Center Stage

Starring:Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, Peter Gallagher, Donna Murphy, Debra Monk, Ethan Stiefel, Sascha Radetsky, Julie Kent, Ilia Kulik, Eion Bailey, Shakiem Evans, Elizabeth Hubbard, Victor Anthony, Christine Dunham, Stephen Stout, Maryann Plunkett, Laura Hicks, Barbara Caruso, Jeff Hayenga
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The primary appeal of dance movies is the dancing, with some added emphasis on the romance the art expresses. Center Stage wins on these counts, despite its reveling in overly familiar characters and formula plotting. Or maybe this reveling is responsible for what goofy fun this film is. The arduous task of becoming a professional ballet dancer is incarnated by many good-looking teens, all stock dance-film characters affectionately portrayed mostly by newcomers. But center stage holds Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), who may never be a great ballerina, but she's certainly one sexy jazz dancer. Then there's the arrogant genius (Ethan Stiefel), the dictatorial impresario (Peter Gallagher), the demanding instructor, the bulimic, the stage mother, etc. As we follow these characters, the message develops that one should let go and do what feels good. Jody may not be ballet material, but she scorches the stage when she's uninhibited. And that's really the fun of this movie, which is never seriously interested in ballet to begin with. One ludicrous scene depicts one of the dancers quitting because she realizes she never wanted to be a dancer to begin with but was pushed into it by her overbearing mother. She stands up to mom in the lobby of the auditorium where she's supposed to be performing, the music of her piece providing a syrupy backdrop to her little drama. When she's finished talking, she walks off to the audience's unwitting applause. The scene is so ham-handed you can't help but laugh at its audacity, if that's what it is. The rest of the film is not so overdone, but it's all fun. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews:

Ballet Lovers.......2007-06-30

I saw this movie on some movie channel by mistake and took to it. So I bought it. I wasn't disapointed. If you are a ballet lover and apreciate the ins and outs of the art. You'll like it. But don't be surprised to see alittle struggling with the acting. The actors that establish and recognised are good. Don't expect the dancers to be as good.

I LOVE this movie.......2007-05-12

this movie is awesome! It has it's cheesy moments of course, but it has some GREAT dancing in it- especially the closing show... gotta see it!

Center Stage?.......2007-05-12

I saw this movie on tv and liked it for the price offered I bought it.

$9.99 for real ballet dancers.......2007-04-20

Why bother with nondancer actors when you can watch even more attractive authentic dancers? This movie is easy to watch and is actually better than standard teen movies. I recommend this movie.

Delightful Dancing.......2007-03-11

Wonderful! A dancing classic. It is a MUST HAVE in any dance movie collection. It's got everything not just dancing but also a plot you can get into. Your making a mistake if you don't buy this...

Elvis - The Great Performances, Vol. 1 - Center Stage

Average customer rating:

Elvis The Great Performances vol. 1 center stage
great videos
Elvis Presley sings songs from movies and tv specials

Elvis - The Great Performances, Vol. 1 - Center Stage
Starring: Elvis Presley
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( E ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Elvis - The Great Performances, Vol. 2 - The Man and the Music
Elvis - The Great Performances, Vol. 3 - From the Waist Up
Elvis - That's the Way It Is (Special Edition)
Elvis '56 - In the Beginning
Elvis: King of Entertainment

ASIN: B000069HSV
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Amazon.com

The quality and breadth of most of the material found here on "Center Stage," the first volume of the three-disc Elvis: The Great Performances set, typifies the excellence of the set as a whole. Spanning more than 20 years, from Presley's first TV appearance (in 1956) to one of his very last concerts (in June 1977), the disc includes some truly rockin' tunes (OK, so the '77 solo version of "Unchained Melody," with a painfully bloated Elvis pounding out his own piano accompaniment, isn't one of them--but "Ready Teddy," from a '56 Ed Sullivan show, sure is). There's some fascinating other material as well, such as a screen test in which Presley lip-syncs "Blue Suede Shoes" while "playing" a guitar with no strings, a 1970 press conference in which he dismisses his classic Sun recordings as "funny-sounding," and some very cool home movie footage. The King is dead (well, maybe). Long live the King. --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews:

Elvis The Great Performances vol. 1 center stage.......2007-02-06

I love this dvd, I am crazy about Elvis whole career. I bought it most for the unchained melody song, boy he could still do it right to the end. Great dvd.

great videos.......2004-11-21

Have all three videos and love each one especially the third. The live performance of the song Love Me is great. It shows the true early Elvis at his best.

Elvis Presley sings songs from movies and tv specials.......2002-11-11

Center Stage focus on Elvis Presley carrer in the 50's, and shows songs that Elvis Presley perfromed from The Dorsey Brothers, Stage Show to The Ed Sullivan Show. Elvis appeared on Ed's show 3 times, the first time he perfromed from Hollywood and Ed Sullivan was recoving from a car crash. And you can also hear Elvis Presely singing songs from his first 4 movies, from Love Me Tender to King Creole. Two of the four movies Elvis made, got good reviews, and was consired his best. And they were Jailhouse Rock and King Creole.

Fancy Lala - Taking Center Stage (Vol. 3)

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Fancy Lala - Taking Center Stage (Vol. 3)
Starring: Reiko Oimori , Wataru Hoshino , Tôru Shinagawa , Toshikatsu Izaki , and Atsuko Tanaka
Director: Tomomichi Mochizuki , and Takahiro Omori
Manufacturer: Bandai
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Amazon.com

The boundaries of reality grow increasingly tenuous in the adventures of Miho Shinohara, the third-grader with the magical power to transform herself into glamorous 15-year-old Fancy Lala. In "Who Are You," Miho stumbles into an eerie alternate world distorted by "the Memories of Time," where her family doesn't recognize her. A discarded teddy bear triggers an elaborate dream that combines elements of The Wizard of Oz, Babes in Toyland, and The Nutcracker in "Miho in Toyland." Lala is hounded by the press when a tabloid suggests that she and pop star Hiroya are lovers (and Japanese tabloids are apparently much tamer than their Western counterparts). When Lala learns about baseball from handsome athlete Hoshizawa, Miho uses the knowledge to help Taro and the school team end a losing streak. Fancy Lala offers girls a fantasy-adventure that's wholesome without being saccharine or smarmy. (Rated 7 and older: suitable for all ages) --Charles Solomon

Description

From beloved anime illustrator, Akemi Takada (Kimagure Orange Road) - When junior high school girl Miho is given the power to transform herself into the pop star, Lala - the world had better watch out! Life can be pretty scary as a star, but Miho can handle it - boys, concerts, and shopping! What more can a girl ask for? With Lala's debut CD a hot seller, she's very busy these days! Throwing the first pitch for a regional baseball tournament and appearing on various television shows, life has certainly changed! But just when things are going well, Miho encounters all sorts of troubles when there's a hitch in the "Memories of Time". No one seems to remember who she is anymore! Is this real or is Miho dreaming? Fancy Lala - Taking Center Stage features Interactive animated menus, the original Japanese and English language tracks, English subtitles, DVD cover art commentary by Akemi Takada, and Bandai Previews.

Centre Stage (Remastered) Director's Cut DVD

Average customer rating:

Maggie

Centre Stage (Remastered) Director's Cut DVD
Director: Stanley Kwn Kam Pang
Manufacturer: Fortune Star
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Yi Yi - Criterion Collection

Product Features:

Mini folded up poster
Remastered Director's cut Edition

ASIN: B000II94OC

Product Description

This is the true story of Yuan Ling-Yu, the first movie star of the 1930s.

Customer Reviews:

Maggie.......2007-02-16

Maggie Cheung as Ruan Li, legendary actress of the silent years of Chinese cinema, who committed suicide at age 24.

Words like masterpiece, greatness, etc. are much too common both for this incomparable work and for Maggie Cheung. It is one of those viewing experiences that restore and deepen one's love of movies. From a negative point-of-view, "Centre Stage" reminds the viewer (by embodying a whole other approach) of the sickening tawdriness and triviality of US movies and pop culture generally. Watching this, it will strike you: what if this were an American movie about an American female icon(Monroe, Gloria Swanson, Margaret Sullavan, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland)? The character(and no doubt the approach taken by the woman playing the character) would be defined by whom she slept with, whom she didn't sleep with, what sort of drugs she took, how many times she beat up her kids, how many times she showed up drunk on the set, on and on. "Humanity" defined as filth. And of course the movie would end with some such sentimental hooey, letting us all feel how terribly misunderstood this American legend was. Also, there would be no connection made between this woman, her life, and the power relations around her. (Unless it's some comic book monster such as Rod Steiger in "The Big Knife". Shelly Winters! That's how American filmmakers and audiences like their "tragic" film actresses.)

Positively, "Centre Stage" is pure tenderness. Pure heart and magic. Maggie Cheung -- certainly one of the most beautiful women who ever lived -- also happens to be one of the greatest movie actresses who ever lived. As moving as Tanaka Kinuyo, yes. Her beauty is always mesmerizing(see "Irma Vep" or "Clean"). "Center Stage" is another thing entirely. The 1920s and 1930s look she embodies here as Ruan Li makes her unearthly -- and I think that's Kwan's desire. For he defines Ruan Li in spiritual terms, as a great, beautiful soul. Great because she is entirely moral. She is incapable of evil, or rudeness, or anything that degrades life. The movie embodies that most old-fashioned idea: beauty outside because beauty inside. Kwan actually tethers physical beauty and grace to moral and spiritual grace. The exact opposite of the foul, sick visual culture which now suffocates us. And perhaps it's as much Cheung as Kwan. Perhaps Maggie Cheung is as much of a moral agent on the set as was Cary Grant.

"In the Mood for Love": Cheung and Tony Leung(who is also in "Centre Stage") -- despite intense lust for each other -- refuse to cheat on their cheating spouses because it is wrong. That's it. "Irma Vep" & "Clean": again she is the moral center. And here in "Centre Stage", she makes the movie glow with holiness. She and Kwan reject postmodern morality, particularly as it applies to private life.

Watch the dance ballroom scene. Compare it to the common US director approach to the same sort of sequence. Scorcese. Altman. Woody Allen. Spike Lee in "Malcolm X". There is no way to watch any 1930s Dance Ballroom recreation from the past few decades here without being forced by the filmmaker to admire how they've gotten it "right". What do they want you to pay attention to? The clothes, the dance movements, the big band sound, the lighting -- and oh that camera movement! In other words, they want you to pay attention to them. Compare the Kwan ballroom scene. The recreation is impeccable, the best I've seen. But what you're feeling is the joy of the characters, particularly Maggie Cheung, who moves as beautifully as anyone ever has in a movie ballroom. It is a scene of embracing tenderness, reminiscent of the great "Moonglow" dance between Kim Novak and William Holden in "Picnic" - though there is much more going on here. (Come to think of it, Kim Novak also always pushed her movies toward the side of the angels.)

One of the most beautiful women of our time turns out to be one of the strongest forces for "goodness" of our time. Maggie Cheung is the anti-Madonna. (Or, to be historically correct, she is the true Madonna.)

Peking Opera Blue (Digitally Remastered Edition) DVD

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Peking Opera Blue (Digitally Remastered Edition) DVD
Director: Tsui Hark
Manufacturer: Joy Sales (HK)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

1 disc package (ALL region NTSC)
Digitally Remastered Edition

ASIN: B000NYJ9N2

Product Description

The movie is set in chaotic 1920's China, when warlords fought each other for power while Sun Yat-Sen's underground movement tried to establish a democratic republic. The movie tells the story of three young women and two young men who are thrown together. One young woman grabs a box of jewels during the looting when one warlord takes Peking. A deserting soldier joins her, but the jewels end up at the Peking Opera. Here we meet the daughter of the head of the troupe, who dreams of being an actress. But even female roles are played by men in the opera. Soon, the daughter of the currently ruling warlord and a male agent of the democratic underground are involved.

Average customer rating:

Center Stage

Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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Average customer rating:

Ballet Lovers
I LOVE this movie
Center Stage?
$9.99 for real ballet dancers
Delightful Dancing

Center Stage [Region 2]
Starring: Amanda Schull , Zoe Saldana , Susan May Pratt , Peter Gallagher , and Donna Murphy
Director: Nicholas Hytner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Company
Save the Last Dance
The Turning Point
The Dancer
Center Stage (2000 Film)

ASIN: B000055WJM

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Ballet Lovers.......2007-06-30

I LOVE this movie.......2007-05-12

this movie is awesome! It has it's cheesy moments of course, but it has some GREAT dancing in it- especially the closing show... gotta see it!

Center Stage?.......2007-05-12

I saw this movie on tv and liked it for the price offered I bought it.

$9.99 for real ballet dancers.......2007-04-20

Why bother with nondancer actors when you can watch even more attractive authentic dancers? This movie is easy to watch and is actually better than standard teen movies. I recommend this movie.

Delightful Dancing.......2007-03-11

Wonderful! A dancing classic. It is a MUST HAVE in any dance movie collection. It's got everything not just dancing but also a plot you can get into. Your making a mistake if you don't buy this...

Average customer rating:

Ballet Lovers
I LOVE this movie
Center Stage?
$9.99 for real ballet dancers
Delightful Dancing

Center Stage [Region 2]
Starring: Amanda Schull , Zoe Saldana , Susan May Pratt , Peter Gallagher , and Donna Murphy
Director: Nicholas Hytner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Company
Save the Last Dance
The Turning Point
The Dancer
Center Stage (2000 Film)

ASIN: B00005AVW0

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Ballet Lovers.......2007-06-30

I LOVE this movie.......2007-05-12

this movie is awesome! It has it's cheesy moments of course, but it has some GREAT dancing in it- especially the closing show... gotta see it!

Center Stage?.......2007-05-12

I saw this movie on tv and liked it for the price offered I bought it.

$9.99 for real ballet dancers.......2007-04-20

Why bother with nondancer actors when you can watch even more attractive authentic dancers? This movie is easy to watch and is actually better than standard teen movies. I recommend this movie.

Delightful Dancing.......2007-03-11

Wonderful! A dancing classic. It is a MUST HAVE in any dance movie collection. It's got everything not just dancing but also a plot you can get into. Your making a mistake if you don't buy this...

Average customer rating:

Fancy Lala, Vol. 3: Taking Center Stage
Starring: Fancy Lala
Manufacturer: Bandai
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0001US77C
Release Date: 2002-11-05

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

The Counterfeit Traitor

Baghban : Video

Time Bandits [Divimax] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Jagte Raho

Mission 2002