It
I have not read these books, but 2 of my 3 kids have (all elementary school age) and they wanted to see this movie. We've seen the other two movies, but I think this was the most entertaining of the three, for both kids and adults. It's summer in this one, the kids are therefore home from school, and more of the drama is family-based than school-based. Greg and his Dad are at odds - Greg wants to play video games all summer, and his Dad wants him to get outdoors. Both think they have little in common, and Greg ends up deceiving his family about a summer job in order to get his Dad off his back. Of course everything comes out in the end, and he learns valuable lessons about honesty, and both he and his Dad learn lessons about acceptance and loyalty. There are MANY laugh-out-loud scenes, including one involving their new dog and a pot roast, another when Greg's older brother Rodrick (who almost steals the movie) is saved from drowning in the pool, and more when Greg and his best friend...

Fun family film!
Go ahead, call me immature (though I prefer young at heart), but I really did enjoy this movie.

School is out and there are 73 days of summer vacation. Greg Heffley imagines the days ahead to be filled with video games in the family living room. Unfortunately for Greg, his parents have other ideas, urging him to play outside, read literature, and get a summer internship. That's when Greg has an idea . . . if he tells his parents that he got a job at the local country club, he can spend his days at the country club pool (where the girl he likes, Holly, spends her time) AND make his parents happy. What could possibly go wrong?

Hilarity ensues and, in the end, Greg must pay the consequences for his deception (which I appreciate because I may be immature, but I am still a parent).

This is a fun film!

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Cowboy Bebop Remix: The Complete Collection (Anime Legends)

"Satellite from days of old, lead me to your access code!"
Look up the word `cool' in any dictionary and it says "see Cowboy Bebop"...well, not really...but it should, because Cowboy Bebop is the quintessence of coolness. If you don't already know, Bebop is a stylish 26-session masterpiece chronicling the thrilling triumphs and tribulations of those space-sailing, chain-smoking, bounty-hunting buddies, Jet Black and Spike Spiegel. Jet is a bald and burly bonsai tree collector with an artificial left arm and a comma-shaped piece of metal under his scarred right eye. A former ISSP officer--known on his home satellite, Ganymede, as the tenacious "Black Dog"--Jet is now the owner/pilot/mechanic of the spaceship Bebop. The wiry gunfighter and martial arts master, Spike, has fuzzy green hair, mismatched eyes and a checkered past. These two intrepid space "cowboys" hop from one astral gate to another to hunt down wanted criminals all across the galaxy, hoping to earn enough woolongs to enable Jet to finally add some actual beef to his famous...

I don't like anime
I really don't like anime. It's true. Growing up in the '80s and seeing the reruns of '70s imports (like Speed Racer), not to mention the whole Pokémon thing that hit while I was in high school, I know some people out there like those things but I find them repulsive and annoying. Silly caricatures with gigantic eyes and frame rates of about 2 per minute, almost like watching a slide show with really bad narration.

Then a friend pressured me to watch Cowboy Bebop on Cartoon Network. He knew my reservations about Japanese cartoons, but pushed me into it anyway (it was a Saturday night, I wasn't doing anything anyway...) and I haven't stopped thanking him.

This series is good. Not good, great. This is the program that anyone who says "cartoons are for kids" should watch. The first thing that I noticed was that the episodes were each standalone. Most of the popular animations of today are very series-oriented, if you miss one the next one probably won't make...

Quality and affordability in one Set
Instead of giving some hack review of the story, I'll skip it and assume you either know the story already or know how to google for it.

This box set of a solid anime is finally released in its newest form (improved and cleaned-up picture and 5.1 surround mix) at a very affordable price. Honestly, $40 is a steal considering what you had to pay for all of the discs individually. All 6 discs are in a clamshell case, similar to that of the Back to the Future. No insert inside, just the DVDs.

What I think of the improved picture:
It's not bad. Not perfect but not bad. You'll notice the picture is cleaned up a lot if you compare it with pre-improved releases. Scenes that are brighter or more colorful really come through. But I did notice something that kinda bothered me some. Scenes where there is a lot of black (which are many; the story is mostly in space. who knew?) seem off. What I mean by that is, the black areas aren't a consistent black. This could be a...

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Arrhythmia [HD]

Fills the hole that Fringe left!
I loved Fringe. I loved the way it ended. However, I really miss seeing it. When I read about this show, I got really excited. Only two episodes in and I'm in love with it! Michael Ealy and Karl Urban have great chemistry together. Karl Urban plays the role with a little Dr. McCoy, without all the sayings,and a little of his character from RED. Michael Ealy has brought a whole new personality to a robot;>) Give this show a chance and I think, you'll love it too.

Best TV series since Star Trek
This show definately deserves 5 stars. Set 48 years into the future, out of control technologal advances cause crime to rise by 400%. This show recreates the cliched "buddy-cop" scenario and adds a sci-fi twist which opens a whole new world of ideas and plot twists. The show does a great job of taking you through an action packed murder-mystery scenario; but The real genius of the show is JJ Abrahms' use of acting chemistry to get you drawn into the characters. You almost forget that the show is a crime-mystery action thriller. The show is new, so there is still time for more characters to develop in future episodes. I suspect Abrahms is holding back a little. If it's anything similar to the new Star Trek, we're in for a very good series.

Fantastic is putting it lightly.
Great acting on top of amazing sets and music. It feels like an 80's distopian future movie with today's effects.

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Sense & Sensibility (Special Edition)

"Is Love a Fancy or a Feeling?"
When Emma Thompson was approached with the suggestion to write a screenplay based on Jane Austen's first novel "Sense and Sensibility" (1811), she was somewhat doubtful because, as she explains on the DVD's commentary track, she felt that other Austen works, like the more expressive "Emma" and "Persuasion" or the sardonic "Pride and Prejudice" (already the subject of several adaptations) would have been more suitable. Four years and 14 screenplay drafts later (the first, a 300-page handwritten dramatization of the novel's every scene), "Sense and Sensibility" made its grand entrance into theaters worldwide and mesmerized audiences and critics alike, resulting in an Oscar for Thompson's screenplay and six further nominations (Best Picture, Leading Actress - Thompson -, Supporting Actress - Kate Winslet -, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Score - for 20 minutes' worth of composition - and Costume Design); and double honors as Best Picture and for Thompson's screenplay at the Golden...

Rich, nuanced, witty - a true gem!
Emma Thompson's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel and Ang Lee's direction of it prove to be a stunning and talented combination. This story about the complexities of love, society, and family won my heart in the first few minutes with its excellent acting, smart dialogue, and lush period setting.

The movie focuses primarily on the two oldest sisters of the Dashwood family - Elinor (Emma Thompson) and her younger sister Marianne (Kate Winslet.) Elinor is practical and independent-minded, caught between her societal position as a woman and what she wants for herself. In contrast, Marianne is impetuous, artistic, passionate; she pursues her emotions as though nothing else matters. When both sisters fall in love with different men, they react very differently to the awakening of their affections.

The acting in this film could not have been any better. Although critics have complained that Emma Thompson is too old for the part of Elinor, she at once dispels all doubts with her...

Beautifully Done
This recent movie adaptation of Jane Austin's "Sense and Sensibility" is just marvelous. Emma Thompson's enchanting screenplay is so close to the novel, and that's such a rare treat in a movie version. Yes, Emma Thompson is a bit old for the part of older sister Elinor but, she's so endearing, I'm willing to let it go. The supporting cast is very powerful, with performances by Kate Winslet, Greg Wise, Imogen Stubbs, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Grant toping off a fabulous ensemble. Winslet is especially wonderful as the younger Dashwood sister. She's completely sweet, young and innocent. Her heartbreak at the hands of handsome and dashing Willoughby is extremely powerful and emotional. It's an all around well acted movie. Lots of wondeful performances. This is acutally a very funny movie and so beautifully shot by Director Ang Lee. Every aspect of the movie is wonderful. It's treat for all Austin fans and an all around wonderful film.

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Full House: The Complete Third Season

~*~Full House Episode List~*~
1. Tanner's Island

A family vacation doesn't go as planned for the Tanner's who sail off to potato-chip-crumb island, which is, unknown to them until the end, Pua!

2. Back to School Blues

DJ's first day in Junior High is pretty rough.

3. Breaking up is Hard to Do (in 22 Minutes)

Because your a couple doesn't mean you have to like everything the other likes to do. Jesse and Rebecca find this out when Jesse and Rebecca don't agree on their activities.

4. Nerd for a Day

Stephanie makes a new friend by realizing that calling people names can hurt their feelings.

5. Granny Tanny

Brussels sprouts and pencil beds. Granny is now retired and visits the Tanner household for a visit. Little do they know that their plot to make Granny feel wanted would backfire. Will Granny Tanny ever leave?

6. Star Search

Joey tries to get where he hoped to be during his career by winning...

Full House is quality, family entertainment!!
To this day, I still watch Full House. The show lasted eight seasons. It is still quality family entertainment, with reruns still in syndication TEN YEARS after the show was cancelled. That says a lot about what the show meant to a lot of people. I was 9 when the show first aired, and 17 when it was cancelled. I am almost 29 and still love watching the reruns! As the show ended in 1995, it was still in the Top 30 on the Nielsen ratings scale. Say what you want about Full House. Everyone has a right to their opinion. However, in this day and age where sex, crude humor, and vulgarity are common place, it is nice to know I can put on Full House and know my children will be taught good morals mixed with a little humor. I hope to own all eight seasons of this corny show. Long live Full House!!!!!

season 3
This is the season where one of the greatest sitcoms of all time really took off. All the characters are clearly established now. Becky (Lori Laughlin) appears in the opening credits for the first time and remains there for all the remaining seasons. Becky and Danny (Bob Sagat) are firmly entrenched as hosts of "Wake up San Fransico". Jesse and Joey (John Stamos and Dave Coulier) are still in the adevertising buisness and doing well. Donna Jo (Candence Cameron), Stephanie (Jody Sweetin) and Michelle (Mary Kate and Ashley Oslen) are just as funny and cute as ever. This is the first season where Michelle is old enough to have a real role, and she excels at it. We also see more of Kimmie (Andrea Barber) DJ's best friend who is basically bad news for everyone. It is my belief that with this season coming out there is a good chance all 8 seasons will be out soon. I truly hope so.

-wamcdavi

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I Haven't Told You Everything [HD]

The Ultimate Movie Review! -[...]
Let me guess, you've never heard of the Event? The show was yet another networks answer to Lost and this one had a real shot at success. The initial ratings were high, leading NBC to pick the show up for an entire season. As has become common place on NBC, after four episodes they took it off for weeks to promote some God awful reality show, and when they brought it back, it was on a new night and the rating plummeted. The Event had a terrific premise and has been called a meeting between 24 and the 4400, I couldn't agree more. 66 years ago, an alien ship crashed in Alaska, and the aliens aboard were not strange creatures, but were in fact nearly identical to us. The only difference being that they age at a much slower rate than we do. About half the crew escaped and tried to peacefully blend into society, but it was hard since they barely age, and often had to re-start their lives. The other group was locked up by the U.S. government until such time as their true reasons for being...

Solid series but will never get finished
This is a reasonably well made series with some familiar faces. Keep in mind as you start this series that it was not picked up for a second season and the story never resolves. The ride up until the final cliffhanger is fun if a bit heavy handed. They tried a flashback narrative that confused people first go round and may have contributed to the early death of the show, nevertheless it is worth the watch.
As far as the actors, Taylor Cole is a genuine find in the series and she plays a convincing killer and is never over the top. Tony nominee, Zeljko Ivanek is a standout and I keep seeing nothing but brilliant performances from him. He should win an Emmy or an Oscar for something, he is that good, and is working on a lot of A list projects both tv and film. Not a fan of the star Jason Ritter who seems a bit lost all of the time.

Well Worth Watching
The story idea overall for The Event was terrific. I also generally liked the characters. What I found problematic was shifts in some characters from bad to good and vice versa without believable logic for the change. There were just enough special effects to contribute to the story without overwhelming it (which happens all to often, especially in films). Also, the production team does a terrific job of developing many lines of dramatic tension, both among the characters and in the action. What really is too bad is that, if The Event were to be a single year-long event, no episode was developed to close the story satisfactorily. The proposed mini-series (now stalled) might have brought such closure and given the series, as story, a definitive arc. All in all, however, The Event is well worth watching.

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The King's Speech

An enthralling journey which is heart-warming, humorous and genuinely sincere.**** 1/2
There always seems to come a time in every British actors career where they must play the role of a historical British monarch. Riding on the success of his career defining performance in "A Single Man" and sampling the glory of Best Actor nominations across the award circuits, Colin Firth comes storming back with another film, determined, this time, to take the all the prizes with him too. But is "The King's Speech" worth its pre-Oscar hype?
Set across the years between the First and Second World War, "The King's Speech" concentrates on the rise of King George VI (Firth) and his personal woes, including his infamous stammer and disdain for public speaking. Obviously being royalty, having an ability to engage the public in moving and inspirational speeches tends to be a necessity of the job. In attempting to overcome this disability, he's entrusted in the care of the eccentric and flamboyant speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).
Over the course of the film, the two...

Brilliant on Every Level!
THE KING'S SPEECH is one of those rare films that rely on the brilliance of the actors to bring a story/screenplay alive. But the success of this extraordinary film does not stop there. This re-telling of history as written by David Seidler and as directed with enormous sensitivity by Tom Hooper, as captured on film by cinematographer Danny Cohen glows as a background for some of the finest acting before the public today.

The film opens in 1925 as King George V (Michael Gambon) is beginning to fail, leaving the heir apparent to the throne at the time of his death to be Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), a man more concerned with love with the twice divorced Wallis Simpson (Eve Best) than he is with the Royal Lineage. Once the now senile George V dies, Edward VIII takes the throne but soon abdicates to marry Wallis. This passes the throne to the tender but severely stammering Prince Albert (Colin Firth), a man terrified of facing his beloved countrymen because of his speech...

Fascinating and moving true story
This isn't just another period piece or costume drama. It's a slice of history with a very real problem that many people deal with: stammering or stuttering. In this case, it's King George VI of England. He takes over after his brother abdicates the throne. George's problem is public speaking, and imagine just how hard it would have been for someone who had to make many broadcasts during his reign. He gets help from speech therapist Lionel Logue and from his loving wife as well.

Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter are at their best here as the three main characters. The interplay between Firth and Rush is especially moving to watch. The two men end up becoming close friends, not just a king and his subject/therapist.

Excellent and highly recommended.

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Bob The Builder: Snowed Under / The Bobblesberg Winter Games

Choose another Bob Movie- Too much arguing and yodeling
My 2 1/2 year old son loves anything to do with Bob the Builder. The new characters Bennie and Zoomer are great and my son likes the Zoomer toy. This movie is really too long and negative for a child his age. It is a full length movie rather than several short episodes like the other Bob the Builder DVD's. Scoop spends most of the movie arguing with or criticizing the other machines. Here are a few examples of the dialogue -- -- "We're here to work not to have fun," "You're just a show off," "You need to stop being such a know it all," etc. I believe they are trying to introduce the concept of teamwork, but I think it is introducing way too much corporate culture at such a young age. The yodeling may be very annoying for most as well. I would buy "Dig, Lift and Haul" instead of this movie.

Bad, Bad, Bad.
Like the other reviewers I also have a 3 year old who is crazy about Bob; he must have watched 'A Christmas to Remember' a thousand times (me too!!). But this christmas effort is very disappointing. He was so excited by the online reviews and sneak peaks, but has never asked to watch 'Snowed Under' again since seeing it for the first time at christmas. Hated the 'team leader' personality given to scoop - very confusing for my children too. Scenes were stretched, unnecessary boring bits were used to fill the time and the overall pace was slow - nothing to capture a child's imagination and enthusiasm. And way too much yodling too. My 2 year old didn't sit still for more than 10 minutes. Shame.

Yes he can!
My child loves Bob The Builder! This seasonal version is a a great ex-scape from the norm. But I think he can do no wrong.

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Just One of the Princes

Very cute
My 3 year old loves this show. She watches an episode every day and loves to sing and dance with Sofia. And as a mom I love that this show makes her sooo very happy but I am also thankful that it doesn't make me want to pull my hair out or stick ear plugs in. It really is a very cute show and does a great job in teaching them things like sharing or being nice to someone who is different.

I am a princess - Sofia's giving girls a reason to be virtuous
I think Disney's first little girl princess has really made a great impression. She is faced with situations that she must maneuver herself through but cannot do it alone. She is always learning the value of good things like honesty, staying true to herself, and patience, respect...the list goes on. My daughter is absolutely in love and sings the songs all the time. I like that this series is instilling good fruit in kids.

Relatable Princess
If you're a classic Disney Lover, I think you'll appreciate the rags to riches storyline of Sofia. Her character is a bit helpless at times, and always gorgeous. She's soft and sweet and kind to the animals.

If you're a person who never appreciated the prototypical gender/class roles of Disney movies, I think you'll appreciate Sofia's character too. She's strong and inquisitive, without being rebellious.

As a parent who rarely enjoys kids shows, I must admit that I have seen every episode.

I recommend purchasing the season if, like me, you don't subscribe to cable. The score isn't bad, and my daughter and I sing the songs to each other more than I'd admit to my friends.

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The Awakening

Fun for all ages
I am way beyond the age that this show is intended for but I was hooked from the first season to the last. I really enjoyed it. I watched back-to-back episodes and I fell in love with the characters, their struggles and even the annoying minor characters. I didn't expect the ending to be so epic but it showed the growth of the mermaids from the beginning to end (minus Emma, plus Bella). Really lovely and good clean fun.

Innocence factor 90%
I have watched every episode at least 3 times and I'm still impressed. I find it interesting that the show can generate interest without significant violence. I think it can do this for several reasons.

The innocence factor is very high. That is, the main characters are good while still being realistic. Cleo is played as innocent and simple, occasionally she (the actress) seems to over-ennunciate her words, as if she's playing on a stage rather than for TV, but it works well for her character. Ricci is the "straight man", good at scowling when the girls get too sweet, and Emma is the common-sense smart character. Bella, brought in for the third season when Emma leaves, is also good. Even the "bad" characters are played as real people, not evil, but a little too selfish, greedy, or mean while still having some good in them.

The language is clean, and the plots are mostly about how people relate to each other while the main characters try to do good while...

great
Best season's ever I wish there was a 4th season when emma comes back and meets bella and all of them goes for a swim.

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Houseboat [HD]

Cary, Sophia and 50s Fashion and Romance at its best
Houseboat was the first movie I ever saw in a drive-in. Imagine seeing Cary Grant and Sophia Loren dancing to a Sam Cooke love song on a screen the size of a football field. The wardrobe for the movie is stunning. When did we stop taking the time to dazzle with matching hats, gloves, etc.? Obvious beauty aside, what really impressed me was the award winning script. The explanation Cary Grant gives as a parent about death, and the kids dialogue and behavior rang true. The kids behaved like any children would when one parent dies, and an absentee parent appears to take them from the safe world of their grandparents. The kids were terrific in their roles. Cary Grant and Sophia Loren were superb considering she had just dumped him to marry her current husband. One wonders what would have happened if Cary and Sophia had really married. Would they have lived happily ever after like they did in Houseboat? Who knows. At least we can have that fantasy time and time again on DVD.

Charming, Family-Friendly Comedy!
'Houseboat' is a throwback to the kind of sweet, happy comedies Cary Grant did in the late '40s-early '50s, and it foreshadows the domestic comedies James Stewart and Henry Fonda would do in the sixties. Granted, there is more romance (and with Sophia Loren as the objection of affection, Cary has it all OVER Jimmy and Hank!) but ultimately, it scores as a terrific family movie, as Loren, playing an inept but adorable housekeeper/nanny, wins the affection of widower Grant's kids, and awakens in him a more complete love than he was experiencing with his society girlfriend (played effectively by the beautiful Martha Hyer).

Living in a rundown houseboat to save on expenses, Grant and family lives had become a boring routine, until the arrival of Hurricane Loren, with her Italian philosophy, her singing, and her unmistakable femininity and sex appeal (which introduces oldest son Paul Peterson to the joys of puberty, and to daughter Mimi Gibson and younger son Charles Herbert a...

a family classic
HOUSEBOAT is one of my favorite movies. I remember my family taping it when I was about 7, and I loved watching it. Needless to say, when the new DVD version was released I instantly snapped it up!

The story is about a widowed Government official (Cary Grant) and his three unruly children. A chance meeting throws the beautiful Cinzia Zaccardi (lovely Sophia Loren) into their lives. Cinzia is the daughter of a prominent classical conductor, and is looking for a change of scene. When she decides to become the children's nanny, no-one is prepared for the hilarity and heartache that is to follow...

This is indeed a lovely family film, with a few shades of "The Sound of Music". The new DVD version offers an average-looking transfer of the film, with a photo gallery and two trailers as the extras.

Also starring Martha Hyer, Harry Guardino, Paul Petersen and Eduardo Cinanelli. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).

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Pinocchio (Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

BEWARE PURISTS--this Digitally Restored version TAMPERED WITH ORIGINAL ARTWORK'S COLOR PALETTE!!!
I just saw a special engagement of this latest 70th Anniversary version of Pinnochio at Disney's El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood in advance of the DVD re-release. Though I am happy to see the movie be given public exposure on a big theatrical screen, over the years I have seen many theatrical screenings of the movie on at least 12 different occasions including an original nitrate 3-strip Technicolor studio vault print in the early 1980's (before the studio dismantled its last nitrate screening room) and non-digital film restorations and was shocked to see that this latest restored version has digitally tampered with the film's original color palette for no justifiable reason.

Some of the chosen character hues are modern day, popular color hues, but look out of place in this early animated classic including certain pinks, reds and blues which are reused so often in identical shades that to classic animation buffs it becomes distractingly noticeable. For those animation buffs...

The finest animated feature ever made. Period.
The one-two whammy of audience and critical indifference to "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia" killed Walt Disney's desire to experiment with the limits of animation in the 1940s. From then on, play it safe was his motto. This may be one of the greatest tragedies to beset popular American culture in the 20th century; despite the depths of pretension and kitch in "Fantasia," it was at least evidence of a spirited mind in pursuit of the unattained -- but "Pinocchio" must have broken old Walt's heart. There are visual effects in this movie that remained unchallenged until the digital age, and it's worth recalling that every single one of them was drawn by hand. It has one of the most beautiful and exciting musical scores in the history of the movies (I can't hear Cliff Edwards' high, pure falsetto holding that final note of "When You Wish Upon a Star" without chills), a deeply plangent sense of emotion that never tips over into bathos, and a wealth of detail that is still staggering after 65...

Timeless Musical Fantasy
Disney has restored this all-time classic to its original brilliance. The universal themes of love, family, friendship and good vs. evil make this educational and enjoyable. Yes, there are some quite scary scenes and evil is shown for what it is. However, just as in most fairy tales, good triumphs over evil in the end.

The story is told by Jiminy Cricket and the start of the movie is peaceful. He arrives at Geppetto's home where there are music boxes, toys, amazing clocks and a puppet who is just "all strings and joints." Geppetto is just painting on the finishing touches before he heads off to bed. The "cutest" black and white cat named Figaro adds warmth and amusement to the story. The sassy fish Cleo is a visual delight.

As the woodcarver drifts off to sleep, he says: "Wouldn't it be nice if he was a real boy?" He then sends Figaro to open the window and sees a wishing star. He makes a wish and while he sleeps, the Blue Fairy brings the Marionette Pinocchio to...

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Flea Market Flip [HD]

This is an artistic/designer-type show.
First off, Lara Spencer is amazingly beautiful! I never knew who she was until this show, but now I'm a fan. Yeah, she's pretty talented, too. I wish the producers would have kept the same idea from the 1st episode, where the two teams compete for the profit that both teams earned from flipping their items. By the 2nd episode, the two teams were competing for $5,000, but profit had nothing to do with winning; only the total amount of the sales for the day determined the winner. To me, profit is the most important aspect of the flip. But, it's still kind of a cool show. However, it's WAY more of an artistic/designer's show than I would like. These teams have to be imaginative and creative. They have to turn junk into works of art. This isn't your typical "picker" or "pawn" show, which I tend to like much more. I would think if you like "design this house," or "design this kitchen," for example, you would really like this show.

Fun to watch!
Makes one realize the opportunities available with everyday items and little bit of elbow grease. Seems like the art sells better than the furniture.

Good show but unable to watch due to site error
The show would not play at all. Might be a good show but got frustrated trying to watch. Not the shows fault

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National Lampoon's Vacation Boxset [Blu-ray]

On Holiday With The Griswolds....In Widescreen! 12/7/11 - UPDATE - 2 DIFFERENT EDITIONS FOR SALE -SEE BELOW
This review refers to the "Ultimate Vacation Collection" ( 4 DVD set Warner Bros)....

12/7/11 -UPDATE; AMAZON NOW HAS 2 DIFFERENT EDITIONS FOR SALE AND HAS MIXED THE REVIEWS TOGETHER - A 2 DISC SET AND A 4 DISC SET
MY REVIEW IS FOR 4 DISC SET:Ultimate Vacation Collection (Vacation / European Vacation / Christmas Vacation / Vegas Vacation)

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE 2 DISC SET:The Ultimate Vacation Collection (National Lampoon's Vacation / Vegas Vacation / European Vacation / Christmas Vacation)

CHECK DETAILS FOR EACH ON SALES PAGE - ALSO CHECK WITH OUTSIDE SELLERS TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE BUYING THE EDITION YOU ARE INTERESTED IN.

Look out world..the Griswolds are coming! To Walley World, Europe, Vegas and Christmas at home...all 4 together, and in all in widescreen! What a treat this package deal...

Great set of movies for the price, Needs better packaging
I was searching for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for a gift. Even in November I could not find it for a decent price (the local big box stores did not have it in stock--in November) Even Amazon had it out of stock.
Persistence pays off, though, since I was able to get all four movies for less than $18.00 & with the Amazon Prime trial membership I got them before Christmas too.
The day after I ordered this (the Sunday before Christmas) the local big box stores were selling Christmas Vacation for $10-$15, so I think I got a great deal.
This is not a traditional box set-- all 4 movies are in one DVD case. The case itself is pretty flimsy since my 2 year old has already destroyed it.
Per another review, yes these are widescreen, but we LIKE widescreen.
All in all, $18 for 4 classic Chevy Chase movies is a great price.

Hilarious Collection
This is one of the funniest comedy series ever to be made. Chevy Chase is really on top of his game in these films. You can probably enjoy most of these films with your family, but number 2 has quite alot of nudity, and number 1 has some swears but i'm sure your kids will be able to watch them with you. In every film, they change the kids to make them stay around the same age, that's what chevy chase said in the commetary in the second one.

Vacation- very funny with great plot and actors. This by far would have to be the funniest of the whole series. Since this is a special edition, they put in alot of features which was great because the non special edition version of this dvd had barely any features. The commentary in this is nice. The whole family does the commentary.

European Vacation- this is a hilarious sequel to the classic comedy. It's not as good as Christmas Vacation or the original Vacation but don't let that fool you, it's still a movie that will make you...

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Star Trek: Enterprise: The Complete Series

Is it an Asian import?
Caveat emptor / buyer beware!

This is just a note to people considering buying "Star Trek: Enterprise The Complete Seasons 1-4" on DVD from certain Amazon sellers.

If you see the Star Trek: Enterprise DVD collection in a single box rather than in four separate boxes (one box per season), it's likely an Asian import edition rather than from the studio.

Especially beware the appellation "the Chosen Collection" which was copied from the complete collector's edition of Joss Whedon's TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Buffy "Chosen Collection" is official while the Star Trek: Enterprise "Chosen Collection" is not.

Furthermore, if the DVD set mentions it's region free, then it almost certainly is an Asian import, because the studio does not have a region free version of Star Trek: Enterprise on DVD (at the time of this review).

It's true the Asian import edition will be considerably cheaper, and as I mentioned region free, but...

A great meal with a distasteful dessert
The previous reviews of the Enterprise series are accurate and fair. The writing was at times weak, but the show's concepts were so brilliant and the acting so well done that it overcame the weak scripts and turned the strong scripts into some of the best Star Trek television episodes in history.

The two episodes focusing on the Vulcan civil war rank as among the strongest in the series, not only telling an important part of the Star Trek canon, but doing so with especially good acting. It explained well the variance of the Vulcan characters' duplicity with the straight honesty of the Vulcans of Spocks' era. Indeed, Spock represented the Vulcans who ultimately won the civil war and abolished the corrupt Vulcan High Command.

Not often mentioned directly, but poignant for me, were the two episodes focusing on the Terra Prime terror group. For me, the interaction of the clone infant and the T'Pol character was some of the most well acted portions of the series...

ST-Enterprise It's Four Year Mission.....
On September of 2001,the UPN network and Star Trek producer Rick Berman with writer/producer Brannon Braga introduced viewers to Enterprise (later renamed Star Trek Enterprise in season three).

This fifth live action series from the franchise took place a century before James T. Kirk's five year voyage of the original series.This series follows the pioneering voyage of the first warp five ship in the early days of Starfleet, before the formation of the United Federation of Planets.

The crew of the NX-01 led by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), consisted of the Vulcan liason/first officer T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), Chief Engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III (The great Connor Trennier), British armory officer Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating),Communication Officer/ linguist Hoshi Sato (Linda Park), Helmsman Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery), and Denoblian Chief Medical Officer Phlox (John Billingsly).

The show had the distinction of being the series...

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Burn Two Disc Deluxe Edition DVD

My husband is a retired Detroit Firefighter.
We have a nephew who is still on the Dept . My husbands brother retired after 38yrs. fighting fires in Detroit , my husband & his bro. were both there in July of 1967 trying to keep the city from burning down & here we are almost 50yrs. later still trying to save that thankless city. Every one should see this DVD and be angry with a city that is trying to blame there problems on the retired police & fire pensions. They were earned, they are not an entitlement. There are people in that city getting far more in benefits for doing nothing .While these brave men may loose theres .Buy this DVD some of the money will go to buy equipment for the men still on the job . God bless them and keep them safe.

Must see.
Amazing to see the crap our brothers in Detroit have to deal with. This is raw, and honest. Buy it.

detroit fire fighters up front and personal
this grass roots movie/documentary shows in gritty detail the life at one fire station. one year. it explores the up front and personal lives at one station. i recommend buying this movie, and supporting the department through the internet sites.this is NOT hollywood!~

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The Wire: The Complete Fourth Season

Another spectacular season
The fourth season of HBO's critically acclaimed The Wire picks up after the explosive events the conclusion to the third season, as cop Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) finds himself patroling the streets of Baltimore and seemingly out of the loop (McNulty is relegated to more of a supporting player in these episodes than ever before) as this season focuses on the coming election between Mayor Royce (Glynn Turman) and Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen), and a group of young corner kids getting ready to go back to school. What makes this season of The Wire so surprisingly compelling isn't the drama between the cops and the crooks like we've seen before, but what this group of young corner boys (Maestro Harrell, Julito McCullum, Tristan Wilds) experience and the choices they make, which not only effect their own lives, but inexplicably effect the lives of everyone else involved as well. In the meantime, new kingpin Marlo (Jamie Hector) makes even more of an impact as the cops try to nail him,...

Don't miss this
The story so far... (Don't read any further if you don't want to know any detail of what happens in this Season of the show).

On street level, Stringer Bell is dead, Avon Barksdale is back behind bars and the cold and wilful Marlo Stansfield (played by Jamie Hector) looks like he's squaring up to be crowned king. Preston "Bodie" Broadus (played by JD Williams) is the only true Barksdale soldier still holding it down but finds it's a whole new game with a whole new set of rules. Meanwhile, the drug dealers' nightmare that is Omar (played by Michael K Williams) has a new protégé in tow and he's as busy as ever. The scene when he and Marlo finally come face to face is pure TV heaven.

On law level, political involvement in the Major Crimes Unit sends its best personnel off in all different directions: Lieutenant Daniels (played by Lance Reddick) gets promoted out, Detectives Kima Greggs (played by Sonja Sohn) and Lester Freamon (played by Clarke Peters)...

No spoilers but a huge recommendation!
If you have seen The Wire in its previous three seasons and wondered whether this one measures up, the answer is "absolutely yes". If you haven't seen the show at all, what are you waiting for?

Previously I would've said season 2 was my favorite, but I think this one surpassed it. It is astonishing to me that the show gets better and better. We continue to see deeper facets of characters we are familiar with, and we get a group of new ones that become vividly etched in our consciousness very quickly. Pat Moran Casting in Baltimore deserves an award for consistently finding strong actors for the show, including for this season, a good-sized group of early teens and younger.

"The Wire" IS the great American novel that so many have talked about writing "some day". David Simon and his fellow scribes were driven to paint a realistic gritty portrait about life in a contemporary American industrial city and we have all reaped the rewards.

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Dragons: Riders of Berk - Part 1

Short and Sweet
We received "Dragons: Riders of Berk" today. It is just 4 episodes, but only 10 episodes have actually aired to date. It's still 88 minutes of awesomeness. We had watched a few of these on Cartoon Network and found that it was impressive for a TV series.

Episodes on this DVD:

How to Start a Dragon Academy

Viking for Hire

Animal House

The Terrible Twos

This DVD came with 5 trading cards with the main dragons featured and included fun facts about them. Those were a big hit with my child who is crazy about dragons. You can, also, use the Dream Works APP on them where it "brings the dragon cards to life" which I have yet to do.

Bottom line: If your child is a How to Train Your Dragon Fan and/or you're looking for a little side gift for the holiday season then this is a winner (if you can get it for the $9.99 price).

The Dragons of Berk Are Back!
Dragons: Riders of Berk Part 1 picks up following the events of the feature film How to Train Your Dragon (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Dragon Double Pack) [Blu-ray] and the holiday special DreamWorks Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury / Book of Dragons Double Pack (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Online Video Game). Luckily many of the original voice cast from the feature film return to voice their characters in this Cartoon Network TV Series. The few voices that had to be recast are masterfully done to where they sound very much like their feature film counterparts. Beyond the voice acting, the stories & animation present in this 1st season are top-notch and are a great way to pass the time until the 2nd feature film due out in 2014. One touch I like is how Hiccup narrates the beginning & end of the episodes as he did in the original...

A Great Series/DVD!
If you enjoyed the fist movie in this series, How To Train Your Dragon, or have been reading the book series by the same name, you will love this new addition to the mix. This DVD has some great episodes filled with both adventure and fun. I have to say that I was not even aware that they had made this into a series until I was able to review this DVD, and after seeing it, I wish I had knows, as the episodes were great(and so funny).

You also have the opportunity to see and interact with some amazing new dragons that were not in the movie, which was a lot of fun as I am always impressed with the characteristics and personalities that the artists at Dreamworks have come up with, as they are all so unique which make watching this series and the original movie so much fun to watch.

Overall though this DVD is worth watching, as it adds much to the overall How To Train Your Dragon series, and I, for one, hope that they will continue this series in the future!

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Guilty Crown: Complete Series, Part 2 (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

I love it
Guilty Crown is an amazing series, with a great story, plot, animation design, and characters. The action is also top knotch in this series :)

A Good But Sorrowful Finale For An Entertaining Series
While the animation,soundtrack,voice cast and action are very well done the main story of the series is one many will feel a sense of deja vu especially if they've seen series like Freezing/Gundam/Ikki Tousen/Sekirei and a few others. Also while the main male protagonist is generally a good hearted and well meaning person for the most part the second half of the series really shows the more darker and less then agreeable side of his character.

Still I appreciate that this series set is again a dvd/blu-ray combo set whcih allows you to view the series on a standard or blu-ray player and trust me you can tell the difference with video quality between the two.

So for fans of action fighting animes or just looking for a food anime to pass the time here's one to take a look at just keep expectations of any original story plot on minimal otherwise expect a little disappointment.

Think about this, wow.
A great story that mixes anime with real physics and hypothetical formulas a real put some thought into this show not as straight forward as other animes. May have to watch it a couple times to take it all in.

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Trigun: Complete Series Box Set (Classic)

Gun Fun!
Meryl and Milly are two insurance agents with a mission: find Vash The Stampede, a man with a $$60 billion bounty on his head, and stop him from causing any more damage! With a bounty that big and followed by a wake of destruction, Vash must be big, intimidating, and down right scary! Right? To Meryl's constant aggravation and disbelief, Vash turns out to be a friendly, doughnut loving pacifist. Its hard to believe that he has survived this long! But there is more to Vash then meets the eye, and the series starts to turn dark as Vash's past is brought to light.

This is a very entertaining series. The first half is mostly comedic Western style short stories, i.e. Bad guy threatens people and Vash bumbles his way in and saves the day with his amazing gun skills. Vash is one of the best anime characters I've seen and it is lots of fun to watch him save the day. The guy that shares the cover with him is Nicholas Wolfwood, and the two of them are excellent foils to each other...

Hysterical and action-packed...a great anime series!
He's prone to whining, crying and throwing tantrums, but Vash still manages to get the job done! Since I was introduced to Cowboy Bebop a little over a year ago, I've seen many different Anime, and I have to say flat out that Trigun is my favorite. Ironic, considering that Vash the Stampede is the epitome of everything I couldn't stand about Anime before I became a fan, but I actually find Vash to be completely hysterical, and one my favorite anime characters.

Its Wild West meets futuristic Sci-Fi in this anime about a man with names like 'The Humanoid Typhoon' and 'The 60 Billion Double Dollar Man'. Beleived to be the cause of mass destruction wherever he goes, Vash is actually a misunderstood, friendly and peace-loving individual...who is armed to the teeth, with superhuman strength and speed, the sharpest eye on the planet, and a 60 Billion Double Dollar bounty on his head that many are just itching to get their hands on. He hates violence and won't bring himself to kill...

Release date!
Other people have already written better descriptions of this series than I think I can manage but I just want to affirm that this is quite possibly one of the best buys I've EVER had the chance to catch on amazon in a long time. A friend of mine had the original release boxset but I dare say mine is nicer and has even more special features than hers!

ALL 26 ORIGINAL EPISODES are included - there is/was a typo regarding this in the product description stating 24 instead of 26 - with both English/Japanese language and English subtitle settings available and the new boxset also includes textless songs as well as additional trailers.

This is a must have for any serious anime lover and I highly recommend that if you're considering investing in a great series that has high re-watch ability this is one to own! Still not sure? Check out 24 of the 26 episodes on hulu and I promise you won't be disappointed.

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Boy Meets World: The Complete Seventh and Final Season

The Final Season Finally Gets Released
Boy Meets World has enjoyed an odd home release run. After 3 seasons released several years ago, there was a lengthy hiatus until September 2010 when those same seasons were re-released by Lionsgate. The company quickly followed that release up with the rest of the seasons in about a one-year period.

Season 7 was not as universally beloved as seasons 2-5, which are generally viewed as the series' high point. The season picks up from the cliffhanger ending of season 6 where Cory and Topanga postponed their wedding after Topanga's parents broke up. Now the cover of this season sort of gives away that eventually Cory and Topanga did get married, but the lead up is pretty interesting. After the wedding episode, the rest of the season deals with them getting adjusted to married life. It ends with a 2-episode clip show that wraps up all of the characters' stories by giving them all futures to pursue, some with more development than others. The Cory-Topanga wedding was a...

The Essential Childhood Show.
There is not enough space on Amazon to write all the great things about this show. I truly believe that everything I ever needed to know about life, I learned from Boy Meets World. I highly recommend this, especially if you have kids that are turning about 10. Like many children of the 90's I grew up with Cory, Topenga, and Shawn. I cannot stress the impact they had on me as role models. I know I saved these with the intention of watching them with my little sister once she turned 10 and now we are slowly getting through the seasons and learning the life lessons in almost every single episode. This show has had a huge impact on how many people of our generation turned into kind, compassionate human beings. This was my favorite childhood show, and I know that if I ever have kids of my own, this will be the kind of show I will want to enjoy with them.

boy meets world ssn 7
Awesome love this show! All seven seasons are great! Buy them all if you can! Today's tv just doesn't have good sitcoms like this.

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Cropsey

Creepy as Hell
This movie creeped me out. As someone who finds true stories more engaging than fiction i was a big fan of this film. I love how the different pieces were woven together to paint a truely horrifying tale about a killer from Staten Island. From the Cropsey legend, to the horrifying images from Geraldos Willowbrook Expose, to the truely tragic stories of missing disable children.
The filmakers may not be Martin Scorscese but the film works because they were working with a truely engaging topic. They conducted compelling interviews with most of the key players.

Lackluster, anti-climactic
BEWARE!!!

The other reviews of this movie use words that would normally describe something intriguing, something that builds itself up to a giant mystery, only to be answered in the last 20 minutes of the film. But sadly, this is not the case with "Cropsey."

This movie, although very sad, has no real weight to speak of. Cropsey gives you little more than a brief background of the events that took place in the 80's involving some missing children who were never found. Bottom line, if you really want to know what happened here, don't waste an hour and a half and 3 bucks, read a short article and that will tell you more than what you get here.

In conclusion, if you like watching people stumble around in the woods, asking viewers rhetorical questions, with no real direction or destination, then this is the movie for you!!!!!!! For everyone else, keep looking. . .

WOW!!! AN AWE INSPIRING STATEN ISLAND N.Y. DOCUMENTARY...
A loner lived in the tunnels and in the forest lands of the active and than defunct Willowbrook Institute during the 1960s, 1970s,1980s. Children were disapearing on staten island between 1972-1987. A Loner named Andre Rand who worked as an orderly in the Willowbrook institute from 1966-1968, was caught and accused in 1987 after the last victim Jennifer Schwieger age 12 was found buried on the abandon willowbrook institute grounds, 150 yards from Rands makeshift camp. Rand who was convicted in 1988, was convicted again as his parole date came near in 2004, his next parole date won't be until 2037 he will be 93, assuring the families of the deceased children Rand will die in prison. The thing that gets me is Rand has been in prison twenty five years and still has'nt confessed, no one has even come foward that might have been involved with Rand to confess to authorities, the true capabilities of a pathological liar. The truly amazing thing is that authorities have'nt found any positive...

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Dragon Ball: Season Two

Your Second Wish Has Been Granted...
The new first season set of Dragon Ball uncut isn't even out yet and they've already announced this season two set. While the main reason to buy the first is the first chance ever to own the original thirteen episodes uncut in a proper North American set most fans will probably continue on buying this one as well. I suspect many of those who already own this batch of episodes uncut on the old sets will buy this one as well in an effort to collect all the episodes in nice sets that complement each other when lined up on a shelf. Given the running time of 720 minutes this set should contain the following thirty episodes from the Red Ribbon Army, General Blue and Commander Red Sagas:

32 The Flying Fortress: Vanished!
33 The Legend of a Dragon
34 Cruel General Red
35 Cold Reception
36 Major Metallitron
37 The Ninja Murasaki is Coming!
38 Five Murasakis
39 Mysterious Android No.8
40 Horrifying Buyon
41 The Fall of Muscle Tower
42...

Dragon Ball Z remastered
Quick Facts: I'm 27, been a fan of Dragon Ball Z since 1999, and a fan of anime since 1992. I'm very picky about uncut anime, and I always prefer the original aspect ratio. I dislike English dubs as most any anime fan does. This is my first review of a DVD.

Video: FUNimations claims this is a widescreen transfer from the original video. Dragonball Z fans are screaming the original video was cropped to make it widescreen. I've spent the last 2 days with WinDVD and Photoshop to confirm or disprove this. Anyone who does image editing knows that cropping a 4:3 image to 16:9 can be really dramatic. After watching 67 episodes of this new release from FUNimation, I wasn't completely convinced about the transfer being cropped from it's original 4:3 aspect ratio. Dragonball Z fans are correct to say the widescreen transfer is cropped, but they also would need to admit to that the 4:3 broadcast we fans know and love was also cropped! The widescreen transfer has extended video on the...

Season two features even more action as Goku takes on the Red Ribbon Army and Mercenary Tao!
It's the series that started it all... "Dragon Ball". Originally, a manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama for "Shonen Jump", the manga series lasted from 1984 through 1995 and since the manga series has produced several anime series which include "Dragon Ball", "Dragon Ball Z", "Dragon Ball GT" and currently in Japan, a new HD broadcasting of "Dragon Ball Kai" and in 2009, an American live action film titled "Dragonball Evolution" was released worldwide.

"Dragon Ball" is the first arc of the series which aired in Japan from 1986 through 1989 and lasted for 153 episodes. The series was released by Harmony Gold USA in the late 80's and then by FUNimation Entertainment in 1995 and uncut episodes were released on DVD in 2003.

And now the episodes have been released in the USA with the awesome first season of "Dragon Ball" and now the second season is now released for the first time uncut, remastered and digitally restored.

"Dragon Ball"...

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Jet Assisted Chevy

A blast from the past!
Season 1 isn't as polished as subsequent seasons, and it wasn't shot in HD, but it's fascinating to see how the awesomeness started. It's mostly just Jamie and Adam, but you can see Kari Byron in the background occasionally. I'm enjoying watching this a lot.

Finally what I wanted
Love this show and hate the mixed up "volumes/best of" versions they have on Netflix. Just such a pleasant surprise to find.

Entertainment for Everyone
This is an all time favorite of my Grandson's. His sisters enjoy this one too, & occasionally, even Grandma gets in on it.

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Dragon Ball Z: Season Seven (Great Saiyaman & World Tournament Sagas)

Great Saiyaman!!
Season 7 takes place after the drool-worthy ending to the Cell games in which Gohan obliterates Cell with his one-handed Kamehameha wave.

Now a few years later Gohan is ready to start High School which means no more home school from Chi Chi.

However, directly before this Goku takes part in a filler martial arts tournament from beyond the grave and we get to see Frieza, King Cold, The Ginyu Force and even Cell again one more time. The final battle of the tournament is Goku (duh) vs. Pikkon under supervision of the Grand Kai. This part honestly has nothing to do with the overall plot of the series and was just a filler section before the next arc starts.

Back to Gohan (and the actual story). Gohan is on his way to school, sees a robbery, and transforms to a SSJ to beat his enemies in a flash.

Now the whole town is going on about the "Gold Fighter". So, in order to draw attention from his new superhero Gohan creates another superhero with a...

Hopefully Helpful Information
This isn't supposed to be released until next week as of my writing this but i stumbled across a copy that must have shipped early and made it to the shelves at my local walmart earlier tonight. I was one of the guys who grew into their adolescence watching this show and it filled the void that pokemon left when it became considered to juvenile after sixth grade.

This season contains the following 25 episodes:

195 Warriors of the Dead- Goku meets Grand Kai and runs into Cell & Frieza Again
196 Tournament Begins- Goku enters another world tournament
197 Water Fight- Other World Tournament plays out, quarter finals
198 Final Round- Other world tournament heats up, final round begins
200 Goku vs. Pikkon- Other world tournament ends, will Goku or Pikkon win
201 Gohan Goes to High School- 7 years after cell, Teen Gohan goes to high school
202 I Am Saiyaman- Gohan becomes a super hero
203 Gohan's First Date- Gohan is blackmailed into...

Loved the Great Saiyaman arc but some may have problems with the three episodes per disc (disc 4-6)
I have to admit that I'm a bit biased towards the "Dragon Ball Z" anime series. I loved the series when it was first release in Japan and still passionate about it today.

The fact that FUNimation Entertainment releases these season box sets with plenty of episodes (25 in this box set) for under $30 is just awesome! Could you imagine that just several years ago, the series was released with only a few episodes per disc (and there are literally a few hundred episodes of DBZ) and were sold for under $20 at one time. So, the fact that you can watch all these episodes with digitally remastered video and revised audio is just great!

As for this box set, personally I enjoyed the Great Saiyaman arc. We watched little Gohan grow up and now he is a teenager and although he doesn't know it yet, he has met someone he cares about and willing to help her no matter what. The chemistry between Gohan and Bedil is just awesome and episodes just focusing on these two were just...

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Step Up Revolution Dance Workout [HD]

Great Dance Moves For the Dancer In You
OK...well...this video is for the dancer in you. Great moves if you love dancing. I really wish I could do it because it looks really cool. Loved watching but I could not pick up the basic moves at all. Plus, I felt that they expect you to know a little something about dancing. They do give you some direction but than you move right in and this uncoordinated individual could never keep up with this. Part 2, the Latin Groove which was 21 minutes was the only part I could come close to getting. It was fun and sexy and I could see how you could get into great shape by doing this every day.

If you are someone who gets discouraged when you can't get the moves don't bother but if you love dancing and want a challenge go for it. Great dance moves taken from the movie Step Up Revolution.

GREAT WORKOUT & DANCE MOVES!!
I was really excited to try this out!! Mostly because I LOVED the movie & the choreography was awesome!!! I enjoy dancing a lot and have pretty good coordination, although I am far from being a professional. I'm latina and dancing is pretty much a requirement when it comes to being a part of the Latin Culture, so I knew I would be able to at least get the basic steps down. I had to pause and rewind some steps a few times, but if you keep going & do it often, you'll be a pro in no time! I love a challenge and enjoy learning new dance moves, so this DVD was perfect for me! I would recommend it to anyone who loves to dance no matter what your age may be :)

Love the movie, hate the workout
This workout DVD is cheesy & not even a lot of fun. It's nothing like the movie moves & definitely not something I could watch/work out to every day. Too bad...

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Ski School 2

Good film. Bland DVD.
"Ski School 2" is a departure from its predecessor. Whereas the first "Ski School" was a party film, the sequel is a romantic comedy, albeit a romantic comedy geared more for the guys than the ladies. I love the first film, so in comparison, "Ski School 2" comes up short. However when judged on its own, the film still gives a nice, warm, comfortable feeling of entertainment. It may not have you rolling on the floor like the first film, but it is more dater-friendly.

The DVD is minimal, really bare bones. It consists of nothing but the standard FBI warnings and the feature title track itself. There are no menus of any kind. The film does have chapter breaks, but there is no chapter selection menu. There is only one audio option, Dolby 2.1. On the bright side, the picture is crisp.

Despite the minimal philosophy of this DVD, in the end I decided the film itself was all I really wanted. I've been waiting on pins and needles for the original film to come...

Hubba,Hubba,Hubba
the skiing the mountain view the hot chicks awsome, Pure 1980's cheese watch it and make sure the kids are asleep.

Quite possibly one of the greatest pieces of American cinema
There have been great sequels like Godfather II but none have ever reached the cinamatic heights of Ski School 2. Dean Cameron reminds me of the young Tom Hanks in the classic Volunteers another awesome movie from the 80s. The skiing montages and footage are sweet and I defy you to find a better movie to enjoy with your buddies over delicious beers.

They don't make silly comedies like these anymore and thats a damn crime. I love a great art film like anyone else but plot-lite silly films that you can watch just for a good laugh just aren't out there anymore. I honestly tell my friends that this is one of my all time favorite films and I am not kidding. Give it a watch - I can promise three things: 1) lewd and silly physical comedy, 2) goofball antics, and 3) gratuitous nudity in the classic 80s style. God bless Dean Cameron and all the wacky people that made Ski School 2!

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Strangers [HD]

Would recommend this film
I wanted to leave a review for this movie because I think it touched on something very close to my heart. It is a movie about crossing boundaries and not living your life based on worldly prejudices. In this movie an Isreali man and Palestinian woman allow themselves to develop a relationship despite the presence of war and hatred that enveloped the two cultures at the time. It may not be likely that such a couple might have stayed together at that time, but I think the point of the movie is that everyone has a choice to make when it comes to how you choose to view the world. Are you going to live with the prejudices passed down from generation to generation, or are you going to allow good things into your life that you may not have imagined for yourself?

Decent Movie, Bad Character Flaws
This is going to sound weird but Strangers was in one hand interesting and in the other disappointing. It started out as I expected. We follow Eyal first as he arrives in Germany and travels to his ex-girlfriend's house whom he made a pact with years ago. They promised each other they would go to the World Cup together no matter what, even if they broke up. Well keeping his end of the promise, he shows up at her house only for her not to answer his phone calls or answer the door. As he searches for a place to sleep for the night, he meets Rana on the subway. They accidentally switch bags which later results in them meeting back up. This leads to them spending time together, going to the World Cup together, and sharing a place to sleep for the remainder of their stay. Basically they do a lot of talking, drinking, love making, and cigarette smoking (which I am fine with up until later).

Things start getting interesting once Rana receives a mysterious phone call and tells Eyal...

I Was Completely Won Over By Script And Acting
That a child back home was asthmatic with a sitter did nothing to deter me from empathizing with the mom's dire need for a bit of time to herself, and that she and her Israeli friend strike it off and become involved seemed totally appropriate given their dire isolation prior to meeting. If we choose to attach to the rapid rhythm of their love affair and empathize, we have some experience of joy in sharing their love. It is a movie about passion overcoming mediocrity and prejudice. It was the beauty of their sensitivity to the possibility of love that rescues them from the garbage bin of history. The Jewish-Arab dimension was treated sensitively and well. Knowing people on both sides of that unfortunate historical fact lead me to believe the writers really were sensitive to the impossible situation Israelis and Palestinians face. Unlikely opportunities presented themselves in this story, but the love-shared value overcame all improbability and the plot sounds true and is in no...

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The Americans: Season One

Everyone Involved in This, Take a Bow
Were it not for the fact that this astonishingly good series was unaccountably first broadcast on the UK's most rubbish television channel, and with each episode shredded to smithereens by commercial breaks, many people would now be talking about The Americans in the same paragraph, if not in the same sentence as, The Sopranos. Never has there been a stronger case, then, for putting one's name down for a box set many months before it's finally released.

Astutely written, immaculately cast from top to bottom and always directed with the utmost flair it's impossible not to marvel at the sheer cleverness of the whole enterprise. A cynic might proclaim how unbelievable is its premise but to them I would simply say, go look at the credentials of its executive producer (a former CIA officer) or do some rudimentary research into real-life spy Anna Chapman. If you still feel you can't suspend your disbelief, d'you know what? It simply doesn't matter (because you soon will.) The...

The Spies Among Us: FX Scores With This Taut Cold War Thriller
With the debut of the original FX television drama "The Americans," the network seemed to be inspired by the success of Showtime's EMMY winning "Homeland" which also addresses covert action on domestic soil. The FX channel, to me, has long been a leader in adult and challenging programs. In fact, they virtually changed the landscape of basic cable original programming with two of my all time favorite shows in "The Shield" and "Damages" and provocative button-pushers like "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me." If not for the adventurous FX (which continues to churn out some of TV's best shows), I don't think other networks (especially AMC with hits like Mad Men and The Walking Dead) would have been as likely to develop original programming. So thank you FX! Not all of the great shows should be on premium cable! "The Americans" fits comfortably into the niche of quality entertainment made for audiences looking for great storytelling. It has a nifty premise, to be sure, and its introductory...

Huge points for original premise!
Okay. From the very first time I saw an advert for this show, I was intrigued. Finally, a new show with a unique premise - I just had to watch it, if only to get away from the 10th reincarnation of one of those once-successful cop shows.

And what an ambitious premise it is: Set in 1980's Washington D.C., the "Americans" in question are in fact not Americans at all, but Russian sleeper-spies, sent to the U.S. in the 1960's but only being activated (at least for the more dangerous capers) in the 1980's time-frame.

Of course, the first question I asked myself was if they would be able to pull off the 1980's Cold War 'feel'. Personally, I think they were successful at this - the show definitely has that 80's aura, and the period clothing, technology, and mind-sets of the characters is spot-on.

I also really love the way these "Americans" have their own struggles, in addition to the work itself. The characters deal with such issues as their true...

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