New World

Starring:Nicolas Chatel, Sarah Grappin, James Gandolfini, Alicia Silverstone, Baptiste Trotignon, Guy Marchand, Sylvie Granotier, Simon Mary, Ronald Baker, David Johnson (XII), Roger Dumas (II), JosÃ©phine Serre, Gregory Diallo, Dany Brillant, Joe Sheridan, Bela Gtushka, Alain FrÃ©rot, Marguerite Boucher, Moize Chabbi, Patrick Seltzer
Director: Alain Corneau
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Celtic Woman, the PBS sensation, returns for 2007 in A New Journey: Live at Slane Castle, Ireland. Most of the elements return as well: vocalists Chloe, Meav, Lisa, and Orla; fiery fiddler Mairead; music director David Downes; chorus and orchestra; and the New Age-y Celtic and traditional music. New for this show is New Zealand vocalist Hayley Westenra, a picturesque outdoor location, and an almost entirely new song list. Chloe sings "The Prayer" (made famous by Josh Groban) and "Panis Angelicus"; Lisa covers "Caledonia," "The Blessing," and "The Voice"; Orla sings "Newgrange" and accompanies herself on harp for "Carrickfergus"; Meav sings "Dulaman"; Mairead plays "Granuaile's Dance" and "Shenandoah: The Pacific Slope"; and Hayley sings "Scarborough Fair" by herself and duets with Mairead (Handel's "Lascia Ch'io Pianga") and Meav ("The Last Rose of Summer"). Then of course the group performs together ("The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun," "Over the Rainbow," "Beyond the Sea," "At the Ceili," "Sing Out!", "Spanish Lady," "Mo Ghile Mear"). Encore performances from the original show are Enya's "Orinoco Flow," "Danny Boy," "Somewhere," and "You Raise Me Up." Hayley proves to be an excellent fit among the beautiful voices, and Lisa seems to emerge as the talent most deserving of attention, but overall the show lacks some of the fresh sparkle of the original. The song list isn't quite as strong, and some of the "primp and pose" choreography is just silly. But Celtic Woman is never less than charming, and at its best can be quite stirring. --David Horiuchi

Description

DVD TRACKLIST:
1. The Sky & the Dawn & the Sun
2. The Prayer
3. Calendonia
4. Newgrange
5. Orinoco Flow
6. Dulaman
7. The Blessing (not in TV broadcast)
8. Scarborough Fair
9. Granuaile's Dance
10. Over the Rainbow
11. Beyond the Sea
12. At the Ceili
13. Laschia Ch'io Pianga
14. Carrickfergus
15. Sing Out
16. The Last Rose of Summer
17. Spanish Lady
18. Panis Angelicus (not in TV broadcast)
19. Shenandoah-Reels
20. The Voice
21. Danny Boy
22. Somewhere
23. Mo Ghile Mear
24. You Raise Me Up (not in TV broadcast)
25. Ceili Playout (not in TV broadcast)

Running Time: 1 hour 20 minutes live show + additional 20 minutes "Making of" bonus feature

Customer Reviews:

Awe Inspiring.......2007-07-05

These ladies are absolutely amazing. What angelic voices! Truly gifts from God himself! Let us not forget the violinist. She is one with her instrument and comes very close to stealing the show! Well, worth the money. Bravo!

Just marvelous.......2007-06-27

I did not know anything about Celtic Woman before I bought this product. I have a lot of concert DVD's, but this turned out to become one of my top favorites. I don't know how many times I have watced it, it is just marvelous. I have showed it to many of my friends, who also has been taken away by the beautiful music, fantastic setting and outstanding performers!!

Tron Syversen, Norway

I'm sorry but............2007-06-13

This DVD (not so much the CD) really is a bit over the edge....The Stepford Wives Do Celtic Music???...the guy pounding away wildly on the drums...the 3,000 extra singers...the constant awkward fashion show runway walk down the stage....the costume changes..the castle....waaaaaaaaaay over the top for my tastes...and the inappropriate CONSTANT switches to the audience reaction...this entire production was monsterous....I know that I will be the ONLY person who makes any of these points and that PBS stations from L.A. to the Suez Canal will broadacast this thing forever in membership drives... but this DVD is just not crafted to these wonderful singers....I just couldn't believe it.

I have every CD any of these women have done individually and I would highly recommend those CD's along with the original DVD and all the Celtic Woman CD's....but this DVD is so bad.

This is CELTIC music which relies more on simplicity and beauty...it was like sitting in a dentist chair WATCHING the tremendously talented Haley Westenra suddenly be thrown into this group as if she needed to do this to advance her own career....it was shocking if you have followed Haley's career over the last few years to see her as part of this overblown mess..I think this was a step backwards for her. She seemed out of place.

The gal jumping around with the fiddle like some sort of adult elf was just about the "my god, what next?" limit for me...until they focused on the wild bore Caliban guy trying to break his drums...banging away like he was smashing huge boulders.....

Looks like a bunch of Wall Street people got a hold of good thing (as they did with the Olympics and soon with NASCAR) and then said if a little is good..than an avalanche of it is better...no matter if it descends into bad taste...

The "good thing" here are gorgeous women who can sing very well.....that should have been enough on its own merits but instead what we get here on this DVD is every cliche known to man.

Cringe...and then cringe some more...

Sure it will sell but I hope the next time around all those handlers understand the words subtle and nuance. This DVD is like watching a war documentary. Again..the music on the CD is OK..but this DVD uber production is just so overblown that it leaves you dazed and beaten up...how they could have managed to do that with Celtic music is nearly criminal.

Celtic Woman - A New Journey: Live at Slane Castle, Ireland.......2007-06-09

I see this every time it comes on PBS. It's so excellent I bought it as a gift to share with family members out of state. It is exquisite !!!

Enjoyment that lasts.......2007-06-08

Saw the show on PBS and was enthralled. Actually got to see the ladies in concert, positively fantastic! Prabably will have to order new CD's and DVD as will most likely wear them out. Even my 8 year old enjoys them.

Average customer rating:

"What happens if a car comes?" "We die."
Awesome
The Notebook
My favorite movie!
Unforgettable Summer Romance

The Notebook (New Line Platinum Series)
Starring: Tim Ivey , Gena Rowlands , Starletta DuPois , James Garner , and Anthony-Michael Q. Thomas
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Notebook
A Walk to Remember
The Lake House (Widescreen Edition)
Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Wedding Crashers - Unrated (Widescreen New Line Platinum Series)

ASIN: B000683VI4
Release Date: 2005-02-08

Amazon.com

When you consider that old-fashioned tearjerkers are an endangered species in Hollywood, a movie like The Notebook can be embraced without apology. Yes, it's syrupy sweet and clogged with clichés, and one can only marvel at the irony of Nick Cassavetes directing a weeper that his late father John--whose own films were devoid of saccharine sentiment--would have sneered at. Still, this touchingly impassioned and great-looking adaptation of the popular Nicholas Sparks novel has much to recommend, including appealing young costars (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) and appealing old costars (James Garner and Gena Rowlands, the director's mother) playing the same loving couple in (respectively) early 1940s and present-day North Carolina. He was poor, she was rich, and you can guess the rest; decades later, he's unabashedly devoted, and she's drifting into the memory-loss of senile dementia. How their love endured is the story preserved in the titular notebook that he reads to her in their twilight years. The movie's open to ridicule, but as a delicate tearjerker it works just fine. Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember were also based on Sparks novels, suggesting a triple-feature that hopeless romantics will cherish. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Behind every great love is a great story. Two teenagers from opposite sides of the tracks fall in love during one summer together, but are tragically forced apart. When they reunite 7 years later, their passionate romance is rekindled, forcing one of them to choose between true love and class order.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:2 Commentaries --Director Nick Cassavettes --Novelist Nicholas Sparks
DVD ROM Features
Deleted Scenes:12 Deleted Scenes
Documentaries:Nick Cassavetes Profile Featurette Author Nicholas Sparks Featurette Locating "The Notebook" Featurette Casting Noah and Allie featurette
Other:Widescreen & Fullscreen versions on one disc Rachel McAdams Screen Test
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

"What happens if a car comes?" "We die.".......2007-07-02

A must have! This is by far one of the best movies I've ever watched. After witnessing a few scenes from this movie I just had to go out and buy it and I don't regret it!

"The Notebook" breaks away from the typical kind of chick flick and adds a touch of humor. The movie adds more focus to the character's first Summer together, unlike the book which I found to be quite a snoozer. Also, the character's personalities seems more realistic and have more depth to them as you will discover during their heated arguements. Noah's personality is so dreamy and you can't help but fall in love with him over and over again.

I found many differences between the book and movie, but I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen either. :3 This movie definately allows you to take a step back and appreciate the relationship you have with your loved one.

Awesome.......2007-06-27

Excellent movie ! A wonderful story about soul mates, soul mates for life. It will bring tears of happiness and sadness. Definitely a feel good movie.

The Notebook.......2007-06-27

I rented this and decided it was one I could enjoy again and again
I figured the story right away which was good as it made it more enjoyable

My favorite movie!.......2007-06-22

I'm glad I finally got to buy this movie, it is one of my favorites. If you want to know what love could do to somebody and how powerful can be just watch this movie and you'll see what love is all about...

Just to let you know make sure you have a box of tissue handy, or maybe two haha!

Unforgettable Summer Romance.......2007-05-31

`The Notebook' is a sweet romance with a compelling story. The appeal easily develops with freewheeling dating scenes and revelations which unfold lovers sorting out priorities that hit so close to home. A bitter-sweet romance, the film is a beautiful tale of two sweethearts who come from completely different backgrounds but live in the same Southern town during the early forties.

Noah (Ryan Gosling) is from a dirt poor family and works as a logger for forty cents an hour. Allie (Rachel McAdams) belongs to the Southern aristocracy. She has private tutors for every class and most of her whims satisfied. It is love at first sight for Noah who spots Allie at a carnival and jumps between her and her chosen date from the platform of a Ferris wheel. Once he has her attention, he threatens to let go and fall to the pavement if she won't agree to date him. From there his colorful presence challenges every route she's ever known. They each bring a measure of deep beauty to each other: He recites poetry, and she creates paintings. All the oddball adventure he presents from lying down in the middle of a street to dare the traffic, letting go in a torrential rainstorm, to dancing in the street provide those defining moments that demonstrate how strangely people act when they are in love. As the summer ends their lives are disrupted: She is forced to go to Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and soon later he is drafted to fight in Europe during World War II. They split ways and find different lovers, but their relationship is truncated, especially when Allie's manipulative mother (Joan Allen) intercepts Noah's letters that are meant for her.

`The Notebook' is told from the point-of-view of "Duke" (James Garner) who reads the story of Noah and Allie to a beloved nursing home resident (Gena Rowlands) suffering from dementia. I kept thinking as they sit on a park bench in one scene that the story is retold in a manner not entirely different from 'Forrest Gump'. Duke narrates the story, and we come back to him and the woman until the two stories meet and have meaning.

Besides solid, absorbing performances by Gosling and McAdams, Garner softens the edge of the story as narrator, and Allen and Rowlands are easily captivating as Allie's complex and emotional mother and the elderly dementia patient. 'The Notebook' is a pleasing old-fashioned movie that easily plays on our heartstrings and provides a very satisfying viewing experience. (Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks)

Average customer rating:

Celtic Woman DVD
Bad Lip Sync
Celtic Women Music
Great, but much the same.
Celtic Woman- A Winner

Celtic Woman

Manufacturer: EMI Distribution
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Celtic | International | Styles | Music

Fusion | Celtic | International | Styles | Music

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Celtic Woman
Celtic Woman - A New Journey: Live at Slane Castle, Ireland
Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration
A New Journey
A New Journey (Deluxe Package w/bonus tracks + Irish charm)

ASIN: B0007M22TI
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Amazon.com

Gorgeous to listen to and gorgeous to look at, Celtic Woman is perfect PBS fare, sort of a Riverdance without the dancing. Drawing on the same New Age-y sound and propulsive energy as that show's solo-voice and choral numbers, the live concert features four attractive young women in strapless evening gowns with soaring voices backed by an orchestra, an Anuna-like chorus, and a large percussion section. The more traditional fare includes Méav Ni Mhaolchatha's "Danny Boy" and "She Moved Through the Fair," and Chloë Agnew's "Ave Maria" (the Bach-Gounod version). Movie and TV selections range from Agnew's "Walking in the Air" (The Snowman) and "Someday" (Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame) to Lisa Kelly's "May It Be" (the Enya song from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the King) and Órla Fallon's voice and harp rendition of "Harry's Game." A fifth woman, Máiréad Nesbitt, adds some variety by fiddling "The Butterfly" and "Ashokan Farewell" (best known as the theme from Ken Burns's The Civil War). Occasionally the singers join together, as in Enya's "Orinoco Flow," an a cappella rendition of West Side Story's "Somewhere," music director David Downes's composition "One World," and a stately version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." Celtic Woman was created by Downes (like many of the other performers, a Riverdance veteran) along with Sharon Browne and Dave Kavanagh of the Celtic Collections record label. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

Celtic Woman DVD.......2007-07-04

Excellent DVD of the 1st show by outstanding artists. Provides an interesting history of each artist and how they came together to become the premier Irish women group.

Bad Lip Sync .......2007-06-30

As many others have commented the bad lip syncing just makes it seem so...well, fake. As another reviewer commented, it was empty and soulless to me. It's like they wanted to remove the possibility of making a singing mistake and concentrate all their efforts on looking beautiful. I want to see performers singing a song not pretending to sing a song.

Celtic Women Music.......2007-06-27

This is music at its best. Of all the music I listen to I choose this CD. I cannot imagine anyone not liking this music. If I could only pick one CD to keep I would choose Celtic Women. It is the best!

Great, but much the same........2007-06-24

This example of the many "Celtic Woman" DVD's and CD's is fantastic in the purity of voice and visual presentation. Others have detailed the individual performances and the presence and beauty of the performers. I agree completely! However, I also found the total concert(?) a little flat and much too even in tempo and pitch. That is, I hoped for more variety and a more boisterous presentation. (Possibly, a tiny bit more like "Riverdance"?) Overall, it was great. But, I found it faintly boring.

Celtic Woman- A Winner.......2007-06-11

The performances by these Irish-born beauties are truly spell-binding. The songs, the voices, the setting and the costumes all take you on a magical trip to the Emerald Isle. We loved every minute of it.

Contemporary Bellydance and Yoga Conditioning with Ariellah

Average customer rating:

Great DVD
contemporary bellydance by ariellah
I love this dvd!
It's ok if you like gothic/contemporary bellydance
Awsome

Contemporary Bellydance and Yoga Conditioning with Ariellah
Starring: Ariellah
Manufacturer: StratoStream - World Dance New York
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Bellydance - Tribal Fusion NYC
Bellydance: East Coast Tribal - Basics, Combinations & Strength Workout DVD
Rachel Brice: Bellydance Arms and Posture
Tribal Derivations
Chakra Dance Flow: Movement Meditation (bellydance, freestyle, guided meditation)

ASIN: B000KZRP12
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Product Description

Created by Ariellah, star performer and instructor of Tribal Fusion Bellydance, Contemporary Bellydance and Yoga Conditioning combines three vital components of bellydance training: * a physical conditioning regimen to develop flexibility and strength; * two sets of bellydance technique drills - basic and advanced - for improved muscle control and precision in executing bellydance isolations; * a sequence of contemporary bellydance combinations complete with transitions to form an elegant and evocative modern choreography.

Whichever form of bellydance you choose, this training system lays a solid foundation.

The flexibility and muscle conditioning section of the program consists of 3 yoga sessions that can be used as a warmup/cooldown or as a stand-alone daily yoga practice:
* Short yoga warmup (8 min.);
* Full yoga warmup (20 min.);
* Yoga cool down (8 min.)

The Yoga sessions focus on building lower body strength and opening the hips to achieve ease and precision in bellydance hipwork. A number of exercises open the chest and increase back flexibility to enhance torso isolations and make dance movement sinuous and fluid.

Bellydance technique drills (75 min.) include hipwork, upper body work, combined hips/upper body isolations and arms/hips coordination. They also include adding level changes to torso isolations and layering hipwork on traveling steps.

The style of Ariellah's choreographic work is contemporary Tribal Fusion bellydance. She breaks down 6 combinations, step-by-step, consisting of multiple movements and transitions. The combination sequence forms a choreography, practiced to two different songs, to encourage creative adaptation of steps and transitions set to music.

The performance section offers 3 spectacular Tribal Fusion / Gothic bellydance performance pieces.

The progam is set to ethereal ambient and club music with a flavor of magic and dark myst

Customer Reviews:

Great DVD.......2007-06-27

I love this DVD! It breaksdown the most common bellydancing moves into very basic steps. Great for a none dancer such as myself.

contemporary bellydance by ariellah.......2007-06-17

I was pretty dissapointed with this dvd, actually. It's pretty boring. I can barely get through about 15 minutes before i have to stop watching- her voice is boring, and I expected her to have a lot more energy on this one. I gave it three stars because there is a lot of drilling and yoga, though I don't really like the yoga sets myself. Over all, I would not buy this one.

I love this dvd!.......2007-06-13

I really love this dvd. It's definitely one of my favorites. Easy to follow and love the music, feels like I am at the club! Ariellah is beautiful. I highly recommend this.

It's ok if you like gothic/contemporary bellydance.......2007-06-08

I was a little disappointed in the dvd because I thought the title was misleading. The title needs to include "gothic" in it so customers don't get something they aren't looking for. Her performance dances are set to music that I didn't particularly like. I totally agree with her that yoga can only enhance a person's bellydance experience. She is an awesome bellydancer but I personally don't like the gothic style. I guess I learned that if it says contemporary rather than traditional, it may need more scrutinizing before I buy it.

Awsome.......2007-06-07

Awsome Awsome Awsome.
Great amount of Yoga and bellydance moves are broken down so well.
And her performances are beautiful to watch.

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

Average customer rating:

Orlando! Bloom! can't! act!
An ok adaptation for the classic but not on par with the other two films
Excelente aventura
Gotta Have All 3
"The DVD box #2"

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)
Starring: Sean Astin , John Rhys-Davies , Brad Dourif , Bernard Hill , and Christopher Lee
Director: Peter Jackson
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)
The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)
The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Widescreen Edition)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Harry Potter 2)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Harry Potter 1)

ASIN: B00009TB5G
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Amazon.com

The extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was perhaps the most comprehensive DVD release to date, and its follow-up proves a similarly colossal achievement, with significant extra footage and a multitude of worthwhile bonus features. The extended version of The Two Towers adds 43 minutes to the theatrical version's 179-minute running time, and there are valuable additions to the film. Two new scenes might appease those who feel that the characterization of Faramir was the film's most egregious departure from the book, and fans will appreciate an appearance of the Huorns at Helm's Deep plus a nod to the absence of Tom Bombadil. Seeing a little more interplay between the gorgeous Eowyn and Aragorn is welcome, as is a grim introduction to Eomer and Theoden's son. And among the many other additions, there's an extended epilogue that might not have worked in the theater, but is more effective here in setting up The Return of the King. While the 30 minutes added to The Fellowship of the Ring felt just right in enriching the film, the extra footage in The Two Towers at times seems a bit extraneous--we see moments that in the theatrical version we had been told about, and some fleshed-out conversations and incidents are rather minor. But director Peter Jackson's vision of J.R.R. Tolkien's world is so marvelous that it's hard to complain about any extra time we can spend there.

While it may seem that there would be nothing left to say after the bevy of features on the extended Fellowship, the four commentary tracks and two discs of supplements on The Two Towers remain informative, fascinating, and funny, far surpassing the recycled materials on the two-disc theatrical version. Highlights of the 6.5 hours' worth of documentaries offer insight on the stunts, the design work, the locations, and the creation of Gollum, and--most intriguing for rabid fans--the film's writers (including Jackson) discuss why they created events that weren't in the book. Providing variety are animatics, rough footage, countless sketches, and a sound-mixing demonstration. Again, the most interesting commentary tracks are by Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and by 16 members of the cast (eight of whom didn't appear in the first film, and even including John Noble, whose Denethor character only appears in this extended cut). The first two installments of Peter Jackson's trilogy have established themselves as the best fantasy films of all time, and among the best film trilogies of all time, and their extended-edition DVD sets have set a new standard for expanding on the already-epic films and providing comprehensive bonus features. --David Horiuchi

Description

Not seen in theaters, this unique version of the epic adventure features over 40 minutes of new and extended scenes integrated into the film by the director. DVD set consists of four discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries, commentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the film. Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship continue their quest to destroy the One Ring and stand against the evil of the dark lord Sauron. The Fellowship has divided and now find themselves taking different paths to defeating Sauron and his allies. Their destinies now lie at two towers - Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupted wizard Saruman waits and Sauron's fortress at Baraddur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
DVD ROM Features
Documentaries
Interactive Menus
Interviews
Photo gallery
Production Sketches:Four discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries, commentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the film.
Scene Access

Customer Reviews:

Orlando! Bloom! can't! act!.......2007-06-12

I first saw this when it came out and like many people I was quite excited to see a full length live action (ie non animation) version of books that were a big part of my growing up years.

Although back then I enjoyed the film, looking back at it for the first time in many years later, I was surprised at my reaction to it. The visuals are still great, and the CGI still holds up pretty well. But the main problem I had with the film was the acting. It ranges from good to poor, but for me it's this inconsistency that stops me from getting immersed in the film. The film has a glaring conflict of acting styles from the quite old school Shakespearean of Ian McKellans Gandalf, to the "Method" acting of Aragorn, to just plain wooden-ness. There's an obvious problem with accents too, so we have American's trying to sound English, Australians trying to sound English, Australians trying to sound Irish, Londoners trying to sound like they're from Cornwall, and nobody really getting it totally right. For such a big budget movie, this lapse of quality is surprising. And, as my review header may suggest, I think Orlando Bloom is the worst screen actor I've yet seen. He's not just mediocre or okay, he's sometimes so bad, so woodenly earnest in his delivery that I actually laughed out loud a few times. "You would die before your stroke fell!" ranks up there with some of the all time worst acting performances in film history. If he was told to show grief he would furrow his brow a bit and frown. If it was surprise he was trying to convey he'd widen his eyes a bit and open his mouth a bit. It's all there in the movie.

The "comic relief" scenes with Gimli are only slightly less annoying than Jar Jar Binks too.

I can look back on this and enjoy some bits in this film and the other films of the trilogy but I don't believe that this series of movies is going to ever be classics of the future. Classics don't have you squirming in embarrassment at the acting.

An ok adaptation for the classic but not on par with the other two films.......2007-05-15

**Warning this review contains many spoilers** For staters I personally love the Lord of the Rings. This includes the movies but more so the books. I thought The Fellowship of the Rings was as near perfect an adaptation as a movie could have come to the book and I feel the same way about The Return of the King. Both are among the best movies I have ever seen. The Two Towers, however, falls short of it's antecessor's and predecessor's near perfection. When I first read the book I was amazed and fell in love with the powerful story and characters Tolkien had created but when I saw the movie I was very dissapointed. I have thought long and hard about what I don't like in this film and in fact I just finished watching it again. I also want everyone to understand that I'm not some crazed fan who is upset that they didn't include everything in the movie that was in the book. I am somewhat of a film maker myself and I know all to well how important pacing is. So here is my review from a film student's perspective.

The movie starts out very strong. The opening flashback to the fight in Moria is a masterpiece and probably the films strongest momment. We then meet up with all the old characters from the first movie. These opening scenes are very well done with some amazing cinematography, music, and special effects. These scenes are also very well paced. Jackson keeps the movie moving along and manages to introduce the new characters without ever getting off topic (something that plagues him later on). To be honest I have no complaints about these early scenes.

However, the film starts to go downhill about halfway through. To make Lord of the Rings more politically correct Jackson needed more female characters. So he expanded the role of Arwen. This worked great in the first one and I think her inclusion adds a lot to The Return of the King also. But in this one she just seems tagged on. There is a flashback sequence where we see her and Aragorn in Rivendell. At first this seems to work but it just goes on and on. It could have easily been cut down. To drag the story down even more right after the flashback we are treated to the films most unnecessary scene were Jackson totally gets off topic. We flash to present Rivendell where Elrond convinces Arwen to leave for Valinor. I was pretty sure that that was what Aragorn just did in the flashback. I simply became bored with the scene's redundency. To drag this vital middle section of the movie down even further Jackson cuts to some kind of weird flashforward to Aragorn's death. This is completely redundant to the point of the scene which is itself unnecessary. But this wasn't enough to get me to dislike the entire movie I was still looking forward to watching the rest.

However, my hopes were soon destroyed for the movie's second most unnecessary scene came right after it. Instead of simply having some nice and much needed character development as they march to Helm's Deep Peter Jackson decided to throw in probably the dumbest plot twist he could have: Aragorn dies... well not really but you think he does. For some reason Jackson felt it was important to throw a battle in and for some reason (God knows why) he thougth it would help the movie to make everyone think Aragorn was dead. At this point I totally started to lose interest in the movie. In a film the middle is one of the most important points for that is when you start building to the climax. Instead we get 15 minuets of slowmotion shots of everyone mourning Aragorn's death only to have him show up a little while later. I was just so bored at this point I could hardly stand it.

Luckly the pace starts to pick up but instead of getting exicted in anticipation for the big battle I just found myself thinking get on with it. All the very necessary character develoment before the battle could have easily taken the place of the unnecessary mess of scenes that didn't even appear in the book itself. But at last the battle arrived. Despite the King's long and boring monologue before it the battle was great... at first. The problem: it was just too long. It took away far to much from Fordo and Sam. To make things worse Jackson decided to trash Tolkeins wonderful ending with Frodo, Sam, and Gollum. Instead we get some poorly written scene that takes us way way off topic, farther off topic than any of the pointless scenes Pater Jackson wrote for the movie thus far. It is a scene that features a character no one cares about: Faramir. So what is this scene, well Faramir takes Frodo all the way back to Gondor! At this point I realized that Peter Jackson is quite possilbly one of the worst writers in Hollywood (an opinion that King Kong supports). The only reason the other two movies were so great was because he stuck more closely to the source material. Any auhtor or writer could have told him that this was a big mistake and totally off topic but apparently the other people who helped him write the script were either amazingly stupid or in a big hurry to finish the script in time. I just don't understand why someone would scrap a classic ending to a classic novel written by a master storyteller in favor of some poorly written, uncreative, and redundent garbage. I have been pretty supportive of all the changes Peter Jackson made but this crosses the line. Never have I seen a director with the ego to alter a beloved story so profoundly in favor of his own ending. When you choose to adapt a novel you lose some degree of creative freedom and this is just the most unbelievable example of a director going to far.

My last bit of criticism is directed at the way Jackson decided to end the film. He some reason thought that he needed some closure for the movie (despite the fact that there's a sequel) so he had Frodo and Sam make up only to have them start fighting again at the start of the third film. This was a poor choice but since he completely ruined the cliffhanger ending I guess he needed some kind of closure to end it with. But once again his poor ability as a storyteller shows because now we find ourselves with a fade out almost exactly like the ending to the first one and it seems like Fordo and Sam have made no progress whatsoever in the journey. A poor ending to a dissapointing followup to one of the best movies of our time. The only thing that saves this film from becoming analogous to The Matrix Reloaded is what little remains of Tolkien's masterpeice inside this shell of egotism that Jackson poorly constructed.

Excelente aventura.......2007-05-13

A mi modo de ver fiel a la version escrita, aunque le hayan cortado la parte final para insertarla en el retorno del Rey. Como las otras dos pelicuals recomendable!.

Gotta Have All 3.......2007-04-27

the ring trilogy is the ultimate battle between good and evil...and the same struggle within, that we all must face...
if i could choose a character out of middle-earth, and become that character, i would choose king theoden...i watch his parts over and over..like "where is the horse and the rider?" and i love some of his other lines...like when his men say,"but we cannot defeat them" ...and theoden replys, "no" ... "but we will meet them in battle, none the less" or somethin' like that.(but that is in the third movie) :-)
...he's so dang tuff! and wears really cool armor.
i happen to like those hollywood battle scenes, alot, so i enjoy watching the battle at helm's deep, over and over.
and, of course, at the same time, we have little frodo...where the internal conflict resides...different kind of battle...but same problem...
"good 'vs' evil".
but i don't wanna be frodo...i want to be theoden.
who would you choose?

wake.

"The DVD box #2".......2007-04-11

Well, this is by far the BEST DVD box that i ever bought, as a fan of tolkien those extra cenes just blown me away, i feel like it was a new Lord of The Rings movie.If you're a fan of Middle Earth this dvd is a "must have" in the dvd section.

One of the extra scenes show the relationship of Boromir and his brother Faramir back at Gondor, and what happens before Boromir travel to Rivendell to join the Council of Elrond and the Fellowship of the Ring, just stunning.

Buy the Return of the King and Fellowship of the ring too, you will not be dissapointed.

Average customer rating:

worth seeing again
Don't understand any of the hype
future dystopia
Brazil is NOW!
The War on Terror

Brazil
Starring: Jim Broadbent , Ray Cooper (II) , Robert De Niro , John Flanagan , and Kim Greist
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0783225903
Release Date: 1998-03-31

Amazon.com

If Franz Kafka had been an animator and film director--oh, and a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus--this is the sort of outrageously dystopian satire one could easily imagine him making. However, Brazil was made by Terry Gilliam, who is all of the above except, of course, Franz Kafka. Be that as it may, Gilliam sure captures the paranoid-subversive spirit of Kafka's The Trial (along with his own Python animation) in this bureaucratic nightmare-comedy about a meek governmental clerk named Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) whose life is destroyed by a simple bug. Not a software bug, a real bug (no doubt related to Kafka's famous Metamorphosis insect) that gets smooshed in a printer and causes a typographical error unjustly branding poor Sam as a miscreant.

The movie presents such an unrelentingly imaginative and savage vision of 20th-century bureaucracy that it almost became a victim of small-minded studio management itself--until Gilliam surreptitiously screened his cut for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who named it the best movie of 1985 and virtually embarrassed Universal into releasing it. This DVD version of Brazil is the special director's cut that first appeared in Criterion's comprehensive (and expensive) six-disc laser package in 1996. Although the DVD (at a fraction of the price) doesn't include that set's many extras, it's still a bargain. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

worth seeing again.......2007-04-05

Brazil isn't eveyone's cup of tea To me it is sort of a cross between the Beatles song "A Day in The Life" and a less serious version of "1984". When looking at the negetive reviews (one star?) try and keep in mind that the words "less serious" can be a fun thing if you have a little less stick up the.....well... Anyway if you like satire and the surreal you will probably find this enjoyable.

Don't understand any of the hype.......2007-03-30

I just made it through 45 minutes of this "classic" and had to stop. This is a frenetic, loud, short-attention-span mess. True science fiction ("Day the Earth Stood Still", "Silent Running," "The Fly") appeals to the inellect. I'm at 45 minutes and it has failed to engage my thinking on any level. It's just entertainment, pure and simple, and pretty unpleasant entertainment at that, aimed at a pretty simple-minded audience, I have to say. The set-ups, like the oh-so-sweet Christmas scene at the beginning are just out of place in this film. The arrest of Buttle was so ridiculously overdone that I thought I was watching a cartoon version of "The Terminator." The set-ups seem extremely heavy handed, as is the constant reminders of hte "Tuttle-Buttle" mixup. The use of the classic songs in this film "As Time Goes By" and "Brazil," is just a travesty. The goal seems to be to ruin the value of these songs rather than add anything meaningful to the film. Besides, there are more guns in the first 45 minutes of this film than in most Westerns. What's that all about? Was the NRA a major funder for this studio? You know when a film starts with an explosion that it's going to be pretty bad, unless it's James Bond, which this isn't!

future dystopia.......2007-03-25

Excellent film. It explores the inefficiencies of bureaucracy and paints a bleak picture of a police state, which seems ever more realistic. The acting is fantastic and the ideas presented in this movie are second to none. If you like this movie, also check out A Scanner Darkly and Logan's Run.

Brazil is NOW!.......2007-03-21

One of my all time favorite movies, chaos in it's finest hour of pure insanity. Has a mind of its own but can never be controlled just like the breathing air ducts. Throw in the kitchen sink and a man named Tuttle.

The War on Terror.......2006-12-17

Brazil presaged the War on Terror 20 years before it happened. Watching it now brings on a terrible feeling that the future will always look like this with an omnipresent government controlling its people. In the restuarant scene (where the people keep on eating even though the place has been subjected to a terrorist attack) is Baghdad today and perhaps your town tommorrow.
It's the real 1984 - watch it and learn.

Average customer rating:

Great film making
It's a graceful but not engaging world.
Not a New World
A story told different
The New World Film Review

The New World
Starring: Colin Farrell , Q'Orianka Kilcher , Christopher Plummer , Christian Bale , and August Schellenberg
Director: Terrence Malick
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
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ASIN: B000ESSUL4
Release Date: 2006-05-09

Amazon.com

The legend of Pocahontas and John Smith receives a luminous and essential retelling by maverick filmmaker Terrence Malick. The facts of Virginia's first white settlers, circa 1607, have been told for eons and fortified by Disney's animated films: explorer Smith (Colin Farrell) and the Native American princess (newcomer Q'orianka Kilcher) bond when the two cultures meet, a flashpoint of curiosity and war lapping interchangeably at the shores of the new continent. Malick, who took a twenty year break between his second and third films (Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line), is a master of film poetry; the film washes over you, with minimal dialogue (you see characters speak on camera for less than a quarter of the film). The rest of the words are a stream-of-consciousness narration--a technique Malick has used before but never to such degree, creating a movie you feel more than watch. The film's beauty (shot in Virginia by Emmanuel Lubezki) and production design (by Jack Fisk) seems very organic, and in fact, organic is a great label for the movie as a whole, from the dreadful conditions of early Jamestown (it makes you wonder why Englishman would want to live there) to the luminescent love story. Malick is blessed with a cast that includes Wes Studi, August Schellenberg, Christopher Plummer, and Christian Bale (who, curiously, was also in the Disney production). Fourteen-year-old Kilcher, the soul of the film, is an amazing find, and Farrell, so often tagged as the next big thing, delivers his first exceptional performance since his stunning debut in Tigerland. James Horner provides a fine score, but is overshadowed by a Mozart concerto and a recurring prelude from Wagner's Das Rheingold, a scrumptious weaving of horns fit to fuel the gentle intoxication of this film. Note: the film was initially 150 minutes, and then trimmed to 135 by Malick before the regular theatrical run. It was also the first film shot in 65mm since Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet. --Doug Thomas

Description

In this romantic epic starring Colin Farrell, Christian Bale and beautiful newcomer Q'orianka Kilcher, acclaimed filmmaker Terrence Malick brings to life the classic true tale of Pocahontas and her relationship with adventurer John Smith set during the turbulent beginnings of America.

Customer Reviews:

Great film making.......2007-06-29

My first reaction when I began to watch this movie was "holy crap what did they do with the plot?" Basically you will either love or hate this one. I think it's very thought provoking and very interestingly put together. If you have seen The Thin Red Line then you are well aware of the brooding, epic film making this director is capable of. Each shot is carefully chosen and very artful. I was kind of bored up to the part where John Smith vanishes, and then out popped Christian Bale and I thought I'd stick around for the rest. Overall this was a very well researched film and it is very beautiful. You just have to give it a chance, it is very long and moves at a slow, even pace. I imagine watching this a second time I will enjoy it more and actually pay attention to the beginning. Definitely worth a look, and definitely underappreciated.

It's a graceful but not engaging world........2007-06-23

The scenery is naturally lovely, and poetic. That's the greatest strength of this film. Half of the movie is about the relationship between Pocahontas and Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell). The trouble is I do not sense any love between them at all. Even though the director took a lot of time to depict the chemistry between them. It's more like reading the biography of Pocahontas.

It's worth renting not buying.

Ghost is still the only title on my list of Best Love Story movies of all time.
.

Not a New World.......2007-06-21

Up front, this is Malick quoting himself, usually a cautionary note if you listen respectfully to old Pablo Picasso. I loved Thin Red Line, whose meditative mode and range of characters were compelling. This is a curious bit of retelling at this stage of his career, methinks. Those who deem the telling as sluggish are right on the money. I saw this in Tunis, in French, which I dont speak. That granted, I doubt I missed any subtelties. The cast looked a little too movie box for comfort, especially since so much attention had been given to the sets. The guy has a sweet way with the camera, but has brought nothing enlightening to the information.

A story told different.......2007-06-19

I throughly enjoyed this movie. It approached the story realistically. It told the story in a way I haven't seen in any other films. And it gave respect to the ways of the Native Americans that I know. Life does not always have a happy ending, but we can find beauty in trials of life.

The New World Film Review.......2007-06-14

Just finished watching "The New World" and am sad to say that it was a very poor movie indeed. The 2-minute trailer shows the only 2 minutes of the movie that are worth watching. The film has a decent opening but goes downhill from there. The movie continually flashed back and forth from different situations that are out of chronological order, making the final result a hard-to-piece-together jumbled pack load of vaguely related scenes. The MPAA Rating on the box boasts "intense battle sequences", which turned out to be 2-3 minutes of poorly choreographed shooting. Frankly, I've seen better fight scenes from a 1920's John Wayne film. The last hour and a half of the film has no plot whatsoever and drags on with very little dialogue and lots of pathetic loud harmonic music that reminded me of the 20-minute pans around the individual starships in the original "STAR TREK" movie. It draws to a rushed ending leaving many pressing questions about the "plot" unanswered. If you're looking for a good movie, this isn't it.

Austin Powers in Goldmember (Widescreen Infinifilm Edition)

Average customer rating:

Received in great condition
austin
Pretty funny, but not as funny as Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me
It has its moments
Oscars 0 stars, funnywise 5 stars

Austin Powers in Goldmember (Widescreen Infinifilm Edition)
Starring: Mike Myers , Beyoncé Knowles , Seth Green , Michael York , and Robert Wagner
Director: Jay Roach
Manufacturer: New Line Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005JL2O
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Amazon.com

Despite symptoms of sequelitis, Austin Powers in Goldmember is must-see lunacy for devoted fans of the shagadelic franchise. Unfortunately, the law of diminishing returns is in full effect: for every big-name cameo and raunchy double-entendre, there's an equal share of redundant shtick, juvenile scatology, and pop-cultural spoofery. All is forgiven when the hilarity level is consistently high, and Mike Myers--returning here as randy Brit spy Austin, his nemesis Dr. Evil, the bloated Scottish henchman Fat Bastard, and new Dutch disco-villain Goldmember--thrives by favoring comedic chaos over coherent plotting. Once they've tossed Austin into the disco fever of 1975 (where he's sent to rescue his father, gamely played by Michael Caine), Myers and director Jay Roach seem vaguely adrift with old and new characters, including Verne Troyer's Mini-Me and pop star Beyoncé Knowles as Pam Grier-ish blaxpo-babe Foxxy Cleopatra. A bit tired, perhaps, but Powers hasn't lost his mojo. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Received in great condition.......2007-02-19

Everything worked out great. No problems what so ever, thats why I love purchasing through amazon

austin.......2007-01-18

austin powers is my favorite secret agent... so i ought to have liked it... just that... you've seen one and you've seen them all... the product arrived in great condition... amazon service has been excellent...

Pretty funny, but not as funny as Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me.......2006-07-03

Austin Powers in GOLDMEMBER

Not a bad movie at all. Pretty funny, but not as funny as Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Should've given more dialog to Foxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles from Destiny's Child); instead, she's just the next girlfriend for Austin, and not a more fleshed-out character, like Heather Graham or Elizabeth Hurley before her.

The character of Goldmember, while not in the film a lot, could've been cut down a bit more. He isn't particlularly interesting. He's not as evil as Dr. Evil, and not as disgusting as Fat [...], and comes off as a washed out amalgam of the two.

Fred Savage, from TV's "The Wonder Years," is good in his two scenes as "the Mole." It's Dr. Evil, as usual, who steals the show, however. And it's a pretty good show.
* * * * * * * * * *

Rating: B

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
F.Y.I.: While in the movie we hear ELO's "Evil Woman," King Floyd's funk classic "Groove Me," and Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea," Darin's song is not on the soundtrack, and absolutely awful cover versions of the first two make the album. Avoid this soundtrack at all costs!

It has its moments.......2006-06-21

I'm a big fan of the first 2, but this one just seemed unnecessary. Most of the jokes in this one are recycled from the 2nd one and other jokes were just stupid. The only funny moments came mostly with scenes that had dr evil in them and the "mole" scenes were pretty funny to. But, even some of the scenes with dr evil were kinda stupid. The opening credits thing was really stupid to, it just went too far with the cameos. I really only bought this one cause it was like 5 bucks at compusa. Overall: If you've seen the first two, just stick with those cause you won't be getting anything new from this one.

Oscars 0 stars, funnywise 5 stars.......2006-06-21

Austin Powers, back again for Goldmember. As usual, with half the characters played by Mike Myers, nothing is really out of the ordinary. Dr. Evil and his clone, Mini Me go back to 1975 to find Goldmember, a lover of gold trying to take over the world. When Austin goes back, he find sexy Foxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles)and they work together to find Dr. Evil and Goldmember. In the meanwhile, Austin's father, Nigel Powers gets kidnapped by Goldmember and Austin saves him.

The biggest problem of the movie is that Beyonce can't act. Her punchline is "Shazzam". The movie is extremely funny, but no serious people would want to see it. If you came for a James Bond movie, you are in the wrong place. If you are looking for a few good laughs, Goldmember is for you.

Brazil - The Criterion Collection - (Single Disc Editon)

Average customer rating:

Another prediction of the future proven wrong
Rating for the DVD, not the movie.
The Horrors and Humor of Modern Bureaucracy.
Futuristic film
I love this movie

Brazil - The Criterion Collection - (Single Disc Editon)
Starring: Roger Ashton-Griffiths , Jim Broadbent , Anthony G. Brown , Virginia Bruce , and Patrick Connor
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000G8NXZA
Release Date: 2006-09-05

Customer Reviews:

Another prediction of the future proven wrong.......2007-06-22

Every century has spawned its own genre of art and literature. The 20th century saw the rise of many genres; the most notable being works about the future. Many of these have become respectable mainstays of popular culture and include the likes of The Time Machine, 1984, Blade Runner, I Robot, and this cult classic by Terry Gilliam; Brazil. Based in the early 21st century, it is a paean to the common man's fight against bureaucracy, red tape, and an intrusive government whose powers have no limits. Overall, this movie is a more tragic and more comedic version of 1984.

This movie can be viewed in two ways. If one approaches it as pure entertainment, it is a very good movie. The acting is good and the plot line is interesting and very original. The comedy is funny and unique; not quite British in style, but more of a synthesis of many forms. The action scenes and special effects look real enough, and the ending is unexpected.

If one views the movie as social commentary, as a prediction of what the future might be, then this movie fails on many accounts. First of, the primal point of this movie; the rise of an overarching and all-powerful government, is totally misplaced. If anything, government agencies in modern industrial societies are often weak and serve the whims of the private market. The US provides many great examples. The US Department of Agriculture is nothing more than a communal office for multinational food product corporations. Likewise, most national legislatures are run by corporate lobbyists.

Second, the movie portrays government as highly responsive to any threat real or imagined; one phone call and government agents are at your door in 5 minutes. Ask anyone who has filed a complaint to their city about a water main leak, or an open manhole, or a downed electricity line; and chances are they waited for hours or days, not minutes. Even the 9/11 attackers left tons of clues that were reported to authorities, but nothing ever happened. So the image portrayed by this movie of a lightning fast government that can disappear its citizens at will is utterly false. Third, the character played by Robert DeNiro is totally unreal. His character is a plumber - janitor, and leads an underground resistance to the government. Political revolutionaries have historically been either close to the power base or are academic thinkers; not blue-collar workers. Last, this movie is presumably commenting on the future of Western society. A visit to any Western city will reveal a melting pot of races, ethnicities and languages. If anything, cities are only going to become more heterogenous with time. Yet somehow everyone in this society is white; Western European white most likely.

The point is that the social commentary provided by this movie is all wrong. Overall, an entertaining movie, but not too accurate in its portrayal of the future.

Rating for the DVD, not the movie........2007-05-30

Let's be clear on one thing: The movie Brazil gets SIX stars out of FIVE in my book. This review is not about the movie, but the DVD.

I already owned the standard Brazil DVD but wanted the Criterion Edition because I'd heard good things about their releases. I am very disappointed because there isn't a dime's difference between the Criterion and the regular DVD. All I can see from the box cover is a slightly different widescreen aspect ratio and the time is a bit longer (perhaps some added scenes?). The sound is still in lame 2.1 stereo, not 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS . I see no excuse for this; Even the H.G. Wells' "First Men In The Moon" DVD, a movie filmed in 1964, is in 4.0 discrete surround.

Brazil, excellent movie, but buy the regular release and a couple of other movies instead of the Criterion version.

The Horrors and Humor of Modern Bureaucracy........2007-04-16

After various European and American versions, this is the "fifth and final version of 'Brazil'". Scenes have been restored and the ending is in tact as director Terry Gillam intended. "Somewhere in the 20th century", Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a distinctly unambitious bureaucrat with the Ministry of Information. He works in Records and stubbornly resists advancement in spite of his mother's (Katherine Helmond) prodding. Sam is a romantic at heart, a knight in shining armor in his dreams, where he struggles heroically to reach his damsel in distress. When Sam spots Jill Layton (Kim Griest), the woman from his dreams, in real life, he agrees to a promotion to Information Retrieval so that he might track her down. But Jill's persistent complaints about the wrongful arrest of a neighbor have made her a terrorist suspect, along with freelance heating engineer Harry Tuttle (Robert DeNiro) and everyone else who exposes the system's inefficiency.

The most memorable and amazing aspect of "Brazil" is undoubtedly its overloaded visual style. Gillam puts so much information in every shot that the audience can hardly take it all in. Wide angle lenses are required. I don't think I've ever seen wide angles used this extensively. The actors must have been inches from the lens. The result is that we are placed in the middle of this busy production design, a mass of modern amenities and ubiquitous, intrusive ductwork. "Brazil"'s bureaucracy assails the audience as it satirizes the modern systems that both enable us and bind us. We feel as trapped by it all as Sam does. Gillam drew on real and fictional settings in creating "Brazil"'s intricate, despotic realm: the technophilia and haberdashery of post-WWII America, Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", Margaret Thatcher's Britain, Orwell's 1984, and Nazi Germany.

"Brazil" expresses Gillam's feelings about the film studios that he has fought with for most of his career and a cynicism toward the improved efficiency that technology is supposed to bring us. In its lighter moments, "Brazil" is quite funny. In its creepier moments, it is consciously repulsive. The only fault I find with this version of "Brazil" is its length. The longer dream sequences slip into tedium and could have been shortened. Apart from that, I think that Gillam made the right decisions in this edit. The intent, the humor, and the visual banquet are preserved. The characters are fleshed out as much as possible. And we get the point. This extraordinary achievement in visual impact and sly humor is a must-see for all film lovers.

The DVD (Criterion Collection Single Disc 2006): The single disc edition contains the final version of "Brazil" and an audio commentary by director Terry Gillam that was recorded in 1996. Gillam's discussion is thoughtful and constant. He compares different versions of the film, tells us why the film is called "Brazil", talks about his inspirations, the film's' themes, sets , actors, and how the shots were accomplished. English subtitles are available for the film by pressing the "subtitle" button on your remote.

Futuristic film.......2007-03-15

This very surreal social commentary on a society more concerned with proper paperwork than their citizens has a certain 'timeliness' to it that prompted me to watch it twice. Underneath the fantasy elements is a very realistic statement on corrupt and inefficient governments who hide mistakes, even at the cost of innocent human life. When an average civil servant finds a mistake in the arrest of a Mr. Buttle (was supposed to be Tuttle), he notices the girl of his dreams. The couple's happiness is trampled under the control freaks who run the society they live in. Even if you don't like the movie, it'll definitely infiltrate your thoughts.

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

I love this movie.......2007-03-14

This edition was a nice surprise for me as i grew up watching the VHS version. There are significant clips included on this DVD that must have been edited out from the old video cassette tape. The new footage is excellent and I was very happy they decided against excluding it from the new format.

New York Yankees 1977 World Series Collector's Edition

Average customer rating:

Forced Widescreen?
For those who remember and those who will never forget...
Worth it for Yankees fans, but picture really annoying
Great History, Rotten Video

New York Yankees 1977 World Series Collector's Edition
Starring: Reggie Jackson , Thurman Munson , Billy Martin , George Steinbrenner , and Mike Torrez
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Chicago Cubs Legends - Great Games Collector's Edition
MLB Vintage World Series Films - Cincinnati Reds 1975, 1976 & 1990

Product Features:

Classic DVD
Exclusive interviews, highlights, and behind the scenes coverage
DVD's main menu allow you to jump directly to the action
Presented in full-screen digital video

ASIN: B000NA2TT2
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Product Description

From every perspective, pundits and fans alike anticipated nothing less than an amazing World Series Championship in 1977 as classic rivals the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers faced off for the ninth time in World Series history. In an intense series, the Yankees churned out dramatic and precise wins to capture the Club s first World Series crown in fifteen years. Intensified by SleeveStats tm official stats, trivia, and game summaries, this collection is the ultimate baseball DVD experience and the perfect addition to any Yankees fan s collection. Complete, uncut games from the entire 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgersnever before available in their entirety. Includes Reggie Jackson s record-tying 3-home-run performance which sealed the Yankees World Series victory. Features over 15 hours of footage filled with Yankees greats such as Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Willie Randolph. Timed to release around the much anticipated original docudrama "The Bronx is Burning," about the historic 1977 series, premiering on ESPN in July. DVD FEATURES INCLUDE: 1977 World Series Clubhouse Victory Celebration 1977 World Series Trophy Presentation Rare Interviews: Reggie Jackson, Willie Randolph, Ron Guidry, Lou Piniella, George Steinbrenner, Chris Chambliss, Dusty Baker, Burt Hooton, Mickey Rivers, Roy White, Paul Blair, Brian Doyle Inside the Moments Reggie Jackson's 3 HR Game, the Reggie Jackson/Billy Martin confrontation in Fenway Park

Amazon.com

It was one of the first signs of the modern era of baseball when New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner took advantage of new free-agency rules to restock his team. One of his acquisitions, outfielder Reggie Jackson, proved himself worthy of his self-label as "the straw that stirs the drink" by powering a record five home runs in the 1977 World Series, breaking a 15-year Yankee championship drought and branding him "Mr. October." The 1977 New York Yankees Collector's Edition set has all six games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, plus the clinching fifth game of the ALCS against the Kansas City Royals (featuring a late Yankee comeback and a brawl