Beethoven's 2nd

Sweet Movie
This is a funny and adorable movie. We actually like it better than the 1st one. The theme is love instead of violence like the 1st. We laugh our heads off many times during the movie. My kids are five and four.

BEETHOVEN HAS FOUND A GIRLFRIEND!
i watched Beethovens 1st 2nd and 3rd and i got to say this is the best one ever. This movie is about beethoven finding a mate, but the girl (missy) gets taken away by an evil dog napper. Beethoven saves her and she had puppies, but the dog napper soon takes missy away again, now its up to the newton to save the puppies from being drowned, our worse.
I liked this movie because i like dogs and adventures, the puppies are so cute and i cant believe anyone would like to drown them,
before i go i would like to recommend this movie to anyone who likes animals, even if your not a big animals fan you still gotta see this movie

The continuing adventures of Beethoven
Now that the lovable St. Bernard Beethoven is enjoying life with his new masters,the Newtons,he begins to start a family of his own,biologically. Beethoven impregnates a female St. Bernard named Missy and the canine couple sire four puppies. One of is named Tchaikovsky,after another late classical music great. First,George Newton(Charles Grodin) objects to Beethoven in the Newtons' home,then objects to the mutt's offsprings. The Newton family agreed to find homes for the puppies after they've grown. George's wife Alice(Bonnie Hunt) is now working with her husband at his air freshener factory. One memorable scene is where the Newtons take a vacation up in the mountains,with Beethoven in tow,of course. Missy belongs to a mean-spirited young woman named Regina(Debi Mazar) who is going through a divorce. After the divorce is final,Regina's now-ex-husband is granted sole custody of Missy. The ex-hubby and Missy visit the Newtons in the last scene. This film would one of Grodin's last...

Click to Editorial Reviews

A Plumm Summer

A charming family film that combines mystery, suspense and humor
"A PLUMM SUMMER" is a heartwarming family film that combines mystery, suspense, action and a homage to the classic family films of yesteryear.

The film is a first for Director Caroline Zelder (who has worked as an editor and involved in casting for films such as "The Patriot") and also a film she co-wrote with T.J. Lynch and Frank Antonelli.

Based on a true story, the film revolves around the theft of Froggy Doo, the popular frog marionette owned by TV host Happy Herb. His television show "Happy Herb & Froggy Doo" was among the popular kids shows on television and the theft happened in Billings, Montana (the hometown of screenplay writer T.J. Lynch).

"A PLUMM SUMMER" focuses on a family and their two children Elliott Plumm (Chris Massoglia) and his younger brother Rocky (Owen Pearce).

Elliott is a shy young teenager who is constantly called names because of his quiet and shy demeanor. He may seem that way in front of his classmates but at...

Like Sunday family dinner hour...
A Plumm Summer is a sweet little indie film pulled off perfectly. There are some big names in the supporting cast who are all note-perfect, most notably Peter Scolari and Henry Winkler. Billy Baldwin also puts in a very good turn for the first time in quite a while. Newcomers Chris Massoglia and Owen Pearce couldn't be any cuter and more adorable as the brothers/stars of the film. Massoglia (credited as "Chris J. Kelly") is particularly outstanding considering it's his first jump from TV to film - you really like him and feel for his character. To me, A Plumm Summer hearkens back to 6:00 on Sunday when the family would gather around the TV with dinners in hand to watch the Wonderful World of Disney's weekly fare. This is like that... but better quality than most of what Walt served up. There's some real heart to this effort thanks to genuine drama that hits a message without becoming overwrought with itself. The mystery element to the story is none too deep or complex, but it...

Perfect family viewing!
I was one of the lucky few who caught this movie in the theaters before it was suffocated by the studio blockbusters. A great movie for all the family with a little bit of everything in it for kids and adults alike. Shot in glorious Montana, it was actually inspired by a true story. Who would have believed the FBI was sent in to investigate the kidnapping of a puppet! Some great performances and a movie you'll never get bored of watching! Well worth buying for one's library!

Click to Editorial Reviews

Scooby Doo, Where Are You?: Season One, Vol. 2 - Bump in the Night

quick ship perfect quality
Came in the mail very quickly and in a brand sealed package. Son is thrilled. Four episodes making it 80mins long.

Scooby-Doo Where are you? Season One, Vol. 2-Bump in the Night
I like finding what I need at a great price and in great shape as described and it is just what my son wanted.

scooby doo
our whole family loves scoody doo and we are trying to get all the dvds made of him...this is such a neat dvd and the cats love him too. thanks

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Spectacular Spider-Man: Volume Four

Two boys' review: Good Spider-man entertainment, bad value
My sons (ages 6 and 4) love this new animated series, The Spectacular Spider-Man. The show is much better suited for younger audiences than Spider-Man's last animated series, which lasted only one season on MTV in 2003.

This series features all of Spider-Man's most famous villians, including the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Vulture, Rhino and Electro.

In Volume 4, Peter Parker dons the black suit, faces the Sinister Six (Vulture, Electro, Shocker, Sandman, Rhino, and Doctor Octopus) and ends the first season against his deadliest foe, Venom/Eddie Brock. Volume 4 has four episodes: Episode 10: "Persona"; Episode 11: "Group Therapy"; Episode 12: "Intervention" and Episode 13: "Nature vs. Nurture".

If you absolutely must buy a DVD right now (birthday present, etc.) this is a good choice for Spider-Man fans. Amazon has the DVD priced $5 below suggested retail price ($19.95) and this is a good choice for young children who love Spider-Man...

Another strong entry in the series
Lots of fun here for kids! The animation remains strong and the storytelling is top notch. A great adaptation of the long-running Spider-man comics series. Great way to introduce kids to the idea of ongoing story arcs between episodes as well.

Grace loves Spidey!
My four year old granddaughter Grace loves Spider-Man so I rented this DVD for her. She was mad when she came to my house and I didn't have it so I bought it. Now she watches it everytime she visits. I find myself watching it with her. The characters are nicely portrayed with pleasant voices and even though there is some violence it is not dark and menacing. This DVD has only four episodes of the first season so I have ordered the DVD with the whole first season. I will definitely get the 2nd season when it comes out, hopefully on one DVD!

Click to Editorial Reviews

10 Minute Solution: Dance Off Belly Fat

Fun and challenging, not for beginners
I didn't even buy this on Amazon I bought this at Best Buy 2 weeks ago and since then its been my favorite workout video. I must say, this video does not break it down, it just dives right in, so beginners and the uncoordinated, beware! As someone who has a lot of dance experience I appreciated the challenge as I'm tired of wimpy dance workouts and this one is definitely not wimpy. Latin Waist Sizzler workout is fast paced and she demonstrates a lot of fun latin inspired moves like merengue, mambo, cha cha, even a little flamenco arms/hands. Dancers Silhouette workout uses abdominal isolations like rib slides and balance exercises to tone the core muscles. The rest of the segments are consistent and challenging but also very fun. If you are a good intermediate to advanced dancer and looking for a dance workout thats challenging try this one. If you are a beginner or looking for something easy look elsewhere.

Enjoyable
Before I counter some of the claims by other reviewers, I'll tell you about the DVD. As billed, the DVD consists of 5, 10 minute segments, supposedly designed to work your abs. Unless I concentrate extremely hard on my abs the entire time, this work out doesn't really work your abs. The DVD is probably designed to decreased over all body fat, and therefore belly fat as a result. You can customize a workout by putting as many as 6 segments (with 1 repeat segment) into any order you choose. The "Dancer's Silhouette" segment isn't really cardio, it's more overall toning. The music choice is great, and Petra is encouraging and fun, as always. The cueing is adequate. There are very brief warm ups and cool downs with each segment. My complaint with this DVD is that I don't like my cardio broken into short segments. I feel like it's hard to keep my heart rate up; that's why I gave this DVD 4 stars instead of 5. However, I know that's the point of the 10 Minute Solutions DVDs and I...

Fantastic! For dance lovers everywhere
This is my favorite 10 Min Solution DVD and I own almost all of them. I understand how it can be frustrating for some exercisers, because the choreography is fast and with some complexity. That said, you will definitely get an effective cardio & core workout when you do it correctly. All the segments end with a very short but efficient stretch that feels like a continuation of the dance.

- Latin Beat: My favorite. Quick-moving latin combos.You get mambos,
chachas, flamenco, merengue and even a little tango. I had
a lot of fun learning this one.

- Dancer's Sillouette: The emphasis here is to elongate the body doing a
routine that feels like a tai-chi and modern dance fusion.
I feel taller and more graceful after this segment, so I
do it last. Easy to learn because is the slowest.

- Belly Blaster: The fastest; you'll need lots of energy. The routine is
complex, but it really works the abs. The moves range...

Click to Editorial Reviews

NFL Greatest Follies, Vol. 4

Not all follies all the time, but funny still.
There's more than just stumbles and falls on this video, but still another fun video in the series. My young boys get a kick out of watching them, but especially enjoy the first two in the Greatest Follies Series. There's a couple of stories that are repeats from Vol. 3 which was disappointing.

I mean it has football on it.
I got this to show to my 4th grade class. There was quite a bit of inappropriate stuff on it and I could not show very much.

Great Sports Bloopers
I really enjoyed this video... I love watching sports bloopers... Found a great collection of them online also at [...]

Click to Editorial Reviews

Beethoven's 3rd

"Full House" with a bigger dog
There is only so much you can do with fifteen minutes of dog footage, and a two hour feature film is not a viable option. Granted it is difficult to make a movie for children when your main premise has been done before - and better - but the direction of this film was disastrous, apparently relying solely on a few moments of animal appeal as salvation. Still, indications are that young children do enjoy the film; young girls will identify with the daughter's plight to be heard, young boys will get a laugh out of the recurring poop and fart jokes, and some of both will cheer Beethoven when he gets to make his brief appearances. Adults, however, will only derive pleasure from the children in the audience.

Beethoven tragedy
I have always loved the other beethoven movies but this is WORST! The 4th one was great, but ugh! this one is [bad]! the director put NOT ONE BIT of taste or brains into this one, he/she just wanted to make "another beethoven movie to get it over with". Don't buy this. save your money.

This 3rd sequal is not worth it!
I watched this third sequal right after seeing the two original movies and it was not what I expected. I love Beethoven 1 & 2 but this sequal was boring and ridiculous. The original cast are gone and the new characters are just boring. The villians in this movie are really stupid. The only interesting thing about this movie was looking at Beethoven. This movie really wasted my time and I suggest saving your time and money. Not funny or interesting at all!!! Anyway I can't wait to see the fourth one though!!!

Click to Editorial Reviews

Beethoven's 4th

beethoven's 4th
My daughter really likes this she now has the whole collection on dvd. sorry that it took so long to review this my computer has been down for awhile

A Very Good Movie!
This movie tells a story about how a mibehaved St. Bernard named Beethoven. His masters didn't believe he was very obedient so two of the kids sent him to obedience school. In the park, he runs off to a hotdog stand. Another St. Bernard(from a very rich family) named Micheal Angelo ran from a kidnapper. Thus, the two kids got Micheal Angelo and the rich family got Beethoven.

If you're wondering what else happens, get the movie! It's a good movie. It's great for dog lovers who are looking for a funny comedy.

barking up the wrong tree...
These movies are definately pulling an AIR BUD here!! There comes a point in every movie series where you just CAN'T MAKE ANY MORE!!! They should have stopped at two. I mean they really have overly streched this saint bernard's fame, they made FIVE movies, and they had an animated show for a while. Face it, Beethoven lost his charm YEARS ago!!!

Click to Editorial Reviews

Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season

The Bar is Raised
Rasing the Bar is a great and upcoming court/law drama that I have throughly enjoyed. I highly recommend it to others. If your a Gloria Reburn (ER) or Mark-Paul Gossellar (Saved by the Bell, NYBD Blue) fan you will especially enjoy these characters reprise their career. The new season is now on TNT and it's looking good for a second season. I'm enjoying it and I highly suggest it even though it is only 10 episode pilot type season. Go get a copy today!

A surprising treat.
A very surprizingly addictive show. The characters grow on you from the start and make you interested in what will happen next to the characters, personally and professionally. Although it can be a bit predictable at times, it has a freshness to its presentation that will get you through wanting more. I worry that the show walks a thin line of being completely unrealistic as far as case subject matter. " is everyone going to be innocent and wrongly accused?" Where are the bad guys?I understand a noble,honest public defender..who happens to only get innocent and wrongly accused clients? That is Matlock/Murder She wrote cheesey and not what I expect from todays law dramas.Out of the whole first season, I think Mark only had one really "bad" guy. Still a great show, really clean cut; can only get better.

Charming and Addictive
Raising the Bar is one of the best court dramas I've seen in a long time. The writing is terrific, the acting is great, and they do a great job balancing out serious topic with light hearted humor. Some of my favourite scenes stem from the lawyers meeting up at their usual bar after hours. The budding romance between Bobbie and Jerry is also really entertaining because it gives the viewer something to hope for, giving them a reason to tune in next week. The show can get repetitive at times as Trudy's consistant brash unprofessionalism and unapolagetic hatred of Jerry becomes very annoying at times. That said, Raising the Bar is a fine show and an entertaining way to spend an hour.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Disaster Collector's Set

Disastrous cinema
This product's Editorial section adequately covers film synopses.

The ECHO BRIDGE DISASTER 4 FILM COLLECTOR'S SET is comprised of two double feature flipdiscs in separate keepcases that are housed in a thin paper cover. No booklets included, but liner notes for films are on back covers.

Clear transfers are in widescreen format. Stereo sound. "Crash Landing" has Dolby 5.1 surround and Spanish subtitles. There's only 5 chapter accesses for this one. The others provide 24 chapter jumps.

These three are from the "Nature Unleashed" series issued by indie GFT ENTERTAINMENT. They're mediocrities featuring unknown casts, and are the combined efforts of outfits based in Canada, UK and three Balkan nations.

Also from ECHO BRIDGE:
DISASTER FILMS COLLECTOR SET (6-DVD Pack) has these made-for TVers: "The Black Hole" (2006), "Category 7: The End of the World" (2005), "Disaster...

Don't waste your money!
Poorly made with cartoon crashes! Soap stars are everywhere! Some sceens are sharp, but it lacks the punch for true disaster fans...

Disaster movies
Disaster 4 Film Collector's set - not particularly inspiring so far. I have watched Earthquake and Fire and have to admit that if the other two are in any way similar then I can't consider this to be an exceptional buy

Click to Editorial Reviews

Jimmy Buffett: Scenes You Know By Heart

Another Small Gem
In 1985 Jimmy Buffett released his greatest hits album Songs that You Know by Heart. The disc went on to sell over 6 million copies wordwide and is a fan favorite. This year he released Scenes that You Know By Heart which features live video versions of the same songs from the album plus two newer bonus tracks ( Hey Good Lookin' and It's Five O'Clock Somewhere).

The cuts were taken from concerts in the United States, Anguilla and France and have been featured on several other videeos that Buffett has released over the years but this is not a real problem. The disc was originally sold as a Walmart exclusive and at a price of around $10 it is quite a bargain. The sound is an excellent 5.1 Stereo Surround mix and the video picture quality is excellent for the material.

If you are a fan this is a must have for your collection.

sound hunter
the sound is great on this songs are in 5.1 picture is great these songs are from different concerts. this is more enjoyable then Live at Wrigley Field.

Nice
This is a nice compilation of live performances. Almost every song is pulled from a different concert and this DVD provides the viewer with a full-length 'sampler' of Jimmy Buffett live. Very nice. I'm glad I have it.

Click to Editorial Reviews

THE FBI FILES - Mafia Cases - AS SEEN ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL!!!!

4 Episodes about Organized Crime
Since its inception, one of the main targets of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been the dark, secretive world of organized crime, known variously as the Cosa Nostra, the mafia, or more simply, the mob. Efforts to penetrate and destroy the Mafia have provided some of the most challenging and violent chapters in the illustrious history of the FBI. THE FBI FILES - Mafia Cases brings you into the world of the FBI as it unravels organized crime syndicates, from the streets of New York and Chicago to the bayous of the Mississippi gulf coast. Retired Special Agent and former Director in Charge of the FBI's New York Office James Kallstrom is your host, taking you behind the scenes with re-enactments and interviews with the actual participants and victims.

I like The FBI Files, I think it's a very interesting show. This set is a good idea, putting 4 episodes about a similar subject (Organized Crime) together on 2 discs. Each episode is 50 minutes long. If you buy only DVDs...

GREAT EPISODES....
MY FAVORITE ONE IS JOHN GOTTI.......NICE EPISODES OF MAFIA CASES ALTHOUGH MY FAVORITE ONE HERE IS JOHN GOTTI: CONVICTED. A NICE DVD TO ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION.

Great Stuff!!!
Really enjoyed this cd....great material and now it's part of my growing collection of mobster movies and documentaries. Get it!!!

Click to Editorial Reviews

Beethoven

Good Boy!- Good Movie!
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid and now even as an adult I see all the magic that made me enjoy it when I was younger. After watching this movie even the person in your family who is not an animal lover will want to go out and adopt a St.Bernard!

It starts when Beethoven is just a puppy by narrowingly escaping a pet store robbery Beethoven wanders the streets until he enters the lives of the Newton family. After Emily Newton the youngest member of the clan awakes in the morning to see a cute little fluffy St. Bernard puppy in her bed "I dreamt I had a puppy and my dream came true." George and Alice Newton are besides themselves on what to do with the dog- they can't keep it is George's first reaction. It will ruin the yard, destroy the house, it will grow to be enormous, and then it will die and we'll have to replace it and start the whole process all over again. Well George despite, being an a non-dog person decides to keep it for the sake of the kids "It's...

It beats all the "talking animal" movies out there!
First, I gotta admit to my partiality towards St. Bernards in particular and big dogs in general. So, naturally, my review of this film is somewhat skewed in that direction. Still, I think it's a wonderful film, even in the context of "family movies." And like the title of this review says, it's a wonderful oasis from all the other movies out there that seek to anthropomorphize animals, rather it just portrays a dog being...well...a dog. Refreshing. Grodin does a good job, I'd rank it somewhere between "Midnight Run" and "The Great Muppet Caper." And whoever trained the big lug that was Beethoven deserves due credit, too!

Nice Doggie
Beethoven DVD

Beethoven is a comedy about a family with a Saint Bernard dog and all the trouble the dog gets in to. A laugh-a-minute.

Highly recommended for the entire family, especially dog lovers.

Gunner April, 2008

Click to Editorial Reviews

NFL: Arizona Cardinals - 2008 NFC Champions

Go Cardinals!!!!!
I had to have this video to remember this great season! It was hard to watch the ending though. It brought back some memories that had me a little depressed for about a week. Oh so close!!!! The better team lost that day!!! Oh well time to dust it off my shoulders at get ready for another run at the Super Bowl! Go Cardinals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a great review of an awsome season
I bought it for my boyfriend who is a die-hard cardinals fan and this was the one season he did not purchase season tickets. It was the whole season plus the superbowl in highlights and i thought it was very well done. GO AZ Cards!

Great season, Great DVD
This DVD is awesome, it has highlights from every single game, and great behind the scenes footage. What a great season by the Arizona Cardinals! This DVD helps relive some of there magical 2008 season and run to the Super Bowl.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Volume 4

A Bit More Action
Balsa and Chagum continue to live in the mill. Saya is spotted by a wealthy family, and betrothed to the heir against her will. She falls into a deep coma from her grief. Tanga uses a magic spell to bring her back. After that, Chagum challenges a strong boy to a fight to preserve his family's honor, and Balsa is found by a former opponent. This man is out for revenge, and threatens to expose her hiding place and kill innocent bystanders if she refuses a duel. She must find a way to defeat this bloodthirsty madman without killing him. Even if she can, will he give up on pursuing revenge and exposing them.

This is a great volume. It's probably one of the best volumes yet. That's a really hard call to make because all of them have been excellent. This anime is getting better all the time, and I think I'm getting addicted. It's one of those that makes you want to stay up late, even though you have to be up before the sun comes up tomorrow. I definitely recommend watching it,...

this series is a pleasent surprise
this series is great, beautiful pictures and the background music makes it sound better. the character Chagum is very interesting to watch, and i love the chemistry between Balsa and the healer.



Click to Editorial Reviews

Treasure Raiders

wanted it to be more
I really wanted to give this movie more. I liked the idea a lot. The mystery of the templars, the mystery of Russia. It was a good idea.

But the script and the acting was absolutely horrible. Even the car races that they tried to use to liven up the film were not up to snuff.

One of the main characters, Wolf, was so Arnold-esk in his early films that I can see him making more action films in the next 5 years. Hopefully with acting lessons under his belt. However one mystery to the film. Wolf's girlfriend. She gets kidnapped, rescued, then is in the click trying to solve the templar mystery and then we never see her again. Probably the last 30 min., she's disappeared. She was kind of a presistant and likable, terciary character, and just disappears. For a moment I thought it would get spiced up with her turning spy or double agent but nothing.

Erin

Its five movies in one, all of them bad
An American teaching in Russia is also looking for the lost treasure of the Templars. He is in Russia because he is convinced the treasure is in Moscow somewhere. He finances his excursions by entering street races with his souped up car. The man running the races is a muscle-bound philanthropist who steals drugs from dealers to get them off the street. This man, Wolf, has an amulet that will help unravel the mystery of the Templars. Along the way the professor falls in love with Wolf's sister, reveals he has an 800 year old manuscript written by the last Templar leader because they are related and helps Wolf fight off the drug dealers who want there product and money back. David Carradine also shows up as a historian who lets the professor do all the work and then tries to steal the results for himself.

Treasure Raiders took Raiders of the Lost Ark, National Treasure, The Fast and the Furious, and every action movie Arnold Schwarzeneggar ever made and put them into a...

Treasure hunting, Russian Style
Bought this because of David Caridine, and it turns out it not that bad, have watched about 5 times, which means I like it

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Derby Stallion (Special Edition)

Wins Our Derby
With all the junk out there, it's nice to watch a movie with such positive values and one which can be shared with the whole family. Zac Efron is endearing -- it's not surprising he has soared to stardom in "High School Musical." And Bill Cobbs as the wise old horseman is great. I loved the mentor chemistry between them. There is a lot to like in this movie and I recommend it heartily.

Wonderful Movie
Our granddaughter is 6 years old, and loves anything to do with horses. She has watched this movie many, many times. Its a great story for the family also.

derby stallion
very good, family film. It's good to see the chemistry between the actors come to life and make it more believeable. Good casting. i would recommend this film to all my friends and their family to watch it for a family night together.

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Sender

HORRIBLE, DUMB, AND YET EVEN MORE DUMB
There is a reason that Michael Madsen, an otherwise excellent actor, wears sunglasses in so many scenes of this movie -- he doesn't want anyone to recognize him in this God-awful cliche'-driven, corny, pathetic-acting waste of celluloid. Aaaargh, how awful! I watched it to the end just to see how bad it could possibly be.

The only redemption to the film is the Angel. She is stunning, but unfortunately she was given the most cornball lines that it came across as such camp. The storyline had potential, but the acting was just abysmal by Madsen. And it's not that he's a bad actor, but why does he accept such crap roles!?! He looks bored in every scene, as if he's praying for the scenes to be over so that he can go back to his trailer and drink thoughts and memories of this movie out of his head.

The bad guys were so cliche' that it was painful to watch. They are all in black, and even though they are trained soldiers, during the countless shoot-out scenes...

A nice B movie
For a B movie this one is very enjoyable. It is a car chase movie with a sci fi plot about a young girl that is a Sender. She has the power to move ships through interestelar space. Like Frank Herbert's Dune navigators but more pretty. So, the big bad government guys want her and the aliens protect her. I give the movie three stars for the entertainment value and five stars for the lovely Shelly Lether who plays the alien girl. She is out of this world.

One of my favorite alien films...
I enjoy watching this movie. I woke up at 4AM to tape this movie on Cinemax years ago. I just wish for a reasonably-priced VHS for sale or, even better, a Region 1 DVD release...

This movie may be a little cheesy at times, but I really enjoyed it. The special effects are great and (i believe that) the story is closer to fact, especially concerning the "sender" gene...

I'd recommend you buy this (if you can even find it)!

Click to Editorial Reviews

Avenging Angelo (Steelbook Packaging)

Kiss & Kill
"Avenging Angelo" is a fairly good movie, but one I enjoyed despite its shortcomings. It will forever be remembered as the last film of Anthony Quinn's long and illustrious career. Quinn does a good job of playing the mobster with a heart. Sylvester Stallone looks great & has enough puppy dog eyes directed at Madeleine Stowe to charm the coldest of hearts. Stowe as Jennifer does a good job at giving reality to her rich girl with a rocky marriage character. The give and take between she and Stallone keeps the romantic aspect alive. Italian actor Raoul Bova does a good job as the pseudo-writer who charms Jennifer. I'm not sure if it's Harry Van Gorkum or Kip Barrett who played the husband, but he did a great job of being irritating. My favorite moment is when the drugged Jennifer crashes the car in the driveway, only to find her husband making whoopee in the pool with her best friend. This was apparently Martyn Burke's first feature directing job. He had previously written the...

I'm surprised by the bad reviews here.
In my view this is far from being as terrible as some reviewers suggest. In fact I can honestly say I enjoyed both Sylvester Stallone and Madelaine Stowe, whose chemistry was obvious and very pleasant. The plot is not as good as the acting, which is subtle and fun, but even when the story hits low points it's all in a light comedic spirit so who really cares. Good job Sly.

A GOOD SUPRISE
when i was gonna first get the movie i wasnt expecting to really enjoy it that much being that it did not get released in theaters but i wanted it because i do like Stallone movies so i figured i would just check it out. Well i'm so suprised that it did not get a theater release the movie was 100 times better than i was expecting it to be. It had action, comedy, and romance and i would say Stallone's best performance since Cop Land. So i just wanna let people know that dont be scared because it didnt get a theatrical release you will be suprised and entertained trust me.

Click to Editorial Reviews

He's Just Not That Into You

"He's Just Not That Into You" - Your date-by-numbers guide!
Hey, you...stop sitting by the phone waiting for him to call...get up and go watch this movie!

I have to admit, I'm not much of a rom-com watcher. Unlike others of its ilk, though, this flick wisely admits that relationships aren't all rainbows and butterflies, but that they are complicated, confusing, messes that aren't necessarily all sorted out by the time the credits roll.

The premise is simple enough - the film claims:

"If a guy says he'll call and doesn't, he's not in the hospital with a broken number-dialing finger; he's just not that into you".

After a mediocre first date with pre-recession real estate agent Conor (Kevin Connolly), the film's main protagonist Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), over zealous for date success and naively optimistic as ever, is certain that she has found Mr. Right. But when he doesn't call, her friends (Jennifer Aniston as Beth and Jennifer Connelly as Janine) comfort her with assurances of his interest and case...

Fantastic!
This has nothing to do with being a chick flick or not. It's a fantastic film filled with experiences that men and women go through in relationships. Great to watch if you're looking for an easy laugh. My wife and I saw it with some friends in the movies, and I must say that part of the fun was hearing the comments and laughs coming from the audience. So have your friends over, open a bottle of wine, and have an enjoyable light-hearted evening. It's worth it.

PAIN of dating dynamics, not JUST for the young audience
Several reviewers have identified this film as being for the dating and coupling scene of youth. I disagree. We have many older folks out in the dating arena, these days, going through some of the same angst of the younger generations. Will they call? Do they care? Are they married and hiding it? And, for many older women who have become accomplished, they have to wonder; are they after me, or my hard-earned, success. So searching for Mr. Right, over the course of our lifespans, doesn't change that much; in fact, it can get more complicated. So, in essence, this movie can provide some thoughts to ponder across the age spectrum. A very good thing, since even seniors, can turn into gushy teens, again, when shot by Cupid's arrow.

(SPOILER) Some felt that the relationship between Ben Affleck and Jeniffer Aniston's characters was a tad unbelievable; that they would live together for 7 years without marriage and that ultimately Ben's character would cave. I disagree,...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Friday the 13th (Theatrical Cut)

Felt Like A Genuine F13 Sequel
In 1980, Pamela Voorhees set out to kill all the counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. Several years ago, the counselors did nothing as Mrs. Voorhees' son, Jason, drowned in the lake. Now, as the camp is about to re-open, Mrs. Voorhees has returned to seek revenge for her son and she only has one more victim before she accomplishes that goal. Unfortunately for Mrs. Voorhees, she didn't count on this particular camp counselor decapitating her and ending her reign of terror once and for all. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, Jason was still alive and witnessed his mother's gruesome death. Now, in the present day, Jason is the one who seeks revenge and anyone who even comes near Camp Crystal Lake is at risk of feeling his onslaught.

It's been something like five and a half years since we last saw Jason Voorhees in the theater. So was it worth the wait? Does the remake measure up to the rest of the franchise? Is it a remake worth seeing at all? Does it continue the trend with 2009...

Jason Is Back, and Deadlier Than Ever...
After hacking and slashing his way through ten films, although to be fair his mother did the killing in the first film, Jason Voorhees' film career looked to be getting more mundane and inept with each passing sequel. With every new installment the killing was getting bloodier and more pointless as each victim became less and less likeable; meanwhile, the stories were becoming even more simplistic and at times downright ridiculous ("Jason X", need I say more). Even after horror fans flocked to see the masked one go toe-to-toe with Elm Street's master of our nightmares in "Freddy Vs Jason", it seemed that getting Jason to go on another solo spree in a new "Friday the 13th" wasn't something fans were all that anxious to see. However, in the same year the two titans of terror came to blows, producer/director Michael Bay released a successful retooling of an old horror classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". With the success of that reboot, along with the remake of "The Amityville Horror"...

DISAPPOINTING, BUT WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? BUY THE UNRATED VERSION!
The Friday the 13th series has never been known to be anything more than a pretty cool looking horror icon (Jason Voorhees) and a series of inventive death sequences and gore FX....don't get me wrong I happen to think Jason is a pretty scary guy, but for some reason I feel he has never reached his potential on screen.

Even though none of these films are all that great, I do like Jason and most of the films are entertaining for what they are. I watched both the theatrical release and "killer cut" of the 2009 installment and found both to be disappointing only because I felt they could have brought the series to another level that the character deserves.

This is a slicker looking film and Jason is a bit faster, but it's pretty much the same old thing. This film is better than at least a couple of the Friday installments with some nice gratuitous gore and nudity even in this theatrical version!

The killer extended cut has longer gore sequences at least...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Razortooth

FEEDING TIME
As giant mutated eel movies go "Razortooth" isn't half bad and it has a few gross-out scenes because giant mutated eels also have the munchies. The characters arn't all that interesting, including a harmonica playing animal control officer and a fat slob who must be Kentucky Fried Chickens best customer. He has to make a quick pit stop at a port-o-pottie, must have been all those batter fried drumsticks, and soon feels Razortooth snacking on his really huge butt, and he and his bucket of chicken are soon dragged down through the plumbing by the cuddly eel. There is also a mad science professor who calls down four of his students for extra credit to help him correct his mistake of mutating eels.

The plot is thin enough to allow more screen time for the ravenous eel and the movie trots out the old cliche-no one else can out-run the eel but of course the hero does and in one funny scene he even rides the eel like a bucking bronco.

The movie is fun in a gross kind of...

Lego Genetics
Razortooth: 5 out of 10: I like creature features, I really do. Even cheesy made for Sci-fi channel movies can occasionally bring a smile to my face.

Lately we have been inundated with a ton of creature feature movies, many involving giant snakes. Razortooth is actually an above average member of the genre.

I know technically the creature is a giant eel, but unless it is being hunted by a French Chef for the sake of this review the Eel is CGI Giant Snake. Moreover, the CGI is very cartoon like; more animated than photorealistic. In addition, the CGI gore looks like' well CGI gore. It is doubtful the movie will scare anyone. The acting, while serviceable, is not going to win any awards; and the women keep their shirts on.

Despite all this Razortooth is good B movie fun. The film is well lit. It never slows down much, there is a ton of cannon fodder and the movie is not afraid to eat a couple of kids just to spice things up. Overall, I enjoyed myself,...

Plot holes big enough for a genetically altered eel
When "Razortooth" begins, the omens are not good. Two escaped convicts are running through the bayou while police (we know they are police because their T-shirts say "police") give chase. Before long, the titular razortooth has dispatched the police, leaving a grisly scene behind. We then move to the film's primary characters, the sheriff (Kathleen LaGue) and her ex, Delmar Coats (Doug Swander) of animal control. They meet at a trailer park, where an astonishingly stereotypical group is assembled, and immediately Delmar tries to rekindle their relationship while the locals quickly become dinner for razortooth, including Lou (whose name we know because his paddle boat says Lou on the front), a man who seems never to be without a bucket of chicken in his possession. Also involved are four college students seeking extra credit by working as...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Defiance [Blu-ray]

Outstanding
One wonders why it took so long to tell the story of the three Bielski brothers, who managed to save the lives of 1200 Jews during the Nazi Holocaust in World War II. My personal answer is that they didn't have anyone near the caliber of Daniel Craig to play the part of Tuvia.

The story opens with the Bielski brothers Tuvia (Craig) and Zus (Liev Schreiber) returning to the family farm to discover the Germans killed their parents. They find their younger brother, Asael (Jamie Bell) hiding from the slaughter in a cellar.

They decide to go to the forest to hide out. It's initially pure happenstance that they run into other refugees, but as the story progresses, they have a community from philosophers to warriors.

It's fascinating to see the community grow and the harsh realities of living under the Nazi radar. The images in this film will haunt me as strongly as the original newsreel "Let my People Go" did when I saw it in junior high.

In my...

Standard but worthy Holocaust drama
**This review contains spoilers**

By necessity, one must focus on the survivors if one wishes to create a workable film about the Holocaust. For its only through the eyes and ears of the survivors (and their tales of suffering) that we can appreciate the enormity, the scope of what occurred to the victims of the Holocaust. Paradoxically, the tales of the survivors are nothing more than anomalies--which may give the wrong impression to the uninformed that the Holocaust was an ennobling event--that these tales of survival were somehow the rule rather than the exception.

Defiance is one such anomalous tale. Some critics have likened it to a critique of Jewish passivity--that the overwhelming majority of Jews went to their deaths without putting up a fight. And certainly that reputation is reinforced in 'Defiance' as the protagonists, Tuvia and Zus Bielski, stand out as Jewish outsiders who aren't afraid to fight the Nazis as opposed to the majority of the Jewish...

Great movie! R rating undeserved
Story about Jews fleeing Nazi death squads in Belorussia who fight back against their occupiers and survive for years in forest hideouts. Very moving story and quite well-acted. The R rating is mind-boggling. I've seen PG-13 movies with more graphic violence. The profanity is sparse and never gratuitous. An excellent history lesson for teenagers, but the rating will keep many of them away (along with some adults). In the current climate of rising anti-Semitism and holocaust revisionism, this movie is unlikely to win awards, but it should.

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Big White / School For Seduction / Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs / Dream A Little Dream 2

I bought
I bought mainly for beer league. The other movies are just as good. I fell I love with the big white





Click to Editorial Reviews

Sci-Fi Collector's Set

Four recent sci-fi mediocrities
ECHO BRIDGE's SCI-FI COLLECTOR'S 4-FILM SET gathers together some less-than-inspiring fantasies on two DVDs. Note that EB (aka "Platinum Disc") movies superimpose a faint logo every so often. Their transfers are decent but not perfect. Despite low viewer ratings, this 4-fer still may be worthwhile to diehard sci-fiers, but only if you can catch a good deal on it.

SYNOPSES--

BLACK HOLE - Calcutta tourist destination this ain't! When a space critter passes through a man-made astral phenomenon, it threatens the destruction of St. Louis by first devouring the electric grid. The Pentagon gets in on the fun with a slated nuclear launch against the abandoned city.

LAST SENTINEL - A tired premise: technology attacks its creator, only-fair special FX and a weak cast make for slow going. Throw in a cybercized cop and beauty queen out to save the world and this bad film gets pretty dismal.

FINAL DAYS - Archaeologists discover underground bug-aliens...

4 BORING FILMS THE KIDS MIGHT LIKE
If you like made for TV science fiction, heavy on the fiction, type movies, then here is your 4 pack. I found the movies rather boring and I knew I would find them boring too, but the temptation of a discount 4 pack was too much for me. So I said, "What the heck?" It was only $5.00, so what could I lose other than $5.00 and 6 hours of my life?

The movies aren't complete busts, and are only mildly entertaining. They are a step above Asylum movies, but not a large step.

Now if I was about 10 years old and couldn't get enough sci-fi, such a gift, especially on blue-ray and for less than a dollar (plus shipping) might be worth while. I don't recall much in the way of adult action and words.

If you liked the horrendous "Ice Age 2012" because you thought it was a good flick,you will love this 4 pack.

Looks like something from syfy :)
I love scifi or syfy (if you will) and while most of these have been seen on tv.... They are keepers.

Great shows

Certified by This Old Sailor

Click to Editorial Reviews

Oregon Football Civil War 2008 - The University of Oregon vs. Oregon State University

For Oregon fans, it's a Ducky video
If you love Oregon football, this video is a must have. It is an edited version of the Versus broadcast of what was probably Oregon's best game of recent years. All the editing is done of period between plays, so none of the action is lost. The editing is so skillfully done that it seems like you are watching the game, except that it plays much faster than real time. There is also a menu so you can start viewing just before critical plays in the game, and a short highlight video.





Click to Editorial Reviews

Nobel Son

Entertaining, twisted and dark thriller/comedy...
When I first watched this, the difficulty rested in how to categorize this legitimately. We have action, a little gore, lots of plot twists, suspense, thriller, dark comedy and a little bit of sex. So I say it gets it all, and with a nice cast to boot.

Alan Rickman is great once again and plays one of the more despicable characters I have seen him fulfill. He is cast as the adulterous professor/Nobel Prize winner that finds his son kidnapped/ransomed for the money he will be receiving. His adulterous wife (sublime yet believable in Steenburgen) tags along all whilst the detective (Pullman) tracks the strange truths and twists of the case. Eliza Dushku plays an R role, and the rest of the cast gives some fun performances, especially from Hatosy and even a little part for Devito.

The quality of the DVD and the 5.1 are adequate, with plenty of featurettes/deleted scenes that help show the production's back story and missing parts. A worthwhile film that has gotten...

Loved the movie
This movie is a very fast moving plot with lots of twists and turns that sometimes leaves you unsure of what just happened. In the end though it all comes together and is really quite entertaining. Alan Rickman is convincing as a self centered, egotistical and boorish nobel prize winner who is soon embroiled in a kidnapping plot. Family loyalties are tested and priorities examined. Mary Steenburgen is perfect as Rickman's wife who has to endure his personality flaws while dealing with the brutal kidnapping of their son. Things aren't as they seem though and the ending is a surprise. Definitely worth a watch.

Smart and twisted
First, the summary on the back of the case is inaccurate. Second, there are a couple of squeamish bits. One is quite graphic - involving the uh, taking of a thumb; the other, also involving body parts, is quite shocking, but is later ... er ... mitigated.

Rickman is wonderful as a self-important, philandering professor. The plot is wonderfully puzzling, and, for all its twistedness, not lacking in humanity or heart.

And that's all I can say about that.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Thomas & Friends: Hop on Board - Songs and Stories

Don't be fooled! This isn't a new collection!
I am very disappointed with this! I already have the other three music collections from Thomas. My son loves them! When I saw this one as "not yet released" available June whatever, I pre-ordered it. It is a complete rip-off! They stuck it in a new box and added a music cd....(which my son thinks is "broken" because there is no picture). IT IS THE SAME EXACT DVD AS SING ALONG & STORIES...same title, same songs same stories. What a RIP OFF! Now of course I have opened it to find this out so I am STUCK with it! If I could give it ZERO stars i would....very misleading marketing & packaging.

I was fooled
I was extremely disappointed when I started playing this DVD and realized it's just a repackaged version of the sing-along and stories DVD, which I already had. How can a company get away with such a thing? Fortunately I was able to return it.

Review from www.firrkids.com
This isn't your regular garden variety Thomas & Friends. This disc offers two classic Thomas & Friends stories and seven sing-a-long renditions! Also included is a bonus musical CD, so the kids can jam to their favorite Thomas tunes on their own.

Each sing-along song on the DVD features the lyrics on the screen, complete with bouncing steam cloud to keep the beat. When Thomas and his friends are hard at work, they enjoy listening to music and love to sing-along. Now you can offer the same experience to your children (minus the hard work). Kids will love being able to participate as the trains belt out their favorites.

The two traditional episodes are Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady and Bulldog. Then get ready to sing-along to the Thomas' Anthem, It's Great to Be an Engine, Gone Fishing, Let's Have a Race, Toby, The Island Song and He's a Really Useful Engine. The accompanying music CD includes the last five songs.

The Thomas & Friends animated...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Body Armour

Not Bad For A Junior High School Project!
From the artificial dialogue, to the amateurish acting, to the clumsy editing, illogical plot line, and missing scenes, this movie (starring one of my favorite actors of all time, Chazz P.) contains almost nothing worth watching . Character development is non-existent, machoism rules supreme, and little makes real-world sense in this rather silly film. (Dang, but I hate to say that about a Chazz P. movie!)

Very, very avoidable is "Body Armour."

Why did I watch the whole thing???
This movie was very thin on plot, highly predictable, full of cliches and very weak dialog. Full of action though the fight choreography could have been so much better, I don't think I've seen much worse. Overall, I'd say pass on this one.

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT !!!
this movie was garbage, i was very disapointed. i thought because of the plot and the actors it would be a decent movie,BOY WAS I WRONG! i love chazz palminteri as an actor but in this movie he sucked. i even like til schweiger but he stinked also, as a matter of fact all the acting in this movie did! ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RECCOMEND THIS MOVIE AT ALL!!! DO NOT EVEN RENT THIS CRAP!

Click to Editorial Reviews

RiffTrax Shorts Volume 2 - from the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000!

"Are you a Mr. Bungle?"
Rifftrax is a spin-off or sequel to "Mystery Science Theater 3000" where three of the writers/performers from that show sell both mp3 files of movie mocking commentaries (which you sync up manually with the big studio's DVD release) and straight-to-DVD features where the commentary has already been synchronised up with a movie (usually a low-budget, public domain film) . I have found the feature length Rifftraxs to be hit-or-miss; some of them are great, but others leave me a little cold.

However, this is the second release they have made of commentaries over old industrial training shorts. These short films are a hold-over from the old MST3k days, and the shorts they tackled oftentimes resulted in producing some of their funniest material. Where would MST3k history be without Mr. B. Natural, Coily the Spring Sprite or a Date With Your Family?

And like Rifftrax's first volume of short...

Better Rifftrax DVDs Out There
Like other reviewers before me, I had an issue with the sound on this particular DVD. This is the first ever MST3K or Rifftrax product where I had such an issue. The Best of Rifftrax Shorts Volume 1 is great. So is Shorts-tacular Shorts-stravaganza. No problems with quality, and tons of laughs. But in addition to the poor quality of the sound on this DVD, many of the featured shorts were just too weird to be funny. Better than Swing Parade, but still pretty bad. Definitely shop around and pay attention to other reviewers when looking at Rifftrax stuff. It appears to be hit and miss with their products.

More MST please...
I have been a fan of MST 3000 since the very start, I miss the show so I continue to look for new material. The only bothersome thing is that the audio track of the movie goes way down (you can't really hear it) while the talk. I like to hear the movie at the same time while they have their input. This did not happen during MST movies so I don't know what the deal is.
Still fun to watch though...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 2

Not remastered, but still entertaining and fun trip down memory lane
These are classic Tom and Jerry cartoons from the 40s/50s. No Chuck Jones, thank goodness. Personally, I do not care for the Chuck Jones directed ones. Anyway, there are 14 o 15 shorts -- not remastered. The sound goes low in 3 of them and then comes back to normal. I really didn't pay attention to this since there's not any dialouge. The picture looks as if they transferred it right from the 16mm. But it's not completely horrible. No Mammy Two Shoes. Cartoons included on this disc are Jerry's Cousin, Jerry and the Goldfish, Slicked Up Pup, Quiet Please -- also, the one where Tom is dressed up as a baby and 3 cats make fun of him, the one where the bird falls in love with Tom, "Just Whistle" with Spike helping Jerry. I have been wanting to buy the Spotlight collections but have been hesitant because of the reviews saying they are edited. I love Tom and Jerry, but I want the uncut versions. Even without Mammy Two Shoes, the Greatest Chases DVDs are worth getting.

cat and mouse chases
This is a really cute video. You can laugh at them and enjoy it. I remember watching them on Saturday mornings as a kid.

Christmas Gift
So far as I know, the DVD is fine; I have not heard from my niece who rec'd it for Christmas.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Episode 320

Best Comedy Troupe
Great show, with great sketches. They do a great job at showing how rediculous stereotypes are, showing how people can be too sensitive about things, and how sometimes laughter is the solution. They are very great at showing social problems using humor. I suggest watching all of their work. Season five Civil War on Drugs being one of my favorites.





Click to Editorial Reviews

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (Widescreen Edition)

PERRY SCORES AGAIN WITH MADEA
MADEA GOES TO JAIL

I am a Tyler Perry fan and was completely excited when I found out that this film was going to be his next, based on the great play I knew it would be a great film. So it came to theaters and like I thought it was a hit so I knew the DVD would be excellent. Finally when it came out it was bought for my girl for her birthday and we all had a great time watching it. Perry is excellent at delivering heartfelt films with a bit of comedy thrown into the mix. Like before he succeeds here once again and delivers another marvelous film. Perry once again provides a well crafted drama/comedy that will have you hooked for sure.

There are two different stories going on in this film like most Perry films, this like the others blends both stories very well and even brings them together. One follows Madea and her legal battles as she escapes prisons grasp only to fall prey to it later. This is the comedic side of the film as you know and really makes this...

Solid Tyler Perry
The antics of Madea in and out of jail are ALWAYS fun to watch, but the story about Candy and her meeting Madea gave this movie the seriousness it needed to be solid. We're given comedy and something to think about. And Madea does delightfully in jail, whether she's in class or fighting that big blonde. 4.5/5 stars for a entertaining flick.

A small slice of life served up with a generous helping of laughs
When you hear that Tyler Perry is debuting a new movie featuring the character of Madea, you become like a thirsty man in the desert who spots an oasis in the distance. You know that if you can just get there, you will be so refreshed with laughter. There is a hilarity that infuses your senses that you don't want to let go when Madea is breakin it down and servin it up as only she can....And the life stories that accompany this trip do give us food for thought...Thank you Tyler Perry!!!

Click to Editorial Reviews

Morning Light [Blu-ray]

Outstanding Documentary on Long-distance Sailboat Racing
Being a sailor myself I was looking forward with much anticipation to a story about the Transpac race that starts just a few miles from where I live. Normally, documentaries on sailboat racing follow a pretty standard formula that features quick cuts, long-range helicopter shots, and a few comments from the competitors and supporters. All pretty boring stuff. This film, however, totally smashes that mold.

For the first time, we get a glimpse into the fascinating world of long-distance sailboat racing by giving us the opportunity to get familiar with the characters, the boat (aptly named "Morning Light" - which at the end of the movie provides a bit of Disney magic!) and intense preparation required to compete in one of the premier yacht races. In short, I was blown away. By the way, the photography is utterly amazing - the best we've ever seen in a sailing film.

If you've never been on a sailboat before you'll finally get to see why so many of us find it...

impressively shot documentary
***1/2

Since 1906, boaters from all corners of the globe have gathered to compete in the Transpacific Yacht Race, a two-week-long sailing competition that extends across more than 2,000 miles of open ocean, starting in Los Angeles and ending in Honolulu. In 2007, Roy Disney and a team of expert trainers sponsored a hand-picked crew of young sailors - ages 18 to 23 - to compete in the event (indeed, it was the youngest team in the history of the race). Named after the 52-foot boat on which they sailed, "Morning Light" is a documentary account of both the preparation for that race and the race itself.

The movie spends much of the first half focusing on the grueling training the youngsters underwent as part of the process of whittling down the group of 15 hopefuls to a final crew of just 11.

Directed by Mark Monroe, "Morning Light" is a wholesome, upbeat, fast-paced documentary with razor-sharp editing (by Monroe and Paul Crowder) that really gets the...

Worthy of time and money, could have been better
The Amazon review above stinks. Ignore it.

I would never, ever, have known of Morning Light if I had not been the only other person in an advanced meterology class in Seattle under master weatherman Lee Chesneau. The skipper Jeremy, the navigator Piet, and the back-up navigator Chris, and I, spent a full week together. I ended up feeding them and the instructor a lot of sushi.

These three were a cut above the norm, but one of the things I learned from being with them was just how normal the crew was, and the fact that they were giving up a working position in order to carry a camaraman--in other words, they came in second to a world-class professional crew even though handicapped by one cargo camaraman. I was surprised not to see this mentioned in the film.

As for the film, it had me on the edge of my seat and as mundane as some may find aspects of the film--not exactly a James Bond movie, and certainly not a drama with hotties such as...

Click to Editorial Reviews

RiffTrax Shorts Volume 1 - from the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000!

Are you ready for Rifftrax?
Unlike "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and the Film Crew DVDs, for Rifftrax there is no fictional premise. Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett have not been shot into space; they are not minimum wage workers at a DVD authoring factory. Instead they're just doing what they did for years on MST3k, sitting around watching movies and making fun of them.

This single DVD collection puts together eight short films which had previously been for sale via the Rifftrax website plus one bonus short.

1) Down and Out -- A typical factory worker safety training film. The multiple slapstick accidents are mostly fodder for encouraging workers to use their common sense. And if common sense was a commodity that could be easily transferred upon people using television, this film probably would have been very successful.

2) Patriotism -- This early 1970s film, narrated by Bob Crane, teaches...

Riffs plus short films equals comedy gold.
I know many fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 enjoyed when the crew tackled short films. From the immortal "Mr. B Natural" to the bizarre "Out of This World", MST3K has provided some of their best humor in short subjects.

The trend continues with Rifftrax first volume of shorts. Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett slide right into these short films with relish and keep the laughs coming fast and furious.

Here are my descriptions and ratings out of 5.

Down and Out - is a simple safety film. If you've ever suffered through these before, then you'll find plenty to enjoy including how to avoid stepping on sidewalk chalk, how to use giant prop tools and of course how to wander around the work place completely oblivious to your surroundings. The poor dope in this video probably ended up in traction by the end.
4 out of 5

Patriotism - A 1970's film that explains to you, the child, how to be patriotic. Luckily all you have to do...

Harder To Watch With Tears In Your Eyes
I just got done watching this DVD over the weekend with my family and everyone loved it.
That's a rare feat in my house as I have a 7 year old who enjoys big explosions and a surly 17 year old who thinks anything I like she shouldn't. And a husband who lost all patience for me and my Mystery Science Theater 3K days.
So when I put in this DVD I was alone.
As the DVD played on and my laughter became THAT contagious my audience gradually increased to 4. And everyone loved it. I had to skip backwards a few times too so they could each see the episodes that they had missed.
By the end of the DVD I had a couple tissues on the table from all the tear wiping I had to do.
I will definitely be buying more Riffs!

Click to Editorial Reviews

RiffTrax: House on Haunted Hill - from the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000!

One Favorite Classic, One Bunch of Favorite Nitwits
As a fan of old black and white "B" horror movies, I've always loved "House on Haunted Hill." It's pretty lame by today's blood & gore standards, but I saw it as a kid and found it scarey. I have quite a few DVD's of this movie, bought for a mere $1 during Halloween. That said, I'm also a fan of the good-ole MST3K nitwits, and this was my first Rifftrax rental. Don't expect the MST3K stuff like skits, shadows of the guys watching the movie, or even an introduction! The movie starts and the guys immediately riff in the background. You simply just HEAR, but never see them! When the movie ends, they sign off. I thought the riffing was good, especially for the two lame-brained leads who (of course) always place themselves in danger. "Lance", the clumsy hero, is always just one step away from the next concussion. "Nora", the terrorized woman, runs away from the horror by going into empty dark rooms. They barely touch Vincent Price, but he's such a good actor and one of my...

A workable, if spartan, package
This is a nice high-quality DVD of House on Haunted Hill. It was touch spartan; there's no subtitles of either the movie or the riffing, there's no MST3K-style video introduction (which would have been nice; would it have been hard to put a five minute pre-movie warmup, using whatever set came to hand), there's no shadows on the screen (which I've seen done with just subtitles, on the Ghostbusters DVD, IIRC), and there's not even a coming/available advertisement. There's just the movie, and two soundtracks, one with and one without riffing.

As for the meat of the material, House on Haunted Hill is a fairly classic old movie and moderately riffable. I'd place the riffs here about average for an MST3K and there was enough classic horror movie shtics and movie-specific jokes to make it worth my while.

But it is a good classic horror movie, and well worth your time watching it unMST3Ked before ruining all the surprises in the comedic mode. If you've got the DVD and...

One of RiffTrax's Funniest
Firstly, The House on Haunted Hill is actually a pretty good movie and generally delivers some solid thrills. To have Mike Nelson and Co. providing laughs is almost an embarrassment of riches. You get a terrific little Vincent Price movie about a handful of invited guests who must survive a night in a huge haunted house to collect some serious money AND you get some of the funniest riffing that the crew at RiffTrax can provide. It's like watching the Saturday Night Creature Feature with three of your best invisible friends. For a night's entertainment, you can't do better than the price of this disc.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Ladies or Gentlemen (Starz Inside)

Really can't rate what you can't see!
Well to be totally honest this DVD failed to play in every player I've got. 4 in my computer, one internal and 3 external, it doesn't play in either of my DVD player equipped video game systems, XBOX,XBOX2?,and PS3, when I put this DVD into the DVD player in the living room that I got for my birthday in May keeps flashing "INSERT DVD AND PRESS PLAY." I'm S.O.L. I guess?

Sincerely yours, Tiffany Snow

Interesting Look at Drag in the Movies.
Narrated by RuPaul, and who better, this 50 minute documentary traces cross dressing in movies from its earliest days to the present. It covers celebrities of both sexes and the reactions of audiences in response to their portrayals. From movies as vast as Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon comically hiding out as women in an all-girl band to escape the mob in "Some Like it Hot" to Anthony Perkins' obsession with his abusive mother in "Psycho" and mentions of "Wong Foo" and the "Crying Game," it's all here. Naturally, there is a lot on Ed Wood, Divine, and Tim Curry in his most famous role as Doctor Frank N. Furter from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The documentary also explores why women dressed as men are more acceptable than the reverse; ie Marlene Dietrich in several roles, Greta Garbo, and even Amanda Bynes in "She's the Man." Not long enough to be fully comprehensive, but an interesting look at gender roles and a brief history of cross dressing in filmdom. A fun and informative...



Click to Editorial Reviews

Nicotina

FATA nicotina
A Spanish movie of punishing the bad at the beginning of a third millennium presents already a bit out-dated computer used to spying over sexy neighbour and hacking Swiss banks by a geek looking rather infantile and asexual.

Murdering, blood, money, dimonds, Russian mafia-and everyone gets what deserves.

Very Low Definition
The movie is not bad but the DVD transfer sucks. I would give the movie four stars, zero for DVD quality. The main feature, six trailers, and two language tracks are all on a single-layer disk (4.7GB) with a lot of room to spare, so the bit rate must be extremely low.

Great movie!
I love these types of movie. Never a silver lining. It has a few stories tied up into it with an interesting twist. Can't escape from the cigarretes in this movie, hence nicotina...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Crossing Over

FANTASTIC!!
It's been a long time since a movie surprised me like "Crossing Over". I'll be honest, I didn't know much about this movie, other than it starred one of my favorite actors, Harrison Ford, and that it tackled the immigration issue. I expected a decent movie and Ford doing his usual great performance, but what I found was a riveting moving drama with superb acting from a very talented ensemble cast! What a fantastic movie and one I HIGHLY recommend. As I watched this movie, I was reminded of other ensemble movies with weaving story lines such as "Magnolia" and "Traffic". I consider myself a serious movie buff and not an easy critic but this movie really won me over and I consider it one of the best movies I've seen in quite a while. Don't miss this one!!

Thoughtful movie for our times
This movie is an extremely thoughtful comment on the immigration issues facing this country today. With skillful directing, this movie takes us inside the lives of U.S. Immigration agents and several legal and illegal immigrants, telling each of their stories from a unique perspective. Harrison Ford takes a nice turn as a conflicted immigration agent torn between duty and morality, who sees each immigration story as unique and shows more heart than most of his fellow officers. What I find most interesting is that this almost semi-documentary script gives us an intimate look into the lives of those on all sides of the immigration debate, and shows us why we need to be a bit more tolerant in our attitudes on a case-by-case basis. The movie also paints a beautiful picture of the cultural diversity of those who come to this country, and how far some are willing to go in order to remain here. It also reminds us what American citizenship often means to those who weren't born here. It...

Crash meets American Beauty meets Grand Torino!
This is realism at its best! With immigration issues more current than ever this movie addresses the growing immigration and the often sad human destinies involved - not only among the immigrants but also among the very government agencies and bodies ment to manage the situation.

Having outgrown Harrison Ford movies (typecast for decades) as I left my teenage years my expectations were very moderate as I entered the theatre - did I turn out to be wrong again!

Harrison Ford delivers a solid performance but the movie is so much more than him - in fact most of the other characters are delivering excellent performances - and refreshingly all are depicted in a shade of grey - rather than black and white as we have come accustomed to from Hollywood for decades. It brings back sweet memories of American Beauty in this department.... in itself something I for one have been longing for for a long time.

The storyline resembles another excellent movie, Crash, in...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Z Rock: Season 1

Z ROCK! - Great addition to your DVD library
If you like This is Spinal Tap you will love this show. The difference is this is a REAL band - ZO2 - and you should check out their CDs. The show depicts their real life with a bit of improvising and lots of humor. As any musician knows stardom and being discovered does not come easy. There are many side-jobs just to pay the bills and there is a ton of schmoozing to make the right connections.

All of the guest stars hilariously play themselves and NYC is a character in itself much like it was on Sex and the City.

Jump on the ZO2 and Z Rock bandwagon or you'll be kicking yourself if you lose out on the fun and great music.

Z Rock Rocks Me
What happens when a NYC rock band becomes more popular as a kids birthday band than what their real dream is? Tune into Z Rock to find out :)

The show is hilarious with great guest appearances throughout the season. Jay Oakerson (Neil) and Lynne Koplitz (Dina) are hilarious and the Zo2 guys shine through the whole season, bringing their sense of humor and passion for music to the forefront.

It needs to be noted too that David Z, Paulie Z and Joey do make up the real band - Zo2... and seeing them live will convert nearly everyone over to the Z Side. As a fan of Zo2 for nearly 5 years (and Z Rock since the second I heard about it), I believe that anyone who gives the band a real chance will love them. They are great guys and have amazing music. I highly suggest anyone and everyone both watch Z Rock and check out their new CD "Casino Logic"... I doubt you'll be disappointed!

Original
I heard of these guys in the summer of 2008 with their song "Isolate" from Ain't It Beautiful. Then, I heard from my buddy they have a show on IFC, but I didn't have that channel. I waited for this to come out on DVD and I immediately bought this...watch it so many times...its funny...its very original...so many guest stars...make the show extra funny...I recommend this for a good laugh...ROCK ON ZO2..

Click to Editorial Reviews

Spinning into Butter

I'm Impressed
I had never heard of this story, nor did I know it was originally a play by Rebecca Gilman. I saw the DVD in the video store with Sarah Jessica Parker on the front cover.

The movie does keep a bit of a play atmosphere, and the topics are spot on. Prepare to be provoked and get buttons pushed. I thought it was a refreshingly blunt piece - better than "Crash" - in my opinion, and the story is engaging. None of that abstract hidden agenda stuff. It gets right to the point and drags the issue out into the open.

Basic plot: a hate crime is committed at a New England college which sends the school into media chaos and causes the Dean of Students (Sarah Jessica Parker) to have to deal with her own issues of race.

Sarah Jessica does a pretty decent job in this, and so does Mykelti Williamson. Their on screen chemistry is great.

This movie isn't perfect nor bad...
I watched this film simply because of my love and admiration for actor Victor Rasuk (How To Make it in America, Lords of Dogtown) who plays Patrick Chibas, the Nuyorican who has had enough of the biased misconceptions of his ethnicity. I think he held his own in this film. He has about ten minutes of total screen time, but it works. The rest of the film is...eh. I'm not going into detail as other reviewers have. This is just my two cents, without the play by play.

"Spinning" kind of reminds you of a Saturday afternoon movie on basic cable television, except: there's Carrie-motha******'-Bradshaw yapping your face. It's kind of hilarious, really. She didn't strike me as a teacher (or educator of any kind) before viewing this, but in fact, it works for her as well. She plays the sympathetic, mousy Dean of Students, riddled with white-guilt in today's conservative society.

Not only does the film strike a nerve with me (I'm a black male), but it speaks the volume...

Doesn't quite work
Not only does the plot and motive make no sense, but many of the actors overemote as if they were still on a stage. The rest of it is just plain preachy and annoying.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Guns

Oh So Bad
Some of the worst 'acting' ever. Cardboard movement, reading lines from cue cards, bad timing, and fake emotions. The only thing positive to say, shots are well lit and in focus.

Canada's take on guns. From a Canadian perspective, the idea is right, the sentiment right. The execution is just painful. Oddly, nobody even has a Canadian accent. Why everyone sounds like they are from the midwest is incomprehensible. Oddly I watched this DVD while I was in Toronto. Hearing Canadians all day long, the accent was just too shocking.

The story is convoluted. But predictible. It just drags on for way way too long; 2 hours and 56 minutes. I happen to really love Elisha Cuthbert, she is such a bright spot in every movie or television program she's ever been in. She can't eve rescue this series.

guns
it was so so I bought it cuz I like Elisha Cuthbert the movie is good if you like themes that follow guns through peoples lives

Good for a A TV Miniseries
It's not a major motion picture, so don't expect one. It's a TV mini-series and it plays like one. Though the funny thing is it's cast with character actors whose faces you may recognize from major motion pictures (and TV). You know those faces you know but just "can't place".

Ah, Canada. Someone once said, there are only 15 actors in Canada. Well, all 15 are here. Okay, maybe 13. Two of my favorites aren't. (Steve Bacic and Douglas O'Keeffe)

Anyway, it's a decent movie with a good story. There are characters you will care about. And others you will want dead. And the pacing is good. Slow in some places, but nothing to be unexpected given the plot.

The other reviewer had one thing right - this is Canada's take on guns. But in watching it, you don't notice much difference from any major US city. That's until you pay attention to the details. Like, there's constant mention of crossing the border to Ohio. Personally, I was like, "Ohio? Huh?" Then...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Fired Up! [UMD for PSP]

Corny & predictable, but still funny
I think the best way to see this film is to know they had fun making it, producing it and to get something out of it like the commentary says: "...they will be studying this for years to come at USC film school..."

Let's get all of the hate mail out of the way. Yes - the leads are all over 30, yes - it is another dang cheer film, yes - it has nothing new to add to the comedy plate this year, and so on. But I still got some good laughs out of it and plenty of fit people to look at. The main thing that struck me was the chemistry between the two main actors, they were actually believable and funny. The supporting cast had some great moments, especially John Michael Higgins as Coach Keith and Philip Baker Hall as Coach Byrnes - they both showed awesome chops in doing their corny roles.

The film quality was excellent, the sound was a fun 5.1 and the impressive long-takes actually looked good. Whether you love or hate this film, that one take when the crew arrives at...

I'm not a teenager but I love teen movies.
This one is a good one! I watched it on a plane and had to buy it so I could watch it properly. If you like 'Bring it on', this is a must-see.

Oscar Snub, thy Name is Fired Up!
Few films rival Goodfellas, On the Water Front, or Raging Bull...

Only one movie blows them out of the water. That movie is Fired Up!

Never before has a director captured the spirit of American film like writer and director Will Gluck does in this underrated tale of teenage angst, the dark side of American cheerleading, the consequences of dating pre-med students, and the hidden code of American cheer.

An instant classic that transcends time and space, Fired Up! is an emotionally charged whipsaw exploring the chaotic lives of high school sports stars Shawn Colfax and Nick Brady. Eric Christian Olson, who plays Brady, mesmerizes audiences with his thespian range, magically evolving into a hormone-charged teenager who questions not only his lot in life, but also the depths of his sexuality when he meets Downey.

The best supporting actor role of 2009 should have definitely been given to David Watson for his epic portrayal of Dr. Rick. This...

Click to Editorial Reviews