Giovannas Blog

Halloween II Unrated Director’s Cut Description:

Rob Zombie’s H2 (Halloween) picks up at the exact moment that 2007’s box-office smash, Halloween stopped and follows the aftermath of Michael Myers’s (Tyler Mane) murderous rampage through the eyes of heroine Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor Compton). Evil has a new destiny. Michael Myers is back in this terrifying sequel to Rob Zombie’s visionary re-imagining of Halloween. It is that time of year again, and Michael Myers has returned home to sleepy Haddonfield, Illinois to take care of some unfinished family business. Unleashing a trail of terror that only horror master Zombie can, Myers will stop at nothing to bring closure to the secrets of his twisted past. But the town’s got an unlikely new hero, if they can only stay alive long enough to stop the unstoppable.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1203 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 2010-01-12
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 119 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 0043396344433
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Reviews:

one sad ass sequel
The worst movie i have ever seen in my entire life. Laurie and Dr. Loomis have now become mean. The personalities are completely different from the original. I was wishing Michael would kill them so this nightmare of a movie would end. Recommend this one to all your enemies

Yuck.
I totally loved what Rob Zombie did with the Halloween subject the first time out, especially being a massive fan of the original film itself. But this sequel just plain sucked. I found myself laughing out loud at the pitiful acting (”Breathing excercises? BREATHING EXERCISES?!?”), and the needless, excessive gore was just - well - just that: needless and excessive. Was there even a plot to this flick? In the end it just seemed like a back-and-forth marathon of over-acted crying scenes with the girl playing Laurie Strode, then a ridiculously gory murder, then the crying, then a murder, and so on. Skip this. Seriously. “Saw VI” was Gone With the Wind compared to this crap.

Creative liberty…
Well, Rob Zombie basically could do whatever he wanted in this entry, and he did. Yes, there is a lot of gratuitous violence. And yes, his trademark “hillbilly” characters seem to dot the landscape. But, there is something deeply human and raw about this Halloween. No, it won’t be for everyone. Unless you are fond of quizzical cameos, like that of Margot Kidder and Weird Al Yankovic. Zombie is obviously a diehard fan of the horror genre, and it shows. He pulls out all the stops and gives us his version of a Halloween that could never be, but now always will. I don’t think he ruined anything. He merely was given a chance and now shows us a “Halloween” through his creative lens. Nothing right or wrong about it. It simply is. It won’t scare you, nor will it be lauded, but it sticks with you. Like it or not.

Amazon.com
Rocker turned writer-director Rob Zombie returns to the horror field with this visually ambitious and aggressively brutal follow-up to his 2007 reinvention of John Carpenter’s seminal slasher Halloween. The 1981 sequel to the Carpenter film is completely ignored here (and for good reason) in favor of an extension of the central focus of Zombie’s Halloween, and all of his films, for that matter: the corruption at the heart of the nuclear family. Here, Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor Compton) is attempting to heal the psychic wounds from her previous encounter with brother Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) by bonding with Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif, a pleasure to watch as always) and his daughter Anne (Danielle Harris, herself a vet from the original run of Halloween sequels). Her previous surrogate father, Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) has forsaken his connection to Laurie by exploiting his connection to Michael with a tell-all book; meanwhile, Michael himself roams the lonely outskirts of Haddonfield, driven by visions of his mother (Sheri Moon Zombie) and a single-minded urge to bond with his sister at any cost.

Aesthetically, H2 is striking, thanks largely to the ashen color scheme by cinematographer Brandon Trost (Crank 2: High Voltage), which underscores the doom-laded spiral track each of the main characters seem to travel in the film. And Zombie is to be commended for venturing outside of his comfort zone–the grimy, pop-culture ironic, white trash environment his characters frequently inhabit–with the scenes between Michael and his mother. But again, his ambitions don’t meet with his abilities–Moon looks impressive, but her apocalyptic mutterings ring more silly than spectral, especially when she’s forced to play opposite an enormous pale horse (insert heavy-handed Biblical imagery here). Most fans will find these moments more tedious than inspired, and a distraction from the murders, which retain Zombie’s preference for mayhem. He succeeds in this department, but if the end result is a menu of ugly killings, the point of revamping the Halloween franchise is somewhat moot, since the threadbare follow-ups to the Carpenter original already achieved that goal. Zombie’s knack for offbeat casting remains his most inspired talent: Haddonfield is filled with cult icons like Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Margot Kidder, and Daniel Roebuck, who jostle for space with rough-hewn character players like Duane Whitaker, Mark Boone Junior, and Dayton Callie (Deadwood) and left-field cameos by Howard Hesseman and “Weird Al” Yankovic. –Paul Gaita

Also on the Disc
If the supplemental features are any indication as to what life was like on the set of Halloween II, every day was either an insurmountable challenge or a laugh riot. Writer-director Rob Zombie’s commentary is the most telling of the extras; Zombie details, in rueful but bemused tones, the daily struggle to complete the film with local technicians, driving rain, short days, and punishing weather. He also points out the many shortcuts he was forced to take to see his vision to the screen, and he details the 14 minutes of scenes deleted from the theatrical release (mostly inconsequential, though “The Pit” in the hospital basement is impressively nasty) that constitute the director’s cut. Not everything about Halloween II was a chore, as the blooper reel indicates; it’s nothing one hasn’t seen before (blown takes, misfired props), but it does give the impression that the cast had a good time on the set. Less intriguing are the numerous deleted and extended scenes; there’s a considerable amount of prolonged gore in the murder of Lou Martini (Daniel Roebuck), but most of the scenes are comprised of dialogue–not Zombie’s strong suit, and since the film is already too long to begin with, the idea of sitting through more tedious scenes might not be appealing to viewers. Audition footage for some of the minor and supporting roles offers passing interest, but the extended “comedy” routines of faux horror movie host Uncle Seymour Coffins, and the multiple music videos by the cleverly named but utterly bland Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures, are forgettable at best. The extras are rounded out by a wealth of Sony movie previews, including District 9, Moon, and The Stepfather. –Paul Gaita

Miami Vice: The Complete Series Description:

The Primetime Emmy® Award-winning series that defined a decade lives on in the must-own Complete Series gift set! Available together for the first time, this action-packed anthology allows you to revisit every powerful episode from the groundbreaking series. Go undercover with James “Sonny” Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), two of the Vice Department’s coolest cops, as they take on the bad guys in Miami’s steamy underworld. All the original songs are presented in 5.1 surround sound, featuring award-winning musical legends including Phil Collins, U2, Peter Gabriel, The Who, Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, The Cure, Public Enemy and more! Each gritty, unforgettable moment of the revolutionary series is here in Miami Vice: The Complete Series.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3127 in DVD
• Brand: Universal
• Released on: 2007-11-13
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 27
• Running time: 5397 minutes

Customer Reviews:

The Most Seminal Cop Show in The History of Television
Despite some implausible storylines, cornball humor, and over-the-top melodrama, MIAMI VICE was the SEMINAL TV Cop Show of The 80s Me Decade. No Cop Show before it had dealt with the realities of drugs, power, corruption, and money in Multi-cultural America the way this show did. And it was FUN to watch! Created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by famed movie director Michael Mann.

Don Johnson as James “Sonny” Crockett, Phillip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, and Edward James Olmos as the stoic Lt. Martin Castillo, were perfect in their respective roles. If they were one thing; THEY WERE COPS! The rest of the supporting cast fit in well. As well as providing comic relief to the more serious themes of evil, vice, and crime.

Jan Hammer created one of the most recognizable themes in all of Television History as well as composing background music for nearly every episode of it’s five year run. (Jan Hammer dropped out of the series towards the end. Tim Truman was chosen by Michael Mann to compose some great music for the final 22 episodes.)

Seasons Four and Five are considered the years that MIAMI VICE “jumped the shark.” If you’re a fan, you know where you stand. I love them all. Even the hilarious THE BIG THAW from Season Four, with it’s cryogenically frozen Reggae Star, is TOPS in my book. Fans hate this epsiode. It’s one of the episodes I remember vividly from the 80s and it’s a scream!

Tight and loose fitting pastel fashions. 80s New Wave, Pop, Top 40, and Reggae provided some of the cinematic background Music Video sequences for a brand new MTV Generation. Fast exotic cars, like Ferraris and Lamborghinis. They too, were characters in the show. Fast exotic car chases. Wealthy well-dressed eccentric cocaine and heroin dealers. The Miami Club Scene. Beautiful modern luxury dream homes. Fast Cigarette boats and luxury yachts. Brutal and blazing police shootouts. Cultures as diverse as Haitian, Columbian, Cuban, Asian, and Jamaican. An all inclusive cast of characters and a rich story history from the Vietnam War to the Golden Triangle. The DEA and ATF to the CIA and KGB Coldwar. From third world Afro-Caribbean Voodoo and Santeria to Japanese Bushido philosophy, this show was about the hippest thing happening in commercial Pop Culture entertainment at the time. Once the show caught on and took off, it was the first time people actually stayed home on Friday nights to watch television. My girlfriend and I were big club goers in the 80s. We stayed home quite a bit to watch it. Nothing would ever be the same in the visual medium of Television and Cinema. VICE was a TRENDSETTER.

Some of the cameos and performers include: Frank Zappa, Glenn Frey, Gene Simmons, Ted Nugent, Phil Collins, Bruce Willis, Bianca Jagger, Pam Grier, Ving Rhames, John Leguizamo, Dennis Farina, Ben Stiller, Alfred Molina, Liam Neeson, (rightwing wacko) G. Gordon Liddy, Lawrence Fishburne, Bill Paxton, Wesley Snipes, Miles Davis, Willie Nelson, Steve Buscemi, Helena Bonham Carter, Brad Dourif, Viggo Mortensen, Annette Bening, Melanie Griffith, George Takei, Ian McShane, Benicio Deltoro, Chris Rock, (Sonny’s wife in later epsiodes) Sheena Easton, R. Lee Ermey, and Julia Roberts.

On to the product.

Ever wondered what happened to Sonny’s pet alligator, Elvis? Individual SEASON BOX SETS are contained in a large imitation white alligator skin box with an imitation satin lining which looks hot on the shelf.

Fans that bought the individual SEASON BOX SETS complained about the double-sided DVDs being cheap, defective, or not playing correctly. Universal has always been a cheap bottom-line company. I feel your pain. Maybe Universal heard these complaints. Because THE COMPLETE SERIES episodes are on ONE-SIDED DVDs in the individual SEASON BOX SETS, and I haven’t noticed any defects. I waited. Sometimes it pays to be patient.

Fans also complained about the epsiodes not being cleaned up. TRUE. They look as if they have been transferred directly from the original broadcast tapes complete with grain and scratches in some cases. You won’t notice a lot of scratches, but you will notice some grain, especially in the night sequences and in the earlier epsiodes. The later espisodes are much better quality, probably because they were spending more money on the show (it shows) and taking better care of the tapes for syndication purposes when they knew they had a Hit Show. Still, the majority of the epsiodes look pretty good. Just pretend you’re watching this series like you were in the 80s and it’s almost unnoticeable. Younger audiences should act accordingly. (Younger audiences should also remember this series is not as realistic as the Cop Shows of today. MIAMI VICE was more like a cultural hyperrealism. Some of you will not buy into it. Again, in the 80s it was SEMINAL TV.) FOUR STARS for the Visuals.

The 80s TV sound has been remixed into Dolby 5.1. The volume is far too low and you won’t hear anything coming out of your rear effects speakers. I wish they would have done it in 2.1 stereo so I could use my Prologic and get some sound out of my rear speakers. If you view the episodes from your TV speakers, you’ll have to turn it up about 8 tenths to get a good volume. THREE 1/2 STARS for Sound.

The are only a few EXTRAS on the FIRST DISC of THE FIRST SEASON. A couple of documentaries on the fashion, sound, visuals, and impact of VICE. That’s all. The show pretty much speaks for itself. Individual DISCS from SEASONS ONE and TWO contain a written synopsis of the individual episodes and a list of cameos when you click on them in the EPISODE MENU. They disappear after SEASON TWO and you must look to the SEASON BOX covers for a synopsis of each episode (sans a list of cameos.) ONE 1/2 STARS for the Extras.

Overall this BOX SET gets FOUR 1/2 STARS because the Series was the first of it’s kind. And, the great sentimental value this holds for me personally.

If you’re thinking about buying at least the first THREE SEASONS, stay away from the individual BOX SETS and buy THE COMPLETE SERIES. SEASONS FOUR and FIVE contain some great episodes and you’ll get the 2 Hour Series Finale, FREEFALL. If you bought some of the individual SEASON BOX SETS, and think this SET is different, it’s not. Aside from the single-sided DVDs, which may or may not persuade you to sell them off, you don’t need to buy THE COMPLETE SERIES. Patient or wary fans will definitely want to purchase THE COMPLETE SERIES.

THIS WAS A MONUMENTAL TV SERIES. Warts and all!

ENJOY.

A blast from the past that is a blast to see again
Miami Vice came on when I was 13 and I was hooked. It became a regular Friday night routine to sit in front of the tv to see this show. It has always been among my favorites from that era along with the Equalizer, Magnum, P.I., and Simon & Simon.

I have to admit I didn’t get to see much of the fifth season when it was aired, though I did see the final 2-hour series finale movie. This box set gave me the opportunity to finally see what I missed 20 years ago.

One of the best things about the box set is that by following the show from season 1 through season 5, you can more readily recall characters that are referred to from previous seasons, or who show up in later seasons from earlier ones. Another neat thing is seeing the same actors play different characters who all still end up getting whacked. Also, seeing big name stars before thy became big, and offbeat guest stars make the show quite interesting, too. I also like seeing episodes again that I remember and never saw again from when they were aired. Seeing the fashions that seemed so commonplace then, in a new light 20 years later, is good for a laugh as well as making one react with “What were we thinking?”

This box set renewed my interest in Miami Vice again, whereas the movie was a disappointment to me. I highly recommend this box set to anyone who wants to relive the glory days of the 80s, who remember the show, or equally, to anyone who wants to get acquainted with the series.

Well Worth the Money–Wonderful!
Miami Vice was my absolute favorite cop show, in the ’80’s and even now…No one else quite represented those wonderfully decadent ’80’s like a tanned Don Johnson, with that sexy smile, in a pink linen sports coat and Ray-Bans! I hesitated spending the money on this, but I realized that this Miami Vice Complete Series wouldn’t be around forever, given that this show is already approx. 25 years old. And if I waited, I might end up paying a lot more, later.

I was concerned, howeveer, when I read one of the comments here, saying that when they got their order, one of the CD’s were missing. Prior to ordering, I expressed my concerns in an e-mail to Amazon and got a prompt reply saying that, if I had any problems, they would correct it immediately, if I chose to order this product.

Well, I got it and evrything was there, beautifully packaged and really excellent quality DVD’s….I am up to about #13 of the first season and thoroughly enjoying it! Thanks for excellent service and a quality product, Amazon! This is a real collector’s item that I will always treasure.

The Man with No Name Trilogy Blu-ray Description:

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2630 in DVD
• Released on: 2010-06-01
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Full Screen, Restored, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 330 minutes

Customer Reviews:

GoodFellas Description:

When Martin Scorsese, one of the world’s most skillful and respected directors, reunited with two-time Oscar-winner Robert De Niro in GoodFellas, the result was one of the most powerful films of the year. Based on the true-life best seller Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi and backed by a dynamic pop/rock oldies soundtrack, critics and filmgoers alike declared GoodFellas great. It was named 1990’s best film by the New York, Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics. And it earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Robert De Niro received wide recognition for his performance as veteran criminal Jimmy “The Gent” Conway. And as the volatile Tommy DeVito, Joe Pesci walked off with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Academy Award nominee Lorraine Bracco, Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino also turned in electrifying performances. You have to see it to believe it - then watch it again. GoodFellas explores the criminal life like no other movie.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1501 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2007-05-15
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Dolby, AC-3, Widescreen, Closed-captioned, DVD, Subtitled, Color, Dubbed, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 146 minutes

Features

• When Martin Scorsese, one of the world’s most skillful and respected directors, reunited with two-time Oscar-winner Robert De Niro in GoodFellas, the result was one of the most powerful films of the year.Based on the true-life best seller Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi and backed by a dynamic pop/rock oldies soundtrack, critics and filmgoers alike declared GoodFellas great. It was named 1990’s best f

Customer Reviews:

Good Blu-Ray Transfer
Goodfellas has long been one of my favorite movies. I’ve watched it many times since I saw it in the theater. I’ve seen it on tape, on laserdisc, on the original “flipper” DVD and the remastered anamorphic DVD, and now, Blu-Ray Disc.

I’m happy to report that the Blu-Ray is a significant improvement over the remastered DVD. The picture is brighter, the colors are more vivid, and many scenes have much more detail and clarity. Of course, the overall picture is much sharper.

Goodfellas is not the kind of movie that is a showcase for high-resolution video, however. It has a lot of dark indoor scenes; very little takes place outdoors (something I never noticed before). I noticed some graininess, which has a lot to do with how Scorcese shot the picture. It’s just more noticeable in the higher resolution.

There are some minor problems with the audio in one scene. The dialogue drops in volume and then jumps back up in the following scene. Other than that, the audio is fine, although I would have liked a more aggressive surround mix, at least in the musical selections. However, there’s not much use of the surrounds here.

Also, at one point there’s a vertical line halfway across the screen. Why this wasn’t cleaned up is mystery to me; it lasts for about fifteen seconds. Admittedly this is a very minor problem, but with expensive new technology flaws of this kind stand out more than they would on tape or standard DVD.

If you’re a fan of the movie and are considering upgrading to the Blu-Ray, I’d highly recommend it. It’s not an eye-popping effects movie to begin with, so this disc isn’t the first one to reach for if you want to show off your system. But it’s probably the best way to watch the movie.

Another 5-star movie in a (barely) 4-star release…
There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said about “Goodfellas”… it’s one of the best movies ever. To hell with the AFI, this is arguably one of the top 10 American movies ever made! Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco: five top-notch talents operating on all 8 cylinders in this story about three decades of life in the mob.

Now, you’d think that Warner Brothers would give this movie the most complete Warner DVD release that’s ever existed. A fervent popular following, a high level of anticipation for a special edition, and the current booming state of the DVD industry should’ve made this a no-brainer slam dunk for Warner’s marketing and home video departments. And so, after years of having to flip over the old disc, after years of almost crushing that flimsy snap case, after years of listening to that 5.1 surround that sounded suspiciously like 2-channel, should you get this new version?? The answer is a resounding…”maybe”.

Arguably the biggest plus to this new edition of “Goodfellas” is the fact that the whole movie is contained on a single side of a dual-layered disc. The “all-new digital transfer”, enhanced for 16:9, is only a marginal improvement over the original release (which was also listed as being “enhanced for widescreen TVs” on the package; it wasn’t). Strangely enough, in the scene where Jimmy (De Niro) and Paulie (Paul Sorvino) go to convince Henry to go home to Karen, there is a very noticeable screen-split line on the film that sections De Niro’s face in half. This isn’t the transfer’s problem, per se; it looks more like something off the film print. The strange thing is I don’t remember this streak being present on the old version. Maybe it’s only a minor peeve, but still, this is the kind of thing you’d expect a studio to clean up for a special edition.

The English audio is the same old Dolby-Surround-masquerading-as-5.1 mix used in the old version. The package incorrectly lists Spanish as the alternate language; it’s still French. Nothing more to say about that.

The disc menus are static, and they all have this generic-sounding jazz score playing over them. Remember all the jazz in “Goodfellas”? Yeah, me neither.

Of course, the real reason most people are running out to get this new set is to see the special features. This DVD includes 2 commentaries: one with various cast & crew members, the other with Henry Hill & ex-FBI agent Ed McDonald (who plays himself at the end of the movie). Of the 2 commentaries, the track with real-life players Hill and McDonald is infinitely more interesting, even though Hill mumbles more than Keith Richards having an acid flashback.
When I bought this set, I was looking forward to some feature-length Scorsese, Pesci, Liotta &/or Bracco commentary (I didn’t dare to hope for Robert De Niro, I mean, be serious), with some funny stories or moviemaking info. Instead, what you get is a few new comments cobbled together with 10-15 year old sound bites from De Niro and Joe Pesci. Basically, the first 90 minutes of commentary is a total strokefest (”oh-this-guy-was-so-great”, “oh-she-did-a-really-good-job”) with only Scorsese, author Nick Pileggi, Liotta, and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus saving it. It picks up towards the end, though, when Lorraine Bracco (who shoots down the “screen-specific commentary” illusion when she talks about having watched the movie on the morning she’s being interviewed) and editor Thelma Schoonmaker drop some funny thoughts.

As for the rest of the extras? There’s really no need to have a second disc to contain them; the total running time of all the “documentaries”, as Warner calls them (”featurettes”, I call ‘em), along with the theatrical trailer is less than an hour. Plenty of room for these on the first disc, but then I guess Warner felt they needed another selling point with the whole 2-disc thing. To summarize the 1/2-hour making-of documentary: “Martin Scorsese is a great director.” Remember those 6 words and everything else is cream cheese.
The second major documentary, at around 13 minutes long, has interviews with some younger writer-directors who’ve found themselves influenced by “Goodfellas”. Only 5 words to remember this time: “‘Goodfellas’ is a brilliant movie.”
The other two featurettes are about 10 minutes altogether. One is a storyboard-to-screen comparison, the other is a little throwaway piece with some cast & crew anecdotes. 4 words will do this one just fine: “Warner Brothers is lazy.”

It’s really a shame that Warner Brothers couldn’t wait just a tad longer and include some truly special features for one of the best movies their studio has ever produced. With the stellar jobs they’ve done on their other 2-disc reissues, like “Enter the Dragon”, “The Right Stuff”, “Singin’ in the Rain” –jeez, even “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” has better features than this!!– I expected Warner Bros. to really pull out all the stops for this new edition of “Goodfellas”, but it’s a big letdown. Still, it is an improvement (no matter how minor) over the previous release, and as it is probably the “best” version we’re ever gonna get on DVD, I would have to recommend picking it up.

However, if you already own the movie, keep three things in mind. Ask yourself 1.) if you really mind flipping the old disc over, 2.) if you’ve got a normal full-screen TV, do you really need a new anamorphic transfer?, and 3.) do you really need to see the special features if they’re not exactly top quality? If your answer to any of these things is “no”, then I’d think long and hard about shelling out another $20.

Incredible movie, but�
I have to say that this is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Yet the DVD doesn’t do this classic justice. First off, the movie is listed as being enhanced for widescreen televisions. Unfortunately, this only applies to the menus, not the film itself. Another major problem is that the soundtrack of this film seems to be mixed in Dolby ProLogic since there’s a lack of surround action. And the biggest problem with this disc: it’s dual-sided, not dual-layered. In the middle of the film, the disc stops and you have to get up and flip it. Come on: this isn’t laser disc.

Memo to Warner Bros.: Remaster this epic anamorphically, in DTS digital surround, and make it a special edition, 2-disc set with the film on a dual-layered disc and extras on the second disc.

Amazon.com
Martin Scorsese’s 1990 masterpiece GoodFellas immortalizes the hilarious, horrifying life of actual gangster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his teen years on the streets of New York to his anonymous exile under the Witness Protection Program. The director’s kinetic style is perfect for recounting Hill’s ruthless rise to power in the 1950s as well as his drugged-out fall in the late 1970s; in fact, no one has ever rendered the mental dislocation of cocaine better than Scorsese. Scorsese uses period music perfectly, not just to summon a particular time but to set a precise mood. GoodFellas is at least as good as The Godfather without being in the least derivative of it. Joe Pesci’s psycho improvisation of Mobster Tommy DeVito ignited Pesci as a star, Lorraine Bracco scores the performance of her life as the love of Hill’s life, and every supporting role, from Paul Sorvino to Robert De Niro, is a miracle.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Description:

From Miramax Films, the studio that brought you the Academy Award winning Life is Beautiful (Best Foreign Language Film, 1998) comes The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Based on the best selling novel by John Boyne, it’s an unforgettable motion picture experience powerful and moving beyond words (Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com). Bored and restless in his new home, Bruno, an innocent and naive eight year old, ignores his mother and sets off on an adventure in the woods. Soon he meets a young boy, and a surprising friendship develops. Set during World War II, this remarkable and inspiring story about the power of the human spirit will capture your heart and engage your mind.
Bonus Features include Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary by Writer, Director Mark Herman and Author John Boyne, Friendship Beyond the Fence Featurette, Feature Commentary by Writer, Director Mark Herman and Author John Boyne

• Amazon Sales Rank: #737 in DVD
• Brand: BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2009-03-10
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

Customer Reviews:

An atypical Holocaust film that is engaging, thought-provoking, and heart-wrenching
2008 was a very big year for films adapted from books, with several reaching the high acclaim of Academy Award nominations. One adapted film that didn’t get much recognition, however, is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, based on the novel by John Boyne.

The film opens with the following quote emblazoned on the screen: “Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows.” As the quote suggests, this is a sort of coming of age film, and over the course of 94 minutes,those in the audience slowly watch the innocence of children unravel before their eyes as the reality of what is taking place becomes more and more illuminated.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is the story of a family living in Berlin during World War II. The main character, an eight-year-old boy named Bruno (Asa Butterfield), spends his time in Berlin playing with his friends and reading adventure novels. His father, brilliantly played by David Thewlis (most will recognize him as Professor Lupin from the Harry Potter franchise), soon gets a promotion, however, and Bruno, his parents, and his sister move to the German countryside where his father will take up his new position. Unlike their time in Berlin, Bruno’s parents are careful to keep their son close to home, and Bruno, an explorer and adventurer at heart, is confined to the small fenced area surrounding their house.

From his bedroom window, Bruno can see what he thinks is a strange farm off in the distance. He notices that the “farmers” act strangely and wear strange “pajamas” while they work. Later, he notices that the smokestacks on the farm give off an absolutely wretched stench when they are burning. By now, of course, the audience knows that what Bruno has seen is not a farm at all, and that his father’s new position is Commandant of the nearby concentration camp.

The naive Bruno manages to escape from the grounds of his home and is finally free to explore the woods behind the house. Not paying much attention to where he is going, he happens upon a remote part of the camp where he meets another eight-year-old boy, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), confined by a different kind of fence. The two become friends, and Bruno sneaks away every chance he gets to go and visit the only playmate he has found since moving away from Berlin.

This is an interesting film on many accounts, the most fascinating being the changes that each member of Bruno’s family undergoes. His father, a seemingly reluctant, “political only” Nazi at the beginning, devolves into a hardened, harsh man. Bruno’s sister Gretel (Amber Beattie), encouraged by a handsome lieutenant working with her father, falls victim to the Aryan propaganda so much that her room is soon filled with posters of the Fuhrer, much like young girls today would adorn their walls with images of the Jonas Brothers. Finally, there’s Bruno’s mother (Vera Farmiga), who is the antithesis to the growing Nazism in her family. At first she is happy for her husband and the success he has as a soldier in the German army. However, as she learns more about her husband’s new charge, and the truth is revealed about the camp, she becomes bitter and angry.

And then there’s Bruno. All the signs are there. Bruno comes across every hint he possibly could as to the truth behind the “farm” where his friend Shmuel lives and works. Yet he remains utterly oblivious. Caught between the two stages of “sounds and smells and sights” and “the dark hour of reason,” the filmmakers show the great price of failing to deal with the world around us.

Much of the criticism that I’ve read regarding this film deals with the supposed overextension of innocence to both child characters. Many critics cannot grasp the idea of an eight-year-old child not understanding that the “farm” is really a horrible work camp, that the “pajamas” are prison clothes, that the mysterious disappearances that Shmuel tells of and the smoke from the chimneys are the results of the systematic slaughter of the camp’s inhabitants. That may be a fair criticism, but I think it misses the greater point that the filmmakers seem to be making.

Bigger than a child’s loss of innocence, Bruno seems to be a representation of Germany, perhaps even humanity, itself, and the failure to deal with the evil right before one’s very eyes. So many Germans claimed the innocence that we see in Bruno, saying they had no knowledge of the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem that Hitler and his SS were carrying out across the European continent. Even today, despite all the existing evidence, there are still those that deny the Holocaust happened, not wanting to acknowledge the great evil of which humanity, perhaps even their neighbors and family members, is capable. More than anything else, this film shows the great price humanity pays for such utter naivete.

All in all, this is a very well done film. The story, though slow in the beginning, is engaging, thought-provoking, and, in the end, heart-wrenching. It is well-acted, especially in the performances of the young boys, and the bright colors and airy score provide a sort of bizarre juxtaposition to what is happening on screen.

The DVD includes the typical bonus features of deleted scenes and a feature-length commentary, as well as a featurette entitled “Friendship Beyond the Fence.”

A very good, thought-provoking film.
After I read the novel by John Boyne and heard the news that a movie adaption was currently in theatres, I was slightly scared that the film would be too extreme and dramatic for me, because I don’t do well at all with films that scare me or make me sad- and thinking about the plot of the book, I knew watching a movie version would tear me to pieces.
But, as it happened, my school went on a field trip to see the movie a few weeks after I finished the book, and I ended up having to watch the whole movie through and write a report comparing and contrasting it from the novel. And guess what?- I sobbed like a baby in front of all my friends.
Although the last parts of the movie are very sad and deeply patronizing, it is overall a very good adaption of the book that caused so much controversy among young readers like me(I’m 15 by the way).

Excellent Conversation Material
The movie’s subject matter, first and foremost is very HEAVY.

The story follows a boy in a particular German military family. He is your average adventurous and innocent/ naïve eight-year-old boy. His family is a very ordinary German family, for that time, except his father had just been promoted to a high position within the military, causing the family, much to the children’s chagrin, to move out to the country (discovered in the first five minutes of the film).

In this movie, you will see a wide range of acceptance and emotion for the German political agenda. You’ll see the happenings of this family from the boy’s perspective, including his introduction to the Jewish people.

In my opinion, this movie is very well made, intelligent, and powerful. The messages that are being conveyed are wonderful conversation pieces. It’s time to expand horizons and stimulate the brain with this very strong film. Grab some family or friends, or someone from the office and see what this movie is all about.

Amazon.com
The innocence of childhood savagely collides with the Holocaust in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) knows that his father is a soldier and that they have to move to a new house in the country… a house near what he thinks is a farm. But his father isn’t just a soldier; he’s a high-ranking officer in Hitler’s elite SS troops who’s just been placed in command of Auschwitz. As Bruno explores the woods around the house, he discovers the concentration camp’s perimeter fence. On the other side sits a boy his own age, with whom Bruno strikes up a friendship–a friendship that will have tragic consequences. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is most powerful in the details: The casual brutality of a Nazi lieutenant; the uncomfortable juxtaposition of the family’s domestic life with glimpses of the treatment of the imprisoned Jews; a ghastly propaganda film suggesting that life at Auschwitz was like a holiday. But more than anything else, Butterfield’s performance makes this film compelling. The young actor perfectly conveys Bruno’s limited perspective even as the film carefully unveils the larger, darker reality. The movie’s ending will undoubtedly spark arguments, but only because of the emotional complexity of what happens–The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is made with great skill and compassion. Also featuring David Thewlis (Naked) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed) as Bruno’s parents. –Bret Fetzer

The Universe: The Complete Season Three Description:

Immerse yourself in more spectacular space exploration with SEASON THREE of this epic series from HISTORY. A virtual collision of astronomy and history, each enlightening episode utilizes strikingly realistic computer recreations and animations to provide unprecedented insight into the mysteries of our universe, and beyond.

From bizarre clouds to the hypothetical Planet X, from space disasters to space sex and the possibility of terrifying cosmic collisions, experience space in a whole new way - not through a telescope or textbook, but firsthand. With THE UNIVERSE, you’ll feel like you’ve traveled to the edge of the unknown.

THE UNIVERSE: THE COMPLETE SEASON THREE includes all 12 original episodes on 4 DVDs:

11/11/08 Deep Space Disasters
11/18/08 Parallel Universes
11/25/08 Light Speed
12/2/08 Sex in Space
12/9/08 Alien Faces
12/16/08 Deadly Comets and Meteors
12/23/08 Living In Space
1/6/09 Stopping Armageddon
1/13/09 Another Earth
1/27/09 Strangest Things
tbd/09 Cosmic Phenomena
tbd/09 Edge of Space

BONUS FEATURES: Additional Footage

Stills from The Universe-The Complete Third Season (Click for larger image)

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2479 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Released on: 2009-05-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Closed-captioned
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 700 minutes

Features

• Immerse yourself in more spectacular space exploration with SEASON THREE of this epic series from HISTORY. A virtual collision of astronomy and history, each enlightening episode utilizes strikingly realistic computer recreations and animations to provide unprecedented insight into the mysteries of our universe, and beyond.From bizarre clouds to the hypothetical Planet X, from space disasters to s

Customer Reviews:

disappointing season
Ok. As a scientist, I found the first 2 seasons to be quite entertaining even though the material is fairly basic (it’s not meant to be for astrophysics geeks). The show has always had alot of bang and big and bold photos, very colorful, very creative. Then there’s the third season… come on. Sex in space? what a crappy episode. There is so much that we know (and don’t know) about space that they can go on and on and talk about the Universe for the next 30 years…but instead they got this snoozer lame episode about popping out kids in space with very little fact and mostly just opinions and speculation. They didn’t even really bother getting into the details regarding the animal research that has been done. I had to shut it off…couldn’t finish watching that stupid episode. And the episode which talks about neutrinos….didn’t even properly define it. Good job, professors. If you are really trying to educate the public about space and you want to talk about particles, you should really go back to the basics of physics and talk about each particle and their importance…then talk about neutrinos. Instead, we get a smoke-and-mirrors light show which is supposed to represent a bunch of neutrinos whizzing around.

I figure that the people watching Season 3 of The Universe have probably seen the first two seasons or if not, after watching episodes from this season, should be motivated to watch 1 and 2. Maybe the people making the show should make it a little more sophisticated and elevate the level of complexity of the show…but instead, the show tries to oversimply abstract complex theories instead of teaching its viewers anything concrete; The Universe, our Heisenberg Multiverse of 11 dimensions, is just a cheap light show in Season 3.

In case you are wondering. 5 stars for season 1. 4 stars for season 2.

It just keeps getting better!
Very informative, educational, interesting, and fun! The special effects and great narrative performance makes this show my favorite. This is by far the best TV series I have ever seen. I have watch every episode multiple times. Another great thing about this show is that it includes some of the greatest physicist of today, such as Michio Kaku. I highly recommended anybody who is even slightest interested in the final frontier to add this DVD set to their collection.

I especially love the episode “Parallel Universes”. For all open minded people, this is an episode you must see.

No words to describe how wonderful this Documentary is !!!
A wonderfull set of DVD that take us to a journey of reality about the Universe we live.
In my opinion the only negative point of ths product is that it has no subtittle, and a serie like this must have subtittles in various languages, including Portuguese.
All the schools in the world have to have this DVDs to exib it to the fellows.

Lord Peter Wimsey Collection: Set 1 Description:

As seen onMasterpiece Theatre

“The cast is splendid” –The Washington Post
“Realized superbly” –The New York Times

Ian Carmichael stars in the original BBC adaptations of the Dorothy L. Sayers crime thrillers. Hailed by critics as one of the finest mystery series ever filmed, its success on PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre inspired the spin-off Mystery! Running at least three hours each, these dramas do full justice to Sayers’s vivid characters, trenchant wit, and lavish 1920s settings.

THE MYSTERIES
Clouds of Witness Death hits close to home when Lord Peter’s future brother-in-law is murdered. Complicating matters is the man who stands accused: Gerald Wimsey, Lord Peter’s brother.

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club When a member of the prominent Bellona Club dies on the same day as his sister, Lord Peter must determine who will inherit a sizeable fortune.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2521 in DVD
• Released on: 2010-03-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 605 minutes

Customer Reviews:

I say!
Dorothy Sayers created a rather unusual sleuth in Lord Peter Wimsey — think Bertie Wooster, except with a formidable crime-solving brain and a

In “Clouds of Witness” Peter is on vacation when he finds out that his brother, The Duke of Denver (informally “Gerald”), is on trial for murder — he had a blowup with his sister Mary’s fiancee, Denis Cathcart, and the next morning, Cathcart was found shot through the heart by Gerald’s gun, with Gerald bending over the body. The Duke stubbornly refuses to explain why he was out in the rain at three in the morning.

Peter is determined to solve the case, and quickly finds plenty of clues and odd little details, including the fact that Mary keeps lying (and changing her lies) and Gerald has some secrets that have to be unearthed. There are too many clues, and not enough motives. To save his brother, Peter must unravel plenty of lies and red herrings, and discover who wanted to do away with Denis Cathcart, and why.

“The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club” happens while Peter is lunching with his mentally fragile friend George Fentimen — elderly General Fentiman expires in his chair. Because the exact time of death is unknown (and the general’s sister died at around the same time), it’s not clear who the inheritance is going to. And when the body is exhumed and examined, it’s found that the old guy was actually poisoned.

Among the cash-strapped relatives are George (who’s never recovered from WWI, is poverty-stricken and appears to be schizophrenic), his snotty brother Robert, and the artist Ann Dorland — but theoretically any member of the Bellona Club could have done it. Of course, Peter is called on to unravel a snaggly mass of lies, deceptions, tricks and secret motives… and uncovers a devious plot that nobody could have guessed at.

The BBC did an excellent job preserving the spirit of Dorothy Sayers’ classic mystery novels, steeped in the atmosphere of post-World War I England — gentlemen’s clubs, tweed jackets, wood-paneled manorhouses and flapper dresses. There’s incisive wit in the dialogue, clever humor (”We need a new syntax! We need it now!”), and an array of characters from cutting-edge artists to fusty old gentry, from wussy socialists to flaky flappers.

Even better, these are genuine whodunnits. Both mysteries are tangles of lies, deceptions, infidelities, errors and the occasional bizarre twist such as Peter falling into a quicksand-like bog. In both cases there are only a few possible suspects and even fewer motives, but as the plot unfolds Peter wrangles out a sensible solution that explains everything (and usually without too many disasters along the way).

Perhaps the biggest problem of the story is that the cast is a bit long in the tooth: Ian Carmichael, Rachel Herbert and Anna Cropper are all at least a decade older than their characters are. It’s a bit weird, especially since Carmichael is old enough to be his own character’s dad.

But despite being in his mid-fifties, Ian Carmichael plays Wimsey with a light, incisive touch and a clever tongue (”I like facts… and there are remarkably few of them in this case”), and he’s a likably plausible detective who can be steely when the occasion demands it. Glyn Houston is a warmly jolly Bunter, and he’s sorely missed in “Unpleasantness” — instead we get the lukewarm, forgettable Derek Newark.

“Lord Peter Wimsey Collection, Set 1″ has a cast that’s a bit old for their roles. But otherwise it’s a solid pair of murder mysteries that stick close to the original books.

He’s got the manner, he’s got the monocle
As a long-time Wimsey devotee [my first dog was named Wimsey, the vet’s office never got it right] I confess to being of two minds about the two different portrayals of Lord Peter that are available on DVD. This set, with Ian Carmichael, I think has the better choice of actors for the character as written. Ian Carmichael does a better job of getting the casual elegance, the verbal dexterity, the airy persiflage. I also think that Glyn Houson is the better Bunter, and particularly in the back story of Lord Peter and Bunter during WWI. Richard Morant, who plays Bunter to Edward Petherbridge’s Lord Peter in the Harriet Vane DVD trilogy, is too young in relation to Petherbridge to have believably been a sergeant in WWI.

However — that’s the crux of the problem in both series — the age of the actors. The Lord Peter stories take place in the 1920s - 1930s; Lord Peter is said to have been born in 1890. So, for example, in the opening sequence of the Nine Tailors, Lord Peter was 25 and off to the war ; in the main part of the story, probably set in 1933-4, Wimsey should have been no more than mid-40s, and Ian Carmichael is clearly too long in the tooth for the part. The same thing can be said with even more vigor about Clouds of Witnesses [Lord Peter’s likely age: 34], The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club [38], Five Red Herrings [41], and Murder Must Advertise (my own personal favorite of all the Lord Peter books) [43]. Ian Carmichael does a really good job with the character, but there’s no getting around the fact [for dyed in the wool fans] that he’s 10 to 20 years too old for the part. Against this, for anyone not so dyed in the wool, or who’s coming to the series with a fresh eye, Carmichael is great and the shows are marvelous mysteries of the quintessential English unpleasantness among the upper classes type. [The supporting parts are also well done — the Dowager Duchess, Freddy Arbuthnot, MIss Climpson, Chief Inspector Parker.]

However — there’s that two minds thing again — don’t miss the Edward Petherbridge/Harriet Walter trilogy, either. Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries (The Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane Collection - Strong Poison / Have His Carcass / Gaudy Night) Petherbridge is a favorite of mine and was closer to the true age when the programs were done in 1987, but his portrayal, for me, lacks the underlying core of mischievousness in Lord Peter. There is always in the Lord Peter of the books an element of the little boy who never quite grew up. He could as easily be Lord Peter Pan as Lord Peter Wimsey! For example, from the first paragraph of “The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question”, Sayers says of Lord Peter: “THe unprofessional detective career of Lord Peter Wimsey was regulated (though the word has no particular propriety in the connexion) by a persistent and undignified inquisitiveness. The habit of asking silly questions — natural, though irritating, in the immature male — remained with him long after his immaculate man, Bunter, had become attached to his service to shave the bristles from his chin and see to the purchase and housing of Napoleon brandies and Villar y Villar cigars.” Lord Peter : The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories Harriet Walter [niece of Christopher Lee] makes a marvelous Harriet Vane, and the interaction between them, even taking into account that Lord Peter is too serious, is really very good. Of the three, Strong Poison has the best plot and the scenes between Lord Peter and Harriet in the prison visiting room are true perfection — two splendid actors at the top of their game. It’s a shame that they didn’t finish the story arc with Busman’s Honeymoon.

Two last words — very good series; and if you like these, check out the Albert Campion series with Peter Davison as well. Campion - The Complete First Season

Good, but not as Engaging as the Petherbridge version
I write this knowing that I seem to be in the minority. That is, I’m one of those people who LOVE the Edward Petherbridge version of Lord Peter Wimsey, and LIKE the Ian Carmichael version. I have both full sets on DVD and have viewed them with pleasure many times.

This version, with Ian Carmichael, is pleasant, but his Wimsey doesn’t have the depth of Peterbridge’s version. If you’re read the Wimsey mysteries (and I have them all), you know that there’s a lot of angst rattling around in Wimsey’s brain, which his outward flippancy belies. Ian Carmichael plays Wimsey as almost stolid, which all “good” British gentlemen of the period were expected to be, just look at Peter’s brother, the Duke. The whole point of Lord Peter, however, is that he has flashes of very un-stolidness.

I will admit that Petherbridge’s Wimsey is a bit more melodramatic and “romantic”. But I like it that way. Plus, Edward very much more looks the part of the Wimsey in the books.

That said, this version with Ian Carmichael is good solid fun, and there’s a lot more stories than you can get starring Petherbridge (he made only 3), so, as I say, I guess I’m in the minority!

Amazon.com
Lord Peter Wimsey - Clouds of Witness:
Ah, there’s nothing quite like settling in and getting cozy with a complicated British country-estate murder. In the BBC adaptation of Dorothy Sayers’s detective novel, which also aired on PBS, the brilliant Lord Peter Wimsey brings his investigative talents to use close to home. His future brother-in-law is slain during a country retreat, and while there seems to be no shortage of possible suspects, the investigation quickly centers on Wimsey’s brother Gerald, the Duke of Windsor. The five-tape adaptation takes its delicious time in delving deeper into the psyche of the unhappy circle around the deceased, as Wimsey tries to avert a full trial of a peer of the realm. Ian Carmichael shines as Wimsey, one of English detective fiction’s most memorable heroes–more nimble than Miss Marple, more willful than Poirot, more upbeat than Adam Dalgliesh. All mystery fans need for a lovely and satisfying afternoon is this series and a couple of strong pots of tea. –Anne Hurley

Lord Peter Wimsey - The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club:
“I’m investigating when a man died of natural causes,” states aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, “but it’s beginning to look more interesting everyday.” So it is in this impeccably mounted 1972 BBC miniseries, which would make Dorothy L. Sayers’s peerless literary creation proud.

Ian Carmichael stars in his signature role as the stylish, cultured, and erudite Wimsey, whose investigation into the death of General Fentiman is as irresistible as “poking sticks into a peaceful and mysterious-looking pond to see what was on the bottom.” Fentiman died in his favorite chair at the staid Bellona Club. Oddly enough, his sister died the same day. Wimsey agrees to try and determine when Fentiman died (”I shall enjoy it,” he exults). In a nutshell, as one character states (which is always helpful in increasingly complicated cases like this), dispersion of the inheritance will become “uncommonly awkward” depending on who died first.

The “whendunit” becomes a whodunit when it is revealed that the general was poisoned. The unflappable Wimsey has a colorful gallery of suspects to consider, including the increasingly unhinged George, one of the general’s grandsons (why is he smashing a bottle of digitalis?), and Ann Dorland, who stands to benefit most if the general died first (what’s the deal with the books on chemistry and poisons she has recently purchased?). Other memorable characters further enliven the proceedings, among them the Munns, George’s bickering (and at one point blackmailing) landlords.

As the very British title suggests, this is not a crime thriller to set the pulse racing (the discovery of Fentiman’s body is referred to as “something rather unpleasant”). But as the mystery unfolds over the course of 180 minutes (and 4 volumes), it is as captivating as a good late-night read. –Donald Liebenson

George Gently: Series 2 Description:

“Great performances and superb characterizations” –San Francisco Chronicle

Bringing an air of world-weary dignity to his role, Martin Shaw (Judge John Deed, The Professionals) returns as Inspector George Gently, a former Scotland Yard sleuth now tracking murderers in Britain’s North Country. Far from London, these once-quiet counties are just beginning to feel the social and political changes of the 1960s. The menacing crimes test even Gently’s big-city experience and hard-won wisdom. And his impulsive young protégé, Sergeant John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby, Nicholas Nickleby), tests nearly all of his patience.

This series finds Gently and Bacchus confronting sex-club entrepreneurs, corrupt politicians, gangs, and more. The first-rate supporting casts include Tim McInnerny (Blackadder), Nicholas Jones (Kavanagh QC), Mark Williams (Harry Potter), and Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval). Based on the long-running series of novels by Alan Hunter, these feature-length modern dramas teem with intrigue, wit, and style.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1489 in DVD
• Brand: Acorn Media
• Released on: 2010-05-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: .70 pounds
• Running time: 356 minutes

Customer Reviews:

THE BRITISH SURE KNOW HOW TO DO COPPER-CRIME TV
BBC excellence in another series of a great TV show. Series 2 is even better than the first. In the 1st, George Gently is a fearless London crime fighter cop who moves to Northumberland (NE England) after his wife is murdered. Gently has not given up fighting crime of all sorts and is now Chief Inspector in the new, and extremely beautiful north countryside.

Perhaps even better than the great plots of crime that Gently faces is the relationship with his Sargent John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby-’Nicholas Nicleby’), a very young assistant in the investigations, intent on learning from and outdoing his leader, Gently. Their work together, dialogue, and personal relationship is often funny–always entertaining. Ingleby is as good at being Bacchus as star Martin Shaw (’Judge John Deed”The Professionals”Master and Commander’)is at being the not-so-gentle-Gently.

The show is very comparable to other perfections in British Crime/Mystery Drama such as “Murdoch Mysteries”-Victorian era crime, “Foyles War”-WWII era crime, and “Midsomer Murders” country village crime outside of London. This “GEORGE GENTLY” series takes place in 1964, as authentic in detail to the era as the other shows, although not as many murders as Midsome–but they try at times. Gently doesn’t have as large a group of assistants as Murdoch–but he gets all he needs in help and entertainment factor from his one primary partner in sleuthing. Masterful writing in this Cop-copper relationship, youth pitted against the old, experience against initiative, big-city experience vs small-town skill.

Episodes include:
1 Gently with the Innocents–murder in a children’s home.
2 Gently in the Night–corpse on a church altar.
3 Gently in the Blood–passport fraud, murder, Arab intolerance, more.
4 Gently Through the Mill–is it suicide or murder? Why?
+ Bonus, text interviews with the 2 coppers, notes, fun 1964 facts.
SDH SUBTITLES are PROVIDED
4 feature-length episodes, each 89 minutes, each serve as great stand-alone crime mystery films tied together only by a 1964 date, a wonderful location, and 2 great roles.
Not rated, but not recommended for the kiddies, Bloody good murder, emphasis on the bloody.

American Dad Vol. 5 Description:

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2800 in DVD
• Released on: 2010-06-15
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: AC-3, Animated, Box set, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 280 minutes

Customer Reviews:

Episode List and Features Information
I noticed that as of Today(4/24/10) Amazon has the incorrect information listed as far as the episodes and features on this set. The information they have( again, as of 4/24, for all i know they could change it by the time you read it ) is actually from the Family Guy Volume 5 set. here is the info for this set:

Disc 1

Phantom of the Telethon
Chimdale
Stan Time
Family Affair
Live and Let Fry
Roy Rogers McFreely

Disc 2

Jack’s Back
Bar Mitzvah Hustle
Wife Insurance
The Delorean Story-an
Every Which Way But Loose
The Wiener of our Discontent

Disc 3

Daddy Queerest
Stan’s Night Out
Bonus Features: Deleted Scenes and Power Hour Drinking Game

And as always, there will be commentary by the staff for every episode.

And my literary and reviewing talents are not great, so i won’t give you a long in depth review of the episodes. But i can say i have liked the show from the beginning, and these episodes are as good as ever. if you like the show, you’ll like the set. If you are just a fan of the other animated shows, comedy shows in general, satire, or just a fan of random 80’s references, you will also like the show. Hope the info helped.

The Last Waltz Blu-ray Product: The Last Waltz Blu-ray Sale-$12.99! List Price: $24.99 Amazon Price: $12.99 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

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It started as a concert. It became a celebration. Join an unparalleled lineup of rock superstars asthey celebrate The Band’s historic 1976 farewell performance. Directed by Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull, Goodfellas), The Last Waltz is not only “the most beautiful rock film evermade” (New York Times) it’s “one of the most important cultural events of the last two decades” (Rolling Stone)!

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3375 in DVD
• Brand: BAND/DANKO/HELM/HUDSON/MANUEL/ROBERTSON
• Released on: 2006-07-25
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 117 minutes

Shows Robbie for exactly what he is - with wonderful music!
Rumor has it that at the debut screening of The Last Waltz in 1977, Ronnie Hawkins stood up at the end of the film and remarked sarcastically, “That was all right, but it sure could’ve used a few more shots of Robbie!” By now, any serious fan of the Band will be familiar with the antipathy between Robbie Robertson and some of his former comrades. A quarter-century later, this classic movie’s disproportionate concentration on Robertson at the others’ expense not only remains palpable, it’s even more lopsided in the updated version. But for better or worse, that is a key part of the story of the Band; and in retrospect, the Last Waltz is surely an even more accurate documentary than Robertson had aimed for. More importantly, it captures one of the greatest concerts of the rock era.

As Levon Helm relates in his rather bitter memoir “This Wheel’s on Fire,” the decision to disBand was Robertson’s alone and the Last Waltz was a somewhat reluctant exercise on the part of the other four. This shows to varying degrees in the interviews which are dispersed throughout the concert footage: Robertson, who appears far more often than the others, looks animated and a bit rehearsed (although it’s hard not to feel some animosity towards him if you’ve read Helm’s book) while the others look tired or worse. (Helm’s description of Richard Manuel as “looking like Che Guevara after the Bolivians got done with him” is all too close to the mark!) While unflattering to a degree, the interview scenes do speak volumes about what the music industry did to one of rock’s all time greatest bands and the truth about the then-impending breakup. The Band did, after all, reunite sans Robertson as soon as they were legally able to use the name again without his blessing. The commentary itself is still interesting as well, particularly some of the saltier stories of life on the road in the early 1960s, a time too often thought of as rock’s “innocent” years.

But the music itself is still the most important part of the show by far. However uncomfortable things had become behind the scenes, these guys could still play like no other band before or since, and it’s almost magical to watch them do so for the very last time. Given Helm’s well-documented distaste for the whole project, it’s remarkable how happy he looks during most of the performances, almost as if the bad blood disappeared during those last few hours while they were doing what they did best together. The late Rick Danko’s showstopping solo performance of “Stage Fright” just might be the concert’s most intense moment, which is perhaps just as it should be given the subject matter of that song and the reality behind the scenes.

If there is any complaint to be made about the concert footage itself, it is that the guest performances by Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters and Van Morrison featured here don’t necessarily do justice to the full brilliance of that night. The complete soundtrack (which was only recently released legitimately, after years of bootlegging) reveals stunning performances that didn’t make it into the movie, although Martin Scorcese claims in the retrospective documentary that this is only because he simply wasn’t able to shoot satisfactory footage of some of them. Nonetheless, the performances that did make the cut are superb across the board. Even the wildly out of place Neil Diamond does a decent job with his one song of the evening, even if I was left grateful that it was only one song. Best of all, we’re treated to dozens of unintentionally hilarious shots of Robertson singing with such emotion that the veins stand out on his neck - into a microphone which, as Helm gleefully recounted in his book, wasn’t plugged in. (This was no accident; guitar genius though he was and is, Robertson’s vocal abilities always paled in comparison to those of Helm, Danko and Manuel, who also delievers a number of touching performances here.)

The new footage consists mostly of Scorcese and Robertson reminiscing about the making of the film; it’s predictably self-congratulatory, but fairly informative. More interesting to me, though, are recollections spread throughout the show from a wide variety of people who were involved with the project in various ways, playable as voice-overs with any given part of the concert. After 25 years, these provide a perspective on the event and its meaning through the eyes of someone - or really, many someones - other than Robbie Robertson. Perhaps this was the original intent behind the movie. In any case, it should have been. The new perspectives and footage are an undeniably nice touch, but the music still stands alone, and it sounds better than ever. It all makes for a new and improved look at one of rock’s all time great events.

Hard to imagine a better DVD of this film
MGM really did an outstanding job with this release. The movie itself is justly celebrated as one of the greatest concert documentaries of all time. The Band is brimming with energy and they play their farewell concert, and the music sounds fantastic in the 5.1 mix. You don’t even have to be a huge fan of The Band to enjoy this movie, as long as you like classic rock. There are so many guest stars that join The Band, including Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, The Staples Singers, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and many others.

There are two outstanding commentary tracks on this dvd. One of them features director Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson (of The Band). Over the course of the film, they provide a great deal of insight into the making of the documentary. Equally valuable is the second audio commentary, which features many participants (the other surviving Band members, a few of the guest performers such as Dr. John and Mavis Staples, and several crew members, among others). Although the many participants were recorded separately, the track tightly edited with nary a dull moment. A nice touch: you can select a subtitle feature which will bring up the name of the person who is speaking while the commentary plays.

If all that weren’t enough, the 20 minute featurette contains good recent interview footage with Scorsese and Robertson. And there is a 12 minute outtake which is an all-star jam session (the instrumental jam itself isn’t all that exciting, but with that kind of line-up it’s well worth watching). Even the Still Photo gallery had more care put into it than most dvds, with the photos divided into three sections, many featuring captions to identify what we’re looking at.

The movie itself looks and sounds so good, it justifies the purchase. But the supplemental material puts this way above the 5-star level.

An Amazing Film Despite The In-Fighting
“The Last Waltz” was one of the very first films I ever purchased new on VHS, and I have enjoyed it consistently for the last 12 years. This movie captures one of the most symbiotic relationships between music and film I have ever seen. Martin Scorsese only had one chance to get this movie right, and he did a great job.

Watch the closeup footage of Levon Helm engulfed in a cool blue light while belting out an amazing version of “Ophelia”. Watch Joni Mitchell filmed in a silouhette backstage as she secretly sings backup to Neil Young’s “Helpless”. Watch Dr. John’s hands float effortlessly over the piano keyboard while performing a rousing version of “Such A Night”. Watch Rick Danko as he curiously peers over at Bob Dylan, completely unsure of what song they are about to launch into next. Filled with countless moments like these, “The Last Waltz” is pure enjoyment to the very end.

Since falling in love with this movie, I have learned that drummer Levon Helm was a very uncooperative participant in the production of the movie. He was not ready for The Band to quit, he believed that Robbie Robertson wanted to make this movie only to further his “rock star” persona, he did not like the fact that Neil Diamond was involved in this project only because Robbie Robertson had just produced a record for him, and from Day 1, he did not like Martin Scorsese.

Knowing that, it is interesting to note how removed Levon seems to be during the interviews, and how much Robbie playes the “Rock Star” role, professing exhaustion from the road, and not knowing how he can go on with this lifestyle.

I am not saying that Levon or Robbie is right or wrong, I am just saying that it is interesting to watch this movie knowing how at least one of the members of the group felt about the project.

If you care about music and quality filmaking, “The Last Waltz” should be part of your permanent collection.