The Letter

Starring:Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Gale Sondergaard, Bruce Lester, Elizabeth Inglis, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Sen Yung, Doris Lloyd, Willie Fung, Tetsu Komai, David Newell, Otto Hahn, Douglas Walton, Roland Got, Zita Baca, Lillian Kemble-Cooper, Pete G. Katchenaro, Ottola Nesmith
Director: William Wyler
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Tad, Leap, and Lily hop from the pages of the amazingly popular Leap Pad learning toys onto the television screen in this attention grabbing phonics program. Tad's disappointment at being unable to help his family with an important presentation at the letter factory quickly turns to excitement when he meets Professor Quigley and joins each of the letters of the alphabet in their own fun-filled classroom devoted to learning their unique sound. Tad practices karate kicks with the k's, digs the vibes with the cool cat d's drumming on the bongos, and snores peacefully with the z's while learning to recognize each letter and the sound it makes. A catchy, fun song serves as a summation of each letter's "class" and entices even the most reluctant of toddlers (and their parents) to sing each letter's sound. An interactive game follows the program and gives children a chance to practice their newfound skills of recognizing letters and their sounds. Consumers expect great educational products from LeapFrog and this DVD won't disappoint. (Ages 2 to 5) --Tami Horiuchi

Description

Teaches letters, phonics and listening skills. A wild adventure to the Letter Factory with popular LeapFrog characters Leap, Lily and Tad. Led by wacky Professor Quigley, Tad joins Js jumping on trampolines and Ks practicing karate kicks as new letters learn their sounds. Fun songs will have kids singing letter sounds in no time.

DVD Features:
Other:Learning games
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Excellent for learning letters and their sounds.......2007-07-03

We originally bought this as a Christmas present. At first my daughter showed no interest in it. Now, at just under 3 1/2 years old, she asks to watch it at least once a day. She became very interested in the DVD once her long term memory improved and she was able to remember what different letters looked like. It has accelerated her letter recognition and really helped her recognize some letters that look and sound the same (B,P,D,etc...). Now when she recognizes a letter she say its name and sings the song with the correct pronunciation from the DVD. All this with about two weeks of exposure to the DVD.

As a parent I really like how this DVD, My First LeapPad: Alphabet book and the Letter Factory Game all reinforce the same idea. She gets the repetition in different formates. I highly recommend these products.

Letter Factory.......2007-07-03

My son just turned 2 in March. We've had this DVD for less than a month and he recognizes all the letters. He sees letters everywhere now, points to them, and makes the sound. He is also talking so much more now. When he turned 2 he barely had the "recommended" 50 words, and now he's adding new words every day. I just can't say enough about this DVD!

Great DVD!!!.......2007-06-25

I picked up this dvd at my local library sale...and what a great buy this has been. My daughter is [...] and she loves to watch it every day. We have the magnetic phonics letters that we put on the fridge. This is pretty much the same but the visual is so entertaining that she has picked up a lot more phonics sounds now. I think it's a really nice gift for any kids 2+.

Needs Salt.......2007-06-22

Good overall, with a few caveats: The letter p portion of letter factory is kind of disgusting. It's not that there's so much popcorn everywhere, it's that there's so much buttery popcorn everywhere. Not only that, but then the professor says it needs salt! Disgusting. Also, I get nervous at the end of letter k when the professor kicks the wall and then shatters apart into several pieces. They show him immediately afterwards in his normal state, but I still feel like that scene goes too far. I definitely relate to Tad, though, because when I was younger I always thought tea was supposed to have a bit of a salty taste, almost like soup or something. I was surprised when I found out I was wrong.

Taught Our Child to Read!.......2007-06-21

Everyone we knew was recommending this video so we bought it for our almost 5 year old daughter. She had been struggling with letter recognition and sounds. This video and the "Talking Words Factory" taught her to read in about a week! She still loves to watch it and sing along with the songs. We also got her the "Complex Words Factory" video in the series. I recommend these videos to everyone I meet. They are that good!

Average customer rating:

It Taught My Child to Read!
GREAT! Educational DVD
Leap Frog Talking Words Factory
learning to read
Absolutely Wonderful!

Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory
Starring: Leapfrog
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

3-6 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Leap Frog - Letter Factory
Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word Caper
Leap Frog - Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory
Leap Frog - Math Circus
Leap Frog - Math Circus/Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word Caper

ASIN: B0000INU6I
Release Date: 2003-12-09

Amazon.com

Building words is an exciting and empowering experience for young children (and frogs) who have mastered individual letters and their sounds. When young Tad wants to nominate his Dad for a "Best Dad" contest he asks his brother Leap and sister Lily for some help filling out the application. The three young frogs go see Professor Quigley at their Father's Talking Word Factory for a little instruction and get to watch the "Sticky-ick-o-rama" and the "Word Whammer" machines at work. Tad quickly discovers that vowels act as the glue that sticks letters together and then learns to combine individual letter sounds to make three-letter words, use common ending sounds to create rhyming words, and blend letter sounds to make even longer rhyming words. Phonemic awareness, vocabulary building, and rhyming are entertaining and fun thanks to familiar Leap Pad characters, colorful animation, and short songs. An interactive word game challenges young viewers to fill in the missing first letter in a variety of three-letter words. This program is a great next step for graduates of Leap Frog: Talking Letters Factory and children ages 3 to 6. Tami Horiuchi

Description

Teaches vowels and consonants, word building, rhyming and vocabulary. Leap, Lily and Tad journey to the Word Factory where the Word Whammer, Sticky-Ick-O-Rama and more amazing machines take letters and make them into words. Humoruos songs and an out-of-control word machine add to the fun.

DVD Features:
Other:Learning games
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

It Taught My Child to Read!.......2007-06-21

I highly recommend this video. This one, along with the "Letter Factory" video taught my youngest child to read in about a week. She's 5 now and she and her sister still watch the video regularly. We recommend it to everyone who asks how to teach their children to read. Also, the "Complex Words Factory" video is great, too!

GREAT! Educational DVD.......2007-06-02

My 28 month old daughter truly enjoys this DVD. It really perked her interest in learning to read. She is even beginning to sound words out. She will sit on the sofa and "read" books to her Care Bear. It is really cute. It is amazing. She loves this DVD. It is presented well and the cute songs really help reinforce the conceps.

Fabulous!

Leap Frog Talking Words Factory.......2007-06-02

We have the leap frog movies - they're great! They're fun, they kept his attention (when he was 3 and 4 y/o) and they're quite educational.

learning to read.......2007-05-22

My [...]son loves this DVD. He doesn't quite get the process of sounding words out yet but he loves to watch and sing along. I can just see the wheels turning.

Absolutely Wonderful!.......2007-05-07

My 4 year old daughter loves to watch this DVD. She learned the sounds of the alphabet with the Leap Frog Letter Factory video and is now learning vowels and to "glue the words together" with The Talking Words Factory.

There was a period of a month or two where she lost interest in it, but she is enjoying it again and the progress is amazing. The games provided on the attached leaflet are very useful too.

Excellent product!

Leapfrog Learning DVDs 5-Pack (Talking Words Factory / Talking Words Factory II / Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory / Letter Factory /Math Circus)

Average customer rating:

Best Learning Videos
What a wonderful tool!
Amazing Learning Tools!!!
GREAT!!!
WOW

Leapfrog Learning DVDs 5-Pack (Talking Words Factory / Talking Words Factory II / Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory / Letter Factory /Math Circus)
Starring: Leapfrog 5pak
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

3-6 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Numbers & Letters | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Children's Music | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Leap Frog - Letter Factory
Bob Books Set 1-Beginning Readers
Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word Caper
Sound It Out Land: A Musical Adventure In Phonics And Reading
Leap Frog - Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory

ASIN: B000EHQU1W
Release Date: 2006-04-17

Description

5 pack of LeapFrog dvds: 1) LeapFrog: Talking Words Factory II: The Code Word Caper 2) LeapFrog: Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory 3) LeapFrog: Letter Factory 4) LeapFrog: Math Circus 5) LeapFrog: Talking Words Factory

Customer Reviews:

Best Learning Videos.......2007-06-27

I wish that I could give this series more than 5 stars. My children love it, and they have learned a lot. Very, very good. We also like Here Come the ABCs [CD/DVD Combo] and Sesame Street: All-Star Alphabet, but Leap rocks.

What a wonderful tool!.......2007-06-26

My daughter's instruction at her school was lacking. I needed to find a way to help her learn myself. A friend of mine, a former teacher, recommended the Letter Factory. Within a couple of weeks, my daughter was getting her letters and sounds. I bought the pack, and she is loving the talking words factory. My older daughter loves it too. It is a great review for her.

Amazing Learning Tools!!!.......2007-05-31

I have a 5 year old starting Kindergarten in August and a 3 1/2 year old. Within 2 weeks- literally, they had both memorized all letters and letter sounds. My 5 year old is now sounding out phonetic words on her own. These videos incorporate all learning styles- visual, audio, right and left brain dominance and are addictive. The girls frequently repeat these songs in the car or in their rooms falling asleep at night. These will also be an invaluable asset to pre-k and kindergarten classroom teachers as curriculums become more demanding at earlier ages. These videos are fun and just seem to pour the knowledge into their heads!

GREAT!!!.......2007-05-28

Every morning when my 28 month old daughter wakes up she says "I want to watch the green frogs". She has learned all her beginning phonics and she sings the "sounds" song from "The Letter Factory" DVD everywhere. We even sing it in the grocery store to keep her "engaged" in something constructive. She also has learned how to read simple words ("The Talking Words Factor" and "Code Word Caper") and now she is very interested in learning to read. She asks me to spell different words all the time. She even knows how to spell her first name "Melody" and even her last name. The "Math Circus" DVD is fabulous too. I only wish that it focused on counting past ten, too. Now we count as we do errands in the car and we sing "The Numbers Song". These DVDs really have jump-started her interest in learning to read and to count.

I recommended these DVDs to my nephew who did not have as much interest in learning his numbers or letters and now he is on his way to reading, too.

These are fabulous.

WOW.......2007-05-27

Great series. My 2 1/2 year old learned her letter sounds in about 2 weeks. We had been working on letter recognition and sounds and used many of the leapfrog products, but this one made is all click for her. (The Letter Factory is the main video I let her watch at first, but she loves them all.) Now she uses her Word Whammer properly.

OH! Each video comes with this wonderful guide to help you and your child use the video together.

Average customer rating:

Beethoven's Immortal Beloved
While it says nothing about the real life of Beethoven, the movie is a pleasant romance
Es müß sein.
Enchanting
Super Seller

Immortal Beloved
Starring: Michael Culkin , Luigi Diberti , Rory Edwards , Hannes Flaschberger , and Christopher Fulford
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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Amadeus - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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Shine

ASIN: B00000K3TN
Release Date: 1999-10-05

Amazon.com

This sumptuous and moving 1994 film written and directed by Bernard Rose (Candyman) investigates the artistic and romantic passions of one of the greatest composers of all time. Featuring a superb performance by Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy) as Ludwig van Beethoven, Immortal Beloved is full of uncommonly vivid, rich imagery as it charts the tumultuous life of the deaf child prodigy and his rise to the height of musical achievement. Along the way, he attempts to play mentor to his nephew, attend to his many passionate romances--the most stable one was with a countess (Isabella Rossellini)--and fight bouts of depression and madness that ruled his life and his art. The film is framed around a "Rosebud"-type letter found after the composer's death that makes up the crux of the story. Jeroen Krabbé (The Fugitive), playing Beethoven's lifelong friend, attempts to discover who Beethoven's muse really was, becoming as driven as his friend in discovering the unlikely identity of the composer's "immortal beloved." Through this we gain an insight into the nature of obsession, romance, and the heights and sacrifices of artistic achievement. The film exhibits some extraordinary sound design, and the finale features a magical encapsulation of Beethoven's life and loves set to his "Ode to Joy." As an exciting and passionate journey, Immortal Beloved is its own masterpiece. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

Beethoven's Immortal Beloved.......2007-06-15

This take on Beethoven's love life may elicit giggles or outrage from scholars of this composer, but it made for a great movie! The characterization of Beethoven himself seemed rather extreme at times, but it made a valid point. I especially enjoyed the almost constant background music from the composer's great works, and the portrayal of life in general during this time was very vivid.

While it says nothing about the real life of Beethoven, the movie is a pleasant romance.......2007-06-05

While I admire Gary Oldman's acting abilities and some of his achievements in this film, the film itself has so many flaws that it is hard to forgive. It is vital to note right from the start that the story of this film has almost nothing to do with the life of the actual Ludwig van Beethoven. Oh, you could point to this or that biographical detail and claim that such an event occurred, but the movie wrenches everything so far out of context in the service of a fictitious romance that even the truths become false.

Since this movie is a romance, I think it would have been better if they had made up a name for the name Adrian Leverkuehn for Arnold Schoenberg in Doctor Faustus. Even this wasn't enough because in later editions Mann had to put in a disclaimer that Schoenberg had actually invented the twelve tone compositional technique and that Leverkuehn is fictional. We get no such disclaimers in this film and the violence done the actual Beethoven is far greater. I suppose if they had made up the name of a composer then they couldn't have used the true star of this film, the excerpts of Beethoven's music forming the soundtrack. The recording of this soundtrack was a pretty good seller back in 1994.

The funeral scene is pretty good. It was a mob and an even bigger event than shown in the film. I also like the way Beethoven's deafness was shown at times. However, in the periods shown in the film, his deafness was not as complete as it was later. His social awkwardness was not as deranged as it is shown in the film. Since we lack any sense of the social order of Beethoven's time, I suppose the filmmakers felt that the character had to be shocking for our time, hence the storming man in need of medication sadly unavailable in his time. No, Beethoven was shocking because he simply claimed priority for himself through his art.

But the whole premise of the film is foolish. There is a letter to an "Immortal Beloved" whose identity has been sought out since Beethoven's time, but Maynard Solomon made a very good case for Antonie Brentano back in 1972. And this woman isn't even in this film! The only reason people debate this issue is because people tend to like unsolved mysteries and romances. However, there are facts that point to Brentano and away from every other proposed candidate. And even the phrase "Immortal Beloved" might not be anything more than a clumsy man trying to say something romantic rather than something summing up his life's love.

While the scene is totally made up, I did find the scene of Oldman leaning close to the piano to play the "Moonlight Sontata" a nice effect. The scene of Beethoven stumbling through the "Emperor Concerto" never happened. Beethoven's hearing was bad enough that he knew better than to play in public by 1811. The first performer of the work was Friedrich Schneider, a local church organist in Leipzig. The Vienna premier in February 1812 was Carl Czerny, a Beethoven pupil and later a great piano teacher as well as performer.

Anyway, if you enjoy the film, fine. Just don't mistake ANYTHING in it as pertaining to the life of the real Beethoven. Especially NOT the identity the movie supposes for the "Immortal Beloved". Suspect every detail in the film because even events which have some connection to history are completely out of context. Oh, and there are a couple scenes of gratuitous partial nudity to make it seem more romantic, I guess. Just enjoy the movie as a romance and don't suppose you have learned anything about Beethoven and you will be OK. If it inspires you to go read about the actual life of Beethoven and his music, all the better.

Es müß sein........2007-05-29

One longs for a movie that treats a great artist's life as something other than the ravings of a madman.

While the wait carries on, however, IMMORTAL BELOVED is delicious entertainment. The mysterious woman of Ludwig von Beethoven's scrawled final testament turns out to be his sister-in-law, the widow of a brother killed by consumption, and--in the end--the mother of the nephew Beethoven snatched from her. The boy himself was an unfortunate soul who in the end turns out to have been flesh of Ludwig's flesh.

If this sounds a bit like supermarket tabloid stuff, well, the difference lies in that Ludwig von Beethoven was no momentary celebrity whose life will flare out after its requisite fifteen minutes of fame. On the contrary, Beethoven was one of the West's and indeed humanity's great artistic geniuses. A conspiracy tale wraps so much more satisfyingly around a life like his. This is especially so when the story is accompanied by the man's own music, played with ominous solemnity the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir George Solti's baton.

I somehow missed this film when it was released in 1994. Other things were going on. A Memorial Day weekend spent with the DVD is a pleasure that more than requites the wait. Jeroen Krabbé's performance as Friend-of-Ludwig Anton Schindler deserves at least the merit that Gary Oldman as Beethoven and Isabella Rosselini earned for their arguably lesser performances.

Krabbé becomes the film's dramatic center as he vollies between historical personages in an attempt to piece together the contours of Beethoven's loves. His stolid weightiness makes him perfect for such an anchoring role.

The filming (Chekoslovakia) is gorgeous and there is, always, the music.

IMMORTAL BELOVED turns Beethoven's life and death into a tragedy. Although the historicity that makes this artistic decision plausible is debatable, it is arguable that only a man well acquainted with the tragic could have written such enduring, powerful, seductive music.

Vielleicht, dann, es mußte sein.

Enchanting.......2007-05-25

I won't waste your tim with a long or droll review. I will simply say the New York Times is pretentious and overrated. Though it has been a couple years since I saw this movie, I rented it time and again and continued to enjoy it every single time. I am now buying for my husband, who enjoyed it even more so. Though I'm sure it was a dramatic view of the composer's life, it was positively wonderful. It wasn't just simply entertaining, it was enchanting.

Super Seller.......2007-05-14

Great quality and wonderful DVD - fast shipping and super seller = great transaction!

Average customer rating:

A 'MUST SEE' MOVIE
Dear Frankie
Film
Superb
The best Gerry Butler movie to date

Dear Frankie
Starring: Emily Mortimer , Jack McElhone , Mary Riggans , Sharon Small , and Sophie Main
Director: Shona Auerbach
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Attila
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ASIN: B00094AS9A
Release Date: 2005-07-05

Amazon.com

Driven by intelligent, constantly surprising and moving performances from the film's leads, Dear Frankie stars Emily Mortimer (Lovely and Amazing) as Lizzie, Scottish mother of Frankie (Jack McElhone), a deaf and highly intelligent 9-year-old. Constantly uprooting themselves and relocating from town to town, Lizzie and Frankie are on the run from the latter's abusive father, a fact unknown to the boy, who believes his dad is a busy seaman sending letters full of adventure and love. In fact, Lizzie is writing those missives, but she is faced with a challenge when Frankie discovers his father's ship will dock nearby. Lizzie hires a kind, handsome stranger (Gerard Butler) to play Frankie's dad, creating an odd situation in which ever-growing lies become a conduit for love, and Lizzie's repressed desires come to the fore with a man posing as her husband. The moral tangles are of interest in director Shona Auerbach's charmingly paced, quietly insightful drama-comedy, but so is the glorious feeling of watching these characters come fully alive. --Tom Keogh

Description

This touching and humorous movie has earned the raves of critics and won the hearts of audiences everywhere! To spare the feelings of her fatherless boy, Lizzie (Emily Mortimer -- Disney's THE KID) secretly authors letters from his "father" that detail seafaring adventures from around the world. But she cannot maintain this illusion forever. Torn between exposing the truth and protecting her son, Lizzie gets more than anyone bargained for when she hires a handsome stranger (Gerald Butler -- THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE) to play the role of a lifetime! Winner at both the Heartland Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival, this entertaining motion picture is sure to touch your heart!

Customer Reviews:

A 'MUST SEE' MOVIE.......2007-07-03

A beautiful story, a wonderful, heart-warming film, to be watched over and over and over again, with marvelous actors.....especially Gerard Butler. To steal a line from the movie: his "eyes -- they pull you -- right in!" He has to be the most exciting, expressive, multi-talented actor working today. Move over Sean Connery; Scotland has given us another of the most handsome and talented men in the world!

Dear Frankie.......2007-06-27

What a great movie. Its very tender and catches your heart. The characters are wonderful and you will want to see it over and over. The stranger is so believable as the hesitant skeptical man posing as Frankies father. As the story unfolds , he becomes such an important force in the lives of this boy and his mother that you are totally involved in their lives. It is beautifully filmed, lovely scenery and a heartbreakingly wonderful jewel of a film.....I loved it.

Film.......2007-06-11

Cannot beat this film in any category; the story, actors, script, cinematography, set design, and location are first rate. Saw it in a theatre, have watched it many times since the DVD arrived, and shared it with friends.

Superb.......2007-05-25

I won't go over the story line again - that's well-covered elsewhere. Suffice it to say that this movie is simply superb. I logged on after watching it just so I could recommend it to as many people as possible and give it 5 stars.

The best Gerry Butler movie to date.......2007-05-16

I bought this dvd so-so many weeks ago and have seen it countless (I lost count, actually) times. So far this is THE BEST Gerry Butler movie yet. The movie is so simple (and obviously low budget) but the plot is superlative which completely blew me away. I had never been so touched by any movie before and made me cry (especially the person who made me cry was no other than Gerry B). Other casts were just as perfect. Like other reviews, when I first saw the movie it lingered for so long and made me depressed that I needed to pop in some caffeine and jogged for miles to get the adrenaline back pumping. I saw Gerry's latest stint in 300 but it didn't impress me at all. This movie is unassuming but "a real gem" and real acting at its best. So few movies are made like this (and what a pity!). I'm glad I have this dvd copy and I will cherish it for so long.

Average customer rating:

Excellent and beautiful
""We All Have Our Wounds" ~ A Romantic Film For The Ages
Depardieu and Brochet are the ultimate Cyrano and Roxane.This is Jean-Paul Rappeneau's masterpiece.
Great play, miscast Cyrano and a dull, flat English translation
A classic

Cyrano de Bergerac
Starring: Gérard Depardieu , Anne Brochet , Vincent Perez , Jacques Weber , and Roland Bertin
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

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General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Count of Monte Cristo
Cyrano de Bergerac
My Father's Glory
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Roxanne

ASIN: B0000YEENU
Release Date: 2004-02-10

Amazon.com

Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lend his words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine

Description

One of France's literary treasures commands the screen with this "exceptionally graceful adaptation" (Los Angeles Times) that received a Best Foreign Film Golden GlobeÂ(r) and five OscarÂ(r) nominations*, including Best Actor for Gerard Depardieu! Cyrano (Depardieu), a master swordsman and poet, feels he cannot woo his beloved Roxane (Anne Brochet) due to an unfortunate physical flaw: his grotesquely large nose. Resigning himself to helping another suitor, the dashing yet tongue-tied Christian (Vincent Perez), Cyrano uses his mastery of words to win Roxane forhim. But when Roxane finds that she has fallen for Christian's mindand not for his beautywhich of her two suitors will finally possess her heart? *1990: Foreign Language Film, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Costume Design (won), Makeup

Customer Reviews:

Excellent and beautiful.......2007-06-04

I take Cyrano seriously. For me, Rostand's play, as known to me through Brian Hooker's translation and Jose Ferrer's performance, is a force that has never ceased to inspire, sustain and enrich my life since I first came across it in high school. I show no patience for translations or productions that fail (as I see it) to convey the poetry and grandeur of both the language and the characters. Having said that, I thought this French production of Cyrano was magnificent and will be seen as the definitive modern version for many years to come.

As opposed to the 1950 Jose Ferrer classic, whose sets were rather bare, and whose supporting cast was somewhat cartoonish (which still doesn't detract from Ferrer's tour de force), this production achieves both realism and romance in its beautifully lavish and detailed sets and costumes, not to mention its expertly chosen cast. At all times, you are made to feel as if you were really there, watching real people converse in 17th century France (although I realize that real people don't speak in rhyming couplets), but at other times, such as with the balcony scene, you are transported into a dream or a poem, which is right and proper for this play. I had doubts about Depardieu, but I was able to see him as Cyrano, at least physically. However, he struck me as somewhat too blustering and not as refined as I would expect the character to be (Ferrer was much cooler and nobler, in my view), but I suppose Depardieu knows more about French panache than I do. Unfortunately, the English subtitles employ the execrable Anthony Burgess translation, but that won't be too much of an annoyance to anyone who already has the lines of Hooker rolling around in their head. This is a great movie which should be treasured by any fan of Cyrano, although I would recommend that newcomers should see the Ferrer version first.

""We All Have Our Wounds" ~ A Romantic Film For The Ages.......2007-06-03

Note: French with optional English and Spanish subtitles.

This French language film adaptation of the classic 'Cyrano de Bergerac' released in '90 is without question the most enjoyable 138 minutes in front of the television screen I've experienced in quite some time. Everything about this production is absolute perfection; cinematography, settings, music, screenplay and of course acting.

Gerard Depardieu is an unstoppable force of nature as the eloquent but hot-headed Cyrano. He thunders and rages about one moment only to suddenly turn ethereal and wax poetic the next. The lovely Anne Brochet is a wonderful compliment to the blustering Cyrano as his unattainable Roxane and Vincent Perez delivers a strong performance as the handsome but slow tongued Christian.

The dialogue is crisp, textured and witty, however if you're French impaired as I am you'll probably have trouble keeping up with the subtitles. But that's OK, you'll just catch the missing parts the next time you watch and you will definitely watch again and again.

Depardieu and Brochet are the ultimate Cyrano and Roxane.This is Jean-Paul Rappeneau's masterpiece........2007-05-11

How sad that a person can forego the deepest and best that life has to offer because they feel that their "ugliness" cannot outshine their inner beauty?
Such is the well known CYRANO de BERGERAC,a man with such a large nose that this self-perceived impediment causes him to over develop his rapier wit and tenderness of soul, never being able to feel the sense that he could be loved for who and what he is.

Having seen this Rostand play done on stage, Gerard Depardieu and Anne Brochet simply light up the screen in this Jean-Paul Rappeneau directed version of the French Classic as the "deformed" Cyrano and his object of love,his cousin,Roxane.Vincent Perez,always the handsome leading man, does a marvelous comedic turn as Christien, the love-struck cadet who is a bumbler at words to whom Cyrano lends his poetic tongue to win Roxane for him.

What I find exceptional about this CYRANO is Rappeneau's tremendous attention to the smallest of detail regarding the customs and historical facts concerning the times.The story is already a winner, but Rappeneau makes this also a film that is interesting to people who love accuracy concerning history and custom.There is also a proper treatment of the comedic side of this tragedy that I find lacking in other versions.Rappeneau knows how to make us both laugh and cry in his CYRANO thus keeping a proper balance of the tender and the comedic.

Anne Brochet as Roxane is allowed to be the beauty that she is (unlike her plainess in ALL THE MORNINGS OF THE WORLD) and she is the ideal actress to bring Roxane to the big screen.She has a fragile beauty and depth rarely found!

Depardieu is, well what can one say,THE BEST.Others may disagree,but Depardieu is the first actor ever to make me love Cyrano de Bergerac.Others were okay,but Depardieu IS Cyrano.

As to format,I personally find the digital video transfer version still superior to the dvd in both picture quality and sound.The dvd is" scrunched" looking while the vhs version is not.In any format, though,this is the definitive CYRANO in my book.The english tranlation is perfectly accessible and the subtitles are very clear and not rushed.If you "parlez francais" then all the better this CYRANO.

An excellent companion film that covers the exact same time frame would be MARQUISE (French) starring Sophie Marceau.

Great play, miscast Cyrano and a dull, flat English translation.......2007-02-01

"Cyrano" is one of the greatest verse plays ever written.

Unfortunately Gerard Depardieu is no Cyrano. He's a great, clumsy side of beef, not a shining flame encased in the middleweight body of Hercule Sevanien Cyrano de Bergerac. With the best will in the world, his performance seldom achieves adequacy and never brilliance.

The English translation was especially commissioned for this film. It is undistinguished, prosy and dull. It has little of the wit and less of the poetry of the old standard translation commissioned in the 1920s by the great American actor Walter Passmore.

Get the Jose Ferrer version. This one's a dog.

A classic.......2007-01-16

In this film the story is told with the vigour and intensity it deserves. The actors performances are outstanding, so that you see and hear something new every time you watch. The music is beautiful and one can practicly feel the cool fog in the night and the morning mist, smell the delicous patisserie and sense the omnipresent powerplay between the classes.

Average customer rating:

Romantic Comedies Don't Come Much Better
Steve Martin was robbed!
Roxanne
One of the best Steve Martin films
Best bunch a guys at a firehouse comedy

Roxanne
Starring: Steve Martin , Daryl Hannah , Rick Rossovich , Shelley Duvall , and John Kapelos
Director: Fred Schepisi
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: 0767818105
Release Date: 2002-06-04

Amazon.com essential video

In 1987, almost a hundred years after its first production, the romantic story of Cyrano de Bergerac found new life in a winsome film written by Steve Martin. Roxanne updates the tale with a smart '80s spin, yet writer-star Martin stays close to the old-fashioned heart of the matter. He plays a small-town firefighter named C.D. Bales, whose otherwise unremarkable existence is crowned by an amazingly long nose. He falls for the world's most beautiful astronomer (Daryl Hannah), but he is embarrassed by the size of his proboscis and prefers to stay on the sidelines. Like Cyrano, the shy C.D. instead helps a handsome friend (Rick Rossovich) woo the fair lady by providing flowery sentiments and soulful poetry. Not only does the story still work, but Australian director Fred Schepisi captures a dreamy grace in his visual design for the film (some of which will be lost without the widescreen format). Set in Washington State, but filmed in the hilly ski resort of Nelson, British Columbia, the location seems like a fairy-tale town, nearly as unreal as Steve Martin's nose. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Romantic Comedies Don't Come Much Better .......2007-06-07

"Roxanne," a 1987 film written by, and starring, the comic genius Steve Martin is yet another film from the fertile 1980's that more people should be happy to know. It's based on the 100-year old French play "Cyrano de Bergerac," by Edmond Rostand. And it costars the long-legged blonde Daryl Hannah, makes good use of Shelley Duvall, Fred Willard, and Michael J. Pollard in supporting roles, was directed by the talented Australian Fred Schepisi. It's set, supposedly, in a pretty Oregon skiing town; actually filmed in a pretty Canadian town; the cinematography presents us with many green and charming vistas.

Its plot follows the original. C.D.(Charlie) Bales (Martin), (note he's got the same initials as the original), is the intelligent, engaging fire chief of the small town; he's got quite a lot going for him, but also, unfortunately, an extremely prominent nose. But he's getting alone fine until astronomy student Roxanne (Hannah) comes to town on a cheap summer sublet. She falls for one of Bales's employees, dumb but handsome Chris (Rick Rossovich) in a big way; but, fortunately, she doesn't really go for dumb. Her friend Dixie (Duvall), tells her she wants Chris's looks with Charlie's brains. And, for a while, that's what she gets, as Charlie writes Chris's love letters and dictates his dialogue.

Many critics have lauded Martin's extraordinary gift for physical comedy, but you've got to see it to believe it. He opens the movie with an energetic strut across town, then has a wonderfully choreographed fight with two rude young male tourists: his tennis racket against their ski poles. He also spends a lot of time climbing up and around houses and trees; and falls down from a tree, claiming he was abducted by aliens, as per a puzzling scene in the original play. The movie also gets a gratifying amount of mileage out of Charlie's fire department: there aren't too many movies that give the viewer any feel for what a character supposedly does to make a living. One criticism: Dixie is not as young or beautiful as Roxanne, but does that mean she had to be turned into an asexual auntie type? Oh well. Romantic comedies don't come much better than this.

Steve Martin was robbed!.......2007-05-31

Steve Martin deserved an Academy Award for "Roxanne", but Hollywood doesn't give Oscar to Comedians. At least he got nominated for a Glob(e). One of the great things about this movie is that there is no "bad guy" - you don't have to root for someone to go down in order for the hero to prevail.

Roxanne.......2007-05-09

Funny, Funny!! This movie has so many one liners you will find yourself quoting them for days!

One of the best Steve Martin films.......2007-04-02

Steve Martin's LA Story and the remarkable Roxanne have to be the two best films from his huge body of work.

Having penned the screenplay, Martin cleverly adapts the Cyrano De Bergerac tale to a modern setting, however, manages to maintain the original story line and large personality of Cyrano in the character of C.D. Bales, a fire chief of a beautiful small town in the mountains of British Colombia.

C.D. Bales is an educated, romantic and modern swashbuckling man who can street fight and win with style, possess a sharp wit, can swing and climb rooftops with the agility of a cat and write poetry and love letters that will make any woman swoon with delight. Unfortunately, Bales like De Bergerac, has a nose the size of a small tree, resulting in his shyness in the matters of love.

C.D. falls head over heels for Roxanne, a visiting astronomer with alluring beauty and a keen mind but feels his appearance, a nose the size of Kansas, will prevent any relationship.

A handsome man, Chris, (Rick Rossovich) joins the fire station to help train the volunteer crew of town misfits but cannot talk to women. Bales' woos Roxanne through Chris with love letters and poetry, thus Chris wins her heart. This unusual situation turns complicated, (similar to De Bergerac) when the masquerade starts to come undone to hilarious results.

Australian director, Fred Schepisi, brings Martin's adaptation of De Bergerac together in an entertaining modern romantic comedy that even today, despite the dated soundtrack, continues to be funny.

Some movies deserve only to be seen once though Roxanne can be pulled from the cabinet and viewed time and again as it remains a classic tale of the 80's & the 18th century.

Best bunch a guys at a firehouse comedy.......2007-02-18

A man can sniff out fires, with his very long nose! Steve Martin in this.

Average customer rating:

A Letter to Three Wives
Three Wives unnerved
A LITTLE GEM
Dated but interesting social document
Mankiewicz at Acerbic Best; Darnell, Crain and Sothern as Nervous Wives

A Letter to Three Wives
Starring: Jeanne Crain , Linda Darnell , Ann Sothern , Kirk Douglas , and Paul Douglas
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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All About Eve

ASIN: B00074DY0W
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Amazon.com essential video

Before he made the classic All About Eve, writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz made this clever story about three wives who spend an afternoon at a children's picnic mulling over a letter all three had just received, from a woman who says she's just run off with one of their husbands. As the wives--a former farm girl (Jeanne Crain), a radio soap opera writer (Ann Sothern), and a social climber from the wrong side of the tracks (Linda Darnell)--mull over the troubles of their marriages, each begins to think that she's the one left behind. A Letter to Three Wives doesn't have the crackling show-biz milieu of Eve, but it has the same mix of snappy dialogue and topnotch performances. The tone ranges from florid sentiment to unblinking cynicism, yet Mankiewicz holds it all together with smooth, witty direction. Also featuring Kirk Douglas and the great character actress Thelma Ritter. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Joseph Mankiewicz's unique intriguing comedy stars Ann Southern, Linda Darnell and Jeanne Crain as three wives who must wait out a long day to learn which of them has lost her husband to another woman.

Just as their boat sets off for the day, Deborah (Crain), Rita (Southern) and Lora Mae (Darnell) receive a letter from the alluring Addie Ross (narrator Celeste Holm) stating she has left town with one of their husbands. Each wife spends the fretful day pondering the state of her marriage and the affection each of their husbands has for Addie. By the end of the day, each woman is convinced she must surely be the betrayed wife.

Customer Reviews:

A Letter to Three Wives.......2007-06-21

The legendary Joe Mankiewcz received direction and screenplay Oscars for this sharp little gem, too often eclipsed by his masterful follow-up, "All About Eve". "Wives" uses a clever narrative device to explore the pettiness of small-town life, and the foibles and insecurities in three marriages, as the three women react to the mysterious note by taking stock of their lives, each knowing one of them is in for a big shock at day's end. Intelligent, incisive, and adult romantic drama. Look for Kirk Douglas in an early role as one of the husbands.

Three Wives unnerved.......2007-05-30

This is an excellent film and the strengths lie as much with the script as they do with the cast. The cast with includes Linda Darnell, Ann Southern, Kirk Douglas, Jeanne Crain, and the always marvelous Thelma Ritter are great, but it is doubtful they would be as good without the incredible script by Joseph L. Mankiewicz who also directed it.

For me, this movie should be shown on a double bill with The Best Years of Our Lives since it sums up so many aspects of the immediate post-war period and almost exists as a marvelous historical document of the concerns and day to anxieties of the period. That so many of these same concerns exist today also makes it still relevent.

The movie follows the concerns of three upper middle class couples all of whom are dealing with a particular set of problems. As the wives are leaving for an outing with underprivilage children, they receive a letter from Addie Ross, who is credited as the perfect woman by the men in tne movie. She announces that she has run off with one of their husbands and this uncertainty provides the dramatic tension of the film. Three distinct episodes follow in which each of the women ponder whether her husband has left. Is it Brad Bishop (whose wife worries about fitting in with her husband's upper class friends), George Phipps (whose wife is trying to have a career and a home) or Porter Hollingsway (whose wife is from the wrong side of the tracks) who has left town with the never seen Ms Ross?

The movie deals with issues such as commericalization, readjustment to civilian life after WWII, social mobility (a thread that runs through all the three stories) and what makes a marriage work. The script is so well done that it keeps the viewer guessing until the last minute who has left with Addie Ross. To be able to tackle all of these issues in an entertaining fashion is what marks this film as the important and still relevent vehicle that it still is.

A LITTLE GEM.......2007-03-28

I have watched this film on a number of occasions over the last 30 years and each time I find something more to enjoy about it. It is undoubtedly politically incorrect by today's standards, emphasising as it does the accepted thinking of the time that a woman was nothing without a successful husband. That aside, it is extremely well acted. Of particular delight is the inimitable Thelma Ritter as Sadie and Celeste Holm doing a superb "voice over" for the unseen Adie Ross. The film has a clever plot, a sharp, snappy script and faultless direction. The casting of Crain, Sothern and Darnell works extremely well, but for me, my favourite character of all has to be Porter Hollingsway, the typical hard nosed businessman with the soft centre, so admirably portrayed by Paul Douglas. I am sure Paul Douglas must have been one of the most under rated actors of his time. Unlike Kirk Douglas, who also appeared in this film, he was not, and did not become, a really "Big Star", possibly due in part to his untimely death in the 1950s. Nevertheless, his excellent portrayal ensures Porter Hollingsway comes over as the most natural and believable of "the three husbands". Overall, a truly super film which never fails to delight and which deserves a much higher profile than it currently receives.

Dated but interesting social document.......2007-03-16

This is a film that has not aged well. The 1948 concerns of women moving in post-war American middle class suburbia are just not biting today. In fact the most interesting characters are those played by Kirk Douglas and Paul Douglas as two of the husbands. The "clever" dialogue is not that clever today - still it does have a few laughs. An interesting social document of the period. Includes a good commentary in the DVD extras.

Mankiewicz at Acerbic Best; Darnell, Crain and Sothern as Nervous Wives.......2007-02-27

World War Two had recently ended and things were settling back to normal in affluent Connecticut suburbia until a bombshell from out of the blue thrust three reasonably contented wives into a state of panic.

Joseph Mankiewicz had a genuine feel for dialogue and human conflict. He directed and wrote "A Letter to Three Wives" in between "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison and his classic of theatrical double and triple dealing, "All About Eve" when newcomer Anne Baxter on the surface seeks to befriend Broadway star Bette Davis while plotting to overthrow her theatrical dynasty.

The 1949 release reveals the women frightened over a letter that a local charmer noted for having her way with men has written to three wives informing them that one of their husband is preparing to run away with her and say goodbye to suburban Connecticut marriage. The question is "Which one?" and this is the driving force that makes this sophisticated Mankiewicz drama a pure delight.

We never see the dazzling woman who has such compelling power and presence over the opposite sex that three beautiful and intelligent women fear that she will run off with her husband. Mankiewicz knew how to tease his viewers, offering them just a little bit, then holding back to leave them begging for more.

This is illustrated by the fact that we never see this woman who seeks to manipulate events behind the scenes and drive three women into torturous tizzy. The voice generates a perfect mix of confident appeal and daring sophistication to convince viewers that this indeed is a woman that the film's three female stars have reason to fear. The narrator is Celeste Holm, who got her big break in "Oklahoma" on Broadway and would be cast as Bette Davis's best friend in "All About Eve."

Jeanne Crain exudes a sweet and sincere beauty, the kind that could attract a man like Jeffrey Lynn, her stalwart husband who demonstrates solidity. Crain is fearful that her homespun manner might not be sophisticated and worldly enough to compete with the likes of Addie Ross, the woman behind the scenes.

Ann Sothern is a woman of shrewdness and creativity who feels edgy over the fact that, as a writer of radio soap operas, she makes more money than her intellectual schoolteacher husband. Mankiewicz sets up a fascinating clash between Sothern's husband Kirk Douglas and his wife's bosses, the producers of the soap opera drama for which Sothern writes. Their commercialism and anti-intellectualism disgust Douglas. He gets even in the manner of a teacher by correcting the female boss' grammar.

Linda Darnell grew up literally next to the tracks. The trains pass by at speedy clips and the apartment where she resides with her mother and sister rocks. Linda, a sales girl at the town department store, sees an opportunity to move up the local social ladder when Paul Douglas, the store's owner, expresses romantic interest.

Darnell seeks to steer a discrete course between displaying interest and playing hard to get, eventually winning her man.

The scenes in the apartment being rocked back and forth periodically by jolts from trains speeding down tracks while Darnell's mother, Connie Gilchrist, along with her friend Thelma Ritter drink beer and play cards, deliver superb comic relief from the unfolding domestic suspense.

Ritter delivers her usual saucy lines as the film's Greek Chorus, a role she would soon reprise for Mankiewicz as Bette Davis's lady in waiting in "All About Eve" and eventually for Alfred Hitchcock as she lectures James Stewart on why he should marry Grace Kelly in "Rear Window."

Mankiewicz keeps the pot boiling, maintaining suspense until the dramatic conclusion when the nervous wives learn the identity of the man Addie Ross insists will forego matrimony for her. Who is the man and will he actually leave his wife as Ross confidently proclaims?

Enjoy the suspense and stay tuned.

Dear America - Letters Home from Vietnam

Average customer rating:

very enjoyable/sad..brings out lots of emotions..
dear america letters home from vietnam
excellent documentary
They Walked Like Men
just like it was

Dear America - Letters Home from Vietnam
Starring: Tom Berenger , Ellen Burstyn , J. Kenneth Campbell , Richard Chaves , and Josh Cruze
Director: Bill Couturié
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
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ASIN: B000ARXF7S
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Amazon.com

All the confusion, pain, despair, and even hope of the men and women who served in Vietnam is captured in Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. Read by dozens of actors such as Harvey Keitel, Matt Dillon, and Kathleen Turner, these letters show a more human story of the war than we see in most media outlets and reveal real people in real situations trying to explain or understand. The footage, some newsreel, some shot by the servicemen and servicewomen, reveals a tension between the soldiers' actual experiences and the presentation their loved ones received from television. The soundtrack weaves the songs of the 1960s with the readings to create a compelling aural snapshot of the time, which complements the video exceptionally well. While it's not a "feel-good" movie, the viewer does get a sense of the indestructibility of human dreams. --Rob Lightner

Description

This classic HBO documentary features reenactments of actual letters written by soldiers during the Vietnam war. In each case, a famous celebrity voice (Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Robin Williams, and others) reads the letters to us.

Customer Reviews:

very enjoyable/sad..brings out lots of emotions.........2007-05-14

I really enjoyed this DVD..It's not a movie per say...but a compilation of different stories..that all center around a common theme. The footage was nice because it was real...no cheesy reinactments..and the music was awesome and used at the right times. Worth buying if you like anything related to Vietnam or this era/time in history.

dear america letters home from vietnam.......2007-04-12

great documentary on life and attitudes during the vietnam war.

excellent documentary.......2007-04-01

This documentary is for all military historians and buffs alike,very good footage shot from the war, and very good narration. Great music from the era too.

They Walked Like Men.......2007-01-23

Our great battle in Vietnam was Long Tan, 1968 when a couple hundred Australians and Kiwi artillery, killed 1000 NVA or VC in a rubber plantation. The battle of Long Tan took place during a tropical downpour deliberately used by the enemy to hamper ANZAC defenses.
(Just thought I owed our "Diggers" their due before I begin!)

Dear America does a good job in giving you the "feel" of the war to the average soldier by seperating the "Americans:" the 19 year old boys who've largely never been outside the USA in their lives from "America" with its "falling dominos" foreign policy, that in Sen. Wayne Morse's words, would "lead to the deaths of untold American boys - and for nothing."

The letters home, trace well the shifting mood of these boys; the white poor and minorities, the kids who could not afford to use enrolement in college to avoid the draft. We see them going from their youthful "mugging" on 8mm home movies in the early days to the later TV pictures of exahusted soldiers on patrol in (&2 Dylan's) "Hard Rain," or telling of their confusion, "they say we're fighting for something, but I don't know - I'll be so glad to go home."
Yet, as another soldier wrote, "even though most men thought the war was being fought incorrectly and we would not win....they went out and risked their lives as if they were defending the continental USA."

Aside from the perspective of the individual soldier and the music takes (me at least) back to the 60s era, "Dear America" has the pace and structure of a Hollywood production. In fact "Dear America" is so engrosing that at times you had to remind yourself that this was indeed real! For example the "Grunt's Primer" montage to the Stone's "Gimme Shelter" is in the same league as the Helicopter attack in "Apocalypse Now." And, watch the title sequence for John Fogerty's "Fortunate Son," the "Grunts'" ironic anthem of the war. Personally, I think the words of that song are so telling that they should have gone up on screen as Creedence Clearwater played.

Fortunate Son and the rest of the music the boys listened to and their letters home combine to make Dear America as powerful a statement about war as the 1930 version of "All Quiet on the Western Front."

"Dear America," like "All Quiet," is a well constructed narrative, that brings presence and even urgency to a war now fading into history.

just like it was.......2007-01-16

I purchased this dvd for my husband who served in vietnam 498th dustoff 67. He said if anyone wanted to know what it was like over there this is the documentary to watch.It was so realistic the only thing that was missing was the stink and the heat.It captures the look of the american soldier that hollywood hasnt been able to reproduce

Average customer rating:

Amazing acting
Good movie, great stars, SO not historically correct!
Good Memories
Not the book, but a decent romantic comedy...er...drama!
Let us not forget.....

The Scarlet Letter
Starring: Demi Moore , Gary Oldman , Robert Duvall , Lisa Joliffe-Andoh , and Edward Hardwicke
Director: Roland Joffé
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
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The Crucible
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In Search of History - Salem Witch Trials (History Channel) (A&E DVD Archives)

ASIN: B00006472Q
Release Date: 2002-06-04

Amazon.com

In yet another example of Demi Moore's astonishing narcissism, this appalling adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Great American Novel becomes a teary, talk-show-worthy story of a woman rediscovering the erotic, of interrupted love, of a brave-but-beleaguered heroine's personal struggle against male stupidity. Never mind that this has little to do with Hawthorne's magnificent, protofeminist book, which is a million times more relevant today than this film could ever be. Director Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields) deserves to be horsewhipped for colluding with Moore's self-fascination, while Gary Oldman should be kicked in the pants for allowing the novel's main character to come off as an inconsequential ninny. Making matters worse, Robert Duvall can be seen ridiculously dancing with a deerskin on his head. If this film were a joke, it would be a very bad joke. But it's not, and that's worse. --Tom Keogh

Description

Sexy Demi Moore (DISCLOSURE, INDECENT PROPOSAL) heats up this powerfully sensual story of illicit love! In a time when adultery is punishable by death, Hester Prynne (Moore) becomes involved in a risky and scandalous affair with her town's handsome minister (Gary Oldman -- MURDER IN THE FIRST). But when their secret passion results in a child, Hester is confronted with the town's overwhelming scorn ... and is condemned to forever wear the scarlet letter "A" as a public brand of shame! A highly provocative retelling of the classic tale of forbidden love, THE SCARLET LETTER combines a sizzling story with exciting stars and delivers must-see entertainment.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing acting.......2007-05-16

Demi Moore teaches a lesson on acting! the best picture she did in my openion. the story line is known and was presented in many films back in the 60's and the 70's. but Demi, she really was on top of it.

Must See movie
go for it

Good movie, great stars, SO not historically correct!.......2007-02-03

If I hadn't read the book before watching, I would have loved this movie. As it was, I read the Hawthorne novel and ended up laughing all the way through. Shamefully, only about 3 minutes of this movie was actually in the book. If you don't care about history, it's a very good movie for entertainment. If you plan on watching this instead of reading or need to write a book report on the story, please buy the Spark or Cliff notes - or - read the book - it gets better in the second chapter.

Good Memories.......2007-01-31

I love this movie because it brought back so many memories that I just had to have it. For anyone interested in forbidden love and twisted mistrust then I would consider this movie for then

Not the book, but a decent romantic comedy...er...drama!.......2006-10-09

The first thing you have to do to get anything out of this movie at all is to forget the book. Completely. The movie so 'freely adapts' the book, that really all that remains of the book's plot is a ghost of a germ of an idea about a Puritan woman who gets pregnant by someone who is not her husband. That's about where the similarity ends. Secondly, you must be willing to approach this movie with something of a split perspective: on the one hand, it is a perfectly enjoyable story of romance; on the other, it has some really funny moments that were not intended to be funny at all. Like the love scene. It's both hot and hilarious at the same time. All that falling (catch the symbolism!) grain everywhere...goodness! Hope it didn't get anywhere...sensitive. Another hilarious scene is when Robert Duvall holds up baby Pearl screaming "THE DEVIL'S OWN CHILD!" And that dance he did with the deer carcass...kinda bloody but still funny as hell. Finally, realize that this movie is unabashedly a Demi-fest, as in see Demi look Defiant, see Demi look Witchy, see Demi look Sexy.... you get the idea. And sometimes you'll wonder if Gary Oldman wasn't having to hold back a chuckle or two himself.

If you can keep all that in mind, and admittedly, that's a lot of leeway to give this movie, but if you can do it, go ahead, and enjoy this movie on its own terms. Someone else here said it: it's escapism, pure and simple. It is NOT the book, but I don't think it ever intended to be. And getting to see Gary Oldman skinny-dipping is fine with me any day.

Let us not forget............2006-04-11

Good movie. Let us not forget John 8:7: "He who is without sin, among you, let him cast the first stone". I think the puritians forgot that!
Chantell Snyder

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition Collector's Gift Set)

Third Day: Live in Concert - The Offerings Experience

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