Top Gun (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / Digital Copy)

OK3
Top Gun never claims to have epic scope, emotional gravitas, or a deep plot. I imagine that those who criticize this movie for its supposed shortcomings also look upon the Three Stooges with disgust for not exploring the depth of Moe's antagonistic relationship with Curly. The fact is that only about 10% of films released in general circulation attempt to have the depth of a Citizen Kane or Godfather. Among the other 90%, Top Gun is the best of the best.

Top Gun's obvious strength is the aerial visuals. Not since perhaps Howard Hughes' Jet Pilot has there been such an ambitious attempt to capture the look and feel of high performance flight. The F-14's photogenic qualities combine with Tony Scott's signature backlighting to create a terrific sense of energy and screen presence for the Grumman bird. The tactical realism may suffer, but the tight spacing and resulting packed frames of the ACM sequqnces are uniquely energetic and fast-paced. It is a shame that this may...

Do Not Buy!
Do not buy this BluRay 3D DVD set! The picture quality is absolutely terrible. It looks like a grainy, old VHS video tape and the 3D effects don't look that great either. The worst thing about this purchase is you have to open the package to see how bad it looks, and then you will only be eligible for a 50% refund, and you will have to pay for your own return shipping.

I am seriously re-thinking the purchase of anymore DVD's from Amazon because of this return policy.

I demand re-release of this dvd.
4:3 ratio screen is very good transfer. However, wide-screen isn't really wide screen. it's a 4:3 screen chopped off from top and bottom. in other word, instead of having a whole theatrical picture, what you get is picture that's been chopped up both vertical and horizontally. what we are seeing is only 1/3 of what's filmed, which is even smaller than 4:3. somebody cheated big time from paramount. setup menu is false leading. I want to see entire wing span on F-14! It does make huge difference on impact in fighting scene. movie this good must be done right. and while at it, make it a anamorphic enhanced.

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The Nest (BluRay/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray]

Roger Corman takes on killer roaches!
One thing you can say about Roger Corman: he's consistent. "Consistent" meaning his films always turn a profit (supposedly). "Consistent" also means that a viewer sitting down to a watch a Corman flick will consistently find the film in question larded with enough cheese to clog an elephant's arteries. You will see cheesy acting, cheesy special effects, and cheesy plots. Depending on the type of genre, you'll also find plenty of gory mayhem, beautiful babes, and nudity from the aforementioned beautiful babes. That's Roger Corman in a nutshell. Oh wait, I almost forgot; he's also the biggest ripoff artist in Hollywood history. Any film that has hit the big time in the last forty years invariably sees Roger Corman making a similar flick in an effort to cash in on the more successful offering. For example, when "Jaws" hit the jackpot back in the 1970s, Corman followed up with several pictures capitalizing on monsters run amok. When the car movie craze swept America in the late 1970s,...

Hollywood has only once yielded a better killer cockroach movie. But this has a roach-cat monster!
Not to be confused with the completely dissimilar The Nesting (1981), this is a vermin gone monstrously wrong flick that starts out slow but ultimately does well for itself and gorehound horrorfans. While you'll never see the scene depicted on the provocative DVD cover, this was a respectable and surprisingly nudity-free Roger Corman flick that really deserves a chance. After all, Hollywood has only once yielded a better killer cockroach movie (i.e., Mimic).

It's tourist season in a New England fishing town and, just like in Jaws (1975) or Piranha 3D (2010), the people are very concerned about their island community's tourist season revenue. But Sheriff Tarbell's (Robert Lansing; Empire of the Ants) recent missing person reports are becoming less than routine when roaches start killing people--after they tired of killing rats, cats and dogs, of course.

His old flame who just got back in town, Beth (Lisa Langois), stumbles across a strange research prospectus...

Good, entertaining film; poor, disappointing DVD...
I guess I'm one of the hundred or so people who've had the pleasure of viewing this "cockroach classic"(as Roger Corman puts it). Saw it for the first time probably a decade ago, near the time that I was introduced to the horror genre. With a reasonable script and decent acting, the film's already ahead of the genre curve. Add to that a healthy dose of genuine suspense, a few squirm-inducing scenes, and some surprisingly good special effects during the final act, and you end up with one effective horror flick. This is not high art, but it's not the cheesy exploitation film the DVD's cover implies, either. If you go in expecting a B-movie you won't be disappointed, and you may even be impressed. However, if you go in expecting "Citizen Kane"...; well, you deserve what you get.

It would be an understatement to say the announcement of this disc caught me by surprise. Thank God for Roger Corman! If it weren't for him, "The Nest" probably would've been condemned to VHS for eternity...

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Lake Placid: The Final Chapter

The Best of the Sequels!
Who would've thought the 1999 classic would be turned into a cheesy franchise? Now I for one love the lake placid movies. Part One was a beast of a movie that combined humor and thrills along with some fun/funny actors and actresses. Part Two went all the way on the cheesy factor and it combined cheesy acting with even cheesier CGI. Part Three took it self a little bit more serious but it still came out strong on the cheesiness and entertaining sequences. Now, Part Four was a bit different, you could tell that it had a bigger spending budget for some main fact points, The CGI was decent, the Acting was decent, the gore was decent, and the cinematography was the best out of all four movies. Part four is definitely the best of the sequels.

Plot: Black Lake has now been quarantined and locals are furious, they just want the beasts dead, however some hunters are looking to get some bounty while a group of high school students accidently travel past the open gate and must fight...

YOU AGAIN?
A tree hugger, fish and game representative, and a sheriff are all out on a cold northern lake looking for giant crocodiles... My criticism of the cold blooded nature of reptiles surviving in a cold climate has been addressed in this film with one word: mutation. Thank God as these films were starting to get silly.

Reba (Yancy Butler) is a survivor from the previous film where this one picks up some time later. There is a huge "Jurassic Park" fence around the area. The sheriff (Elisabeth Röhm) encourages her daughter Chloe(Poppy Lee Friar- Seriously? This is her real name?) to go on a senior camping trip by that other lake without said crocodiles. Meanwhile Robert Englund leads a team of poaches in an attempt to get some DNA from the creature to sell. My goodness. How do get these far fetched subplots to collide?

Chloe likes a cute boy who is going on the trip. He has a girlfriend (Slytherin's Pansy Parkinson) with "gator bait" practically written across her...

yes turkeys like chocolate !??!
As far as I'm concerned this was no better or worse then any of the previous sequels, and certainly not in par with the first one.
Crocs are CGIed to death,along with most of the blood.
That did not surprise me one bit, however I was hoping since it's called Final Chapter that this would be a nice conclusion to the franchise.
Should've known better.
Called Final Chapter and at the beginning there's a nice reference to the title where one dude says something along the lines of " if you want to get rid of the crocs for good you will need to find the source for their mutation " and with that I thought good this may show us some new stuff.
Nope, not so.
One girl comes off as such a bitch that she might as well have "going to die soon' tattooed in her forehead, the crocs as always are way to fast for any animal of their size and dimensions, and it's weird because they don't need to make crocs faster to make them scary but hey let's do it anyways, one guy is...

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Tiger & Bunny, Set 1 [Blu-ray]

I've been waiting for this!
In the future, there is an evolved breed of humans called "Next" with special powers. Sternbild City has found a good way to put these powers to use - "Hero TV" a real reality tv show where superheroes are sponsored and ranked, with a "King of Heroes", a title that goes to the hero with the most points each year. Wild Tiger is a hero on the show whose popularity is on the decline, while his destruction bill is on the rise. Given one last chance at heroism, Wild Tiger is forced to partner up with the newest hero to join the show, the young and charismatic Barnaby Brooks Jr.

This show was so much fun. The concept behind Hero TV, while flawed, is brilliant. I've always wondered about who covers the bill when some superhero destroys millions of dollars worth of property. I am probably weird. But it is still a fun concept even if you don't wonder about that sort of thing. The characters were all distinct and the relationships very well developed. It was fun having a main...

Tiger & Bunney GO!
this is a great series, i have long awaited its release here in the USA. the series revolves around heros fighting to protect people. these heros are NEXTS(similar concept done by the armored core video games), anyway these nexts have special abilities but only become a "hero" when they have a sponsor, our hero tiger is long in the tooth apparently and down on his luck until a new sponsor takes him and partners him with Barnaby whom he calls "BUNNY" due to the pink points on his suit. they quickly become the only duo team to fight evil and uphold justice and this makes for great ratings (as the heros are watched on a tv show by the populous and win points according to deed, most heros have different abilities but tiger & bunny have the same ability weirdly enough.

this english dub was first vied on viz's new stream "NEON ALLEY" along with others such as blue exorcist, inuyasha, fairy tail, ect

this blue ray set 1 has roughly 12 episodes and is in high quality,...

It's finally out!
Been waiting for the official release for this in America! Tiger & Bunny is truly one of the best shows ever created. It's highly original for an anime and anyone who's a fan of animation should watch it. The storytelling is fast pace and westernized while still maintaining the feel we all love in anime. Characters are diverse and actually look different from eachother. The art direction is practically flawless, and the japanese voice cast is top notch. Haven't given the english cast a shot but for those of you who are looking for it it's on there too. The blu ray has great updates in the some of the scenes that were lacking in the original release (Which you can see for free on Hulu) and everything is very crisp and bright. Overall a pretty good buy.

Cons? (Not related to Amazon or the series itself)
Well my main complaint is the packaging. While this seems like a total nitpick it's important to consider if North America wants to do a better job of marketing...

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For Ellen

Independent film of failing heavy-metal rock singer trying to bond with six-year old daughter- but it moves way too slow.
This 2011 film - now making it's DVD release was an "official selection" for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Reading the synopsis it sounded like an interesting film with an interesting premise - failing heavy-metal rock star returns home to try to try to rec0oncile with his estranged wife and their six-year old daughter (the Ellen in the film's title). It started out slow and I kept waiting for Ellen to appear (after all, she is shown on the cover of the package). 54 minutes into this 95 minute film and we finally see her. Until then it's all about Joby( Paul Dano). When Ellen appears I hoped the film would pick up some steam. I wasn't looking for excitement, just a story with a thread. But direct So Young Kim creates scenes that seem to go on twice as long as they should. And nearly 3 minutes is spent with Dano performing a heavy metal song, singing along to a juke box, which takes a quite film and breaks the mood. The few scenes (way too few) between Dano and Ellen ( Shaylena...

An Arthouse Mood Piece: A Quiet Contemplation Of Familial Estrangement
"For Ellen" is one of those tiny indie films where not much happens and just about everything of import is occurring silently within the main character's psyche. As such, it may not appeal to all audiences. Long stretches of the picture are without dialogue as the camera gets up close to its subject and just sort of lingers there. I like an introspective character piece as much as the next person, but let's be honest. Some of these pictures can be downright dull. Something has to connect on an emotional level, some sort of identification, in order to get much meaning from these narrative studies. And as "For Ellen" began, I was only mildly hopeful that I would get much satisfaction from the film. Unexpectedly, though, the picture did work for me largely due to a change of pace role by Paul Dano.

Dano plays a estranged father and husband traveling to meet his wife to finalize a divorce agreement. A musician on the road, he journeys overnight to make the meeting...

A special movie for special people
I've enjoyed this movie from beginning to end but it may not be for everyone. It is slow paced with a peaceful and pleasant landscape contrasting with its main character, a troubled rock musician that comes to par with some of his past mistakes. What I've enjoyed about this film is how information is conveyed: it silently provides us with tools to place ourselves in the situation at hand which allows for a totally different, individualistic take, based on who we are and what life experiences we've had. I was able to relate to the story in itself based on episodes in my own life that although different in content, are charged with similar emotional upheaval. The movie caught my attention right from the very first few minutes.

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North Sea Texas

Effective And Emotional: A Thoughtful Coming-of-Age Story From Belgium
The Belgian coming-of-age tale "North Sea Texas" might not win any awards for originality as you're certain to have seen dozens of films to follow a similar story arc. Despite its familiarity, though, it still works as an exploration of the sexual and romantic awakening of an awkward teen stranded in a desolate seaside village. Before going any further, let me clarify that Bavo Defurne's debut feature is NOT set in Texas. While I think this would be perfectly clear from the description, I just thought that I would mention it as the prospect of subtitles seems to put off certain viewers. But, as they say, love is universal. And the yearning and emotions inherent throughout "North Sea Texas" are sure to resonate with anyone who has ever had a crush or experienced the complications of first love.

The boy at the center of "North Sea Texas" is Pim (Jelle Florizoone). Although we glimpse a younger version of Pim in the movie's opening sequence, the narrative covers about...

The torments of puberty
Jelle Florizoone's portrayal of the teenage Pim is brilliant. His darting eyes take in everything: his mother's childish and irresponsible behavior, his friend's sister's obsession with him, the sexiness of the gypsy Zoltan, and so forth. Nothing escapes him, and nothing protects him from hurt. Both he and his best friend Gino each lives in a fatherless family. At first the duo is inseparable, and make love, but since Gino is three years older, he soon begins a relationship with Fran

Randolph Scott: The Warner Archive Classics Collection (5 discs)

FANTASTIC supplement to the Budd Boetticher Collection of Scott Westerns
I have always been a fan of the classic westerns but was never a big John Wayne fan or even a real Clint Eastwood worshiper. For me the ultimate Western was always Shane, and I measured most westerns by that lofty standard. I grew up watching The Rifleman TV series, which sadly is still not fully represented on DVD (only on the long out of print 6 MPI box sets, which I have), and the Lone Ranger of course.

Until westerns started showing up on DVD, I never had many on home video. Then I started getting into the John Ford westerns, starting with The Searchers of course, the best Wayne western he ever did. What attracted me to Ford was the cinematography of course, and the gritty realism of the storytelling. From there I got into the Jimmy Stewart-Anthony Mann westerns, all great collaborations and again more realistic to me than many of the over the top Wayne movies. With Mann, the more noirish element was brought into the Western, with more complex storylines than a simple...

Randolph Scott--the BEST! Period! :D
If you want to leave your troubles behind and go back to a time when it was 'SPOT ON' to be the good guy.....this is the guy to go to. Heroes of a by gone era......Randolph Scott, John Wayne, Matt Dillion, etc. Heroes kids could look up to and want to be like. Heroes who always looked out for the little guy and stood up for and knew the difference between right and wrong. When I have had ENOUGH of the ugliness of this world (via the news) I put in one of these movies and feel safe and happy for a moment.....all is right in the world. It can be this way again if we all look out for one another and stick together........REJECT the hate mongers. :''')

ANOTHER TOP NOTCH SET OF SCOTT FILMS
I can't add much to C.R.s review other than, CARSON CITY and WESTBOUND are in color and they are all fullscreen, except WESTBOUND its widescreen. Hopefully now we can look forward to another set with THE NEVADAN,CORONER CREEK,WESTERN UNION,BELLE OF THE YUKON and others.

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Puppy Love

No Stress and Stiletto Heels
If you like safe, clean, and predictable romantic comedies, especially with a dog, you'll love this movie. Hallmark/Gaiam put out bunches of these films(see recently released, Fairfield Road), and they're well made with good actors and family friendly, this one's Dove approved for all ages.

Here stars Candace Cameron Bure, who's very good at this type of role, as single mom/professor Megan, and hunky guy, Victor Webster as Jake the aging ballplayer. Their paths cross when Jake's dog is mistakened for a stray and adopted by Megan and her 10 year old daughter, Caitlin(well played). Both Caitlin and Jake love the dog, but Megan and Jake are at odds with each other. All parties agree on joint pooch custody.

There's light comedy, and the possibility that the battle between the sexes could lead to an unexpected romance. Our kids were interested during the first half while the dog was the main focus, but got antsy when the romance started to rear its mushy, gushy,...

Absolutely Adorable!
This was such a cute fuzzy movie. The main charactes do a great job at acting distant at first, then gradually warm up to each other. Perfect little movie for a rainy, afternoon.

Great Fun Movie
This is a must own movie for all dog lovers. It is a perfect movie for a rainy or quiet afternoon

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It Happened In The Park (villa Borghese)

Quirky, but you might like it
This is a decidedly quirky film, not to everyone's taste for sure, but has some very enjoyable moments. It's a series of vignettes, set in the Roman park known as the Villa Borghese, and taking place during a single day. The director, Vittorio De Sica makes an appearance in the most farcical of the pieces, as a middle-aged womanizer, tripped up while attempting to slip away for an afternoon seduction. There are some touching moments as well. Very enjoyable if quirky is your cup of tea.





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The Falcon Mystery Movie Collection; Volume 2

Great selection of the final "Falcon" 1940's mystery movies starring Tom Conway
The Falcon Out West 1944
The Falcon In Mexico 1944
The Falcon In Hollywood 1944
The Falcon In San Francisco 1945
The Falcon's Alibi 1946
The Falcon's Adventure 1946

I've always enjoyed the old Falcon mystery movies series from the 1940's, especially after Tom Conway took over the role. This DVD set is all Tom Conway and presents his final films as the Falcon. These are all well-made films that move along at a rapid pace (especially "The Falcon In Hollywood"), have interesting characters, and some comic relief. My favorite is "The Falcon In San Francisco", but there's not one of them that's a bad film, and they're fun to watch late in the evening when you don't want to see any of the "entertainment" offered on broadcast TV or cable.

This is a 2-DVD set with 3 films on each disc. Although the old RKO films are great, the packaging of the DVD set is below average and could have easily been made more appealing by Warner Brothers simply...

WONDERFUL! MORE FALCON MYSTERIES NOW REMASTERED!
One of my favorite DVD collections was the first septet of THE FALCON mysteries starring George Sanders and then passing the torch to his on-screen and real-life brother Tom Conway assuming the role. The first volume left me, of course, wanting to own the rest of the series. I was hoping that Warner Brothers would follow with a Volume 2, and now it has finally arrived and was definitely worth the wait.

Each one of these films here is a delight, with Conway sleuthing his way through various scenarios and proving to be an amusing lothario in each one. My particular favorite is "The Falcon in Hollywood", because it is not only a nifty-little mystery, but it is also a behind-the-scenes look at the RKO studio lot of the era. Very cool.

Although only 2 discs, the brief running time of each film makes for all six films to fit on the dual-layer DVDs with fine quality (and a great value!). All 6 films in the set have been remastered for the occasion, and are a distinct...

THE BEST OF THE THREE BOX SETS
I've seen the George Sanders Saint collection, Sanders and Tom Conway Falcon edition, and now Conway's Falcon series..one reason I enjoyed this last entry might be a slight preference for Tom over George..but that's pretty subjective...the primary reason has to do with the way the movies were filmed...many of the the early films of the series were shot on the studio lots with the standard claustrophobic sets...perhaps war restrictions played a part in this..in the Conway Falcon episodes, you have what appears to be on location settings from out West, Mexico, San Francisco, and Miami...certainly not the closet capers of the earlier films....and as I said I do prefer Tom to George...Sanders seems a little lucky and heavy afoot at times, while Conway is more crafty, always with a trick up his sleeve..I believe the writing for Conway's last six films easily trumps the earlier works, with only the annoying sidekick common to all of them...and you won't want to miss Jane Greer in The...

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Broken Roads

Great film and Soundtrack
The soundtrack for this film was perfect!! The scoring and mood it captured were spot on. Get the film - get the track!!!

A TERRIFIC NEW FILM!!
A pleasant surprise film in an age of violence and extravaganzas!! An excellent cast creates an old story in a new and exciting way. Great locations, excellent camera work and a terrific cast!! Sally Kirkland is still wonderful and Shoshanna Bush is a real find.....I sure hope to see alot more of her. This film is definitely a MUST SEE!!

Spectacular.
Beautifully filmed! Beautiful story line! Incredibly touching movie! Good to see a great film in a day that most movies don't seem to capture anything of substance! 'Broken Roads' is ABSOLUTELY a MUST.SEE.

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Night of the Demons 2

A pleasing Second Take
Night of the Demons 2 disappointed many people, mostly due to the fact that they seemed to expect something more akin to its predecessor. I don't count myself amongst those individuals, however, because I've come to expect sequels, especially the 1980s horror-based ones, to become more humorous as they progress. Personally, I thought this movie was actually very enjoyable, in part because of the return of Hull House and our favorite possession candidate and in part because of the humor involved. Sequels that take themselves too seriously oftentimes fail as frightening follow-ups.
The movie borders around Halloween once more, the only time the demons can truly be a happy-go-luck bringer of evil. Enter a group of kids from St. Rita's Academy that thought it would be fun to have a party at the infamous Hull House, and you have yourself the beginning of a bloodbath. Added into the story are a few new concepts as well, like the question of what would happen if something were carried...

Equally entertaining sequel.
Highly enjoyable sequel features another group of teens going back to the same mansion. As before, all hell breaks loose eventually. Played more for laughs, this one's just as fun as its predecessor(though the pacing isn't quite as good as the original)and it has even more gore, nudity, and lesbian kisses (Cristi Harris, yum!)! Steve Johnson's make-up effects are excellent and probably his best work to date.
*** 1/2 out of *****

It will scare the hell out of you -again!
This movie was a little corny than the first.It was about teenagers from st. rita's acadamy that want to throw a party at hull house.Among the teenageers is Angela's sister Milissa(mouse) and wierd things start happening so the teens leave thinking they were safe.Boy were they wrong.One teen brought back lipstick from the house and relised Angela!At a church dance Angela unleashes evil.So a nun a priest and the surviving teens must face Angela and her demon buddies at hull house!This movie had a lot more nudity than the first and It will scare the hell out of you!

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Fangoria Presents: Axed

TODAY IS ALL ABOUT YOU
Just when you think there is nothing new in horror, something comes along and grabs you. Axed is a separate breed of dark comedy, I call dark slasher comedy. This include scenes you find yourself laughing at, yet embarrassed that you do so.

Kurt ((Jonathan Hansler), a somewhat prudish man just got the ax at work. I like the small details Driscoll works into the scene. At a beautifully laid out breakfast table, Kurt picks up and looks at a burnt toaster waffle. Having just been fired at work, Kurt decides to have a surprise family day taking everyone into the country. As they pass school, Kurt informs them of his plans.

His daughter Megan says, "This isn't funny."

Dad replies, "I wouldn't say that." A little hint the writer tosses at us that this was meant to be a very dark comedy.

Dad has issues with his family. His son Jay (Christopher Rithin) isn't manly enough and gets bullied. His daughter Megan (Nicola Posener) isn't modest enough...

Effective
An effective if mostly unpleasant British thriller about a man who loses it after being downsized from his job. He brings his family out to the country for an impromptu holiday that's really an excuse to kill them off before committing suicide himself. This is fairly intense and well-acted but not really much fun. If you're on the mood for something a bit on the grim and sad side then this might be for you.

Axed review
I rented this after watching another Fangoria sponsored release Human Resources. I give this a little less than middle of the road review. It was mildly interesting but I just wasnt as riveted to the film as Human Resources. I am not interested in purchasing this at all. A British release with fair acting just not a unique story.

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Easter Parade [Blu-ray]

Astaire, Garland, Irving Berlin, and Movie Magic
Originally intended as a re-teaming of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, EASTER PARADE ran into trouble when Garland's doctors advised against her working under the direction of her husband, director Vincent Minnelli--and no sooner did director Charles Walters take the helm than Gene Kelly broke his leg. Out of such confusion are movie musical miracles born: although a bit old to act as Garland's leading man, Fred Astaire was coaxed out of retirement. He and Garland had tremendous chemistry, EASTER PARADE was a box office smash, and Astaire unexpectedly found himself reborn as an MGM star.

Set in 1900s New York, the film's story line is flimsy but enjoyable. After long-time dance partner Ann Miller abandons the act, Astaire hires chorus girl Garland and attempts to recast her in his former partner's mold--a situation which offers Astaire and Garland considerable comedy and gives Astaire the chance to parody several of his own famous dance of the 1930s. Garland eventually convinces...

I Love This Movie!!!!!!!!
Some movies (especially movies from today) are really to me just a waste of time and money. People just don't seem to care about what people see on the screen anymore. And that is one of the reasons I LOVE old movies! Because you can always, almost, well, you can really never go wrong!! And Easter Parade is one of those movies to just treasure. To save for your children and grandchildren. So they can's appreciate the past, and know that there once was a time when people cared about the things they put on that larger than life screen.

Easter Parade begins with the ballroom dancer, Don Hews (Fred Astaire). Who is in love with his goregeous partner (Ann Miller) Oh, what a star!

Those two are a great team that audiences love. But when Nadene, (Miller) becomes hungry for renown, she dumps him for the Zigfield Follies, and Don's best friend, the handsome Johnny Harlow (Peter Lawford).

Angry Don sets off to prove to Nadene that he can dance with anybody and...

Fred and Judy - who could ask for anything more?
This film is a joy from start to finish and, as has been mentioned elsewhere, the colour and sound reproduction on the DVD are excellent. On this `special edition' there is also an interesting extra in the making of documentary - Easter Parade: On the Avenue - in which you get to learn interesting little snippets such as the fact that Anne Miller had to dance her numbers in a surgical corset due to the fact that, shortly prior to shooting the film, her husband had pushed her down the stairs and broken her back! Also, some might not have known that, but for a similar, though not quite so severe injury, Gene Kelly might have been playing the lead. The aspect ratio also means that you get the full screen image rather than it being cut down.

There is so much to enjoy: not least, of course, We're a Couple of Swells, in which Judy had to persuade Fred to `dust on' and go very much against the normally suave, sophisticated and elegant grain! It is in this number that she seems...

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Irreconcilable Differences (Special Edition)

the movie is a GEM, The DVD is a Crime!
I have liked this movie for years and years. It was well done, charming, and worth repeat viewings.

Lionsgate has done an appallingly awful job on this DVD. They don't even know who their audience are...

It opens with a very inappropriate red-banded, R rated noisy hard-sell preview of a horror movie, followed by another horror preview. Both of these fourth-rate screamers have unknown casts, yet they were treated infinitely better than the feature we are paying for on this disc - a well written movie starring four very famous actors. While the horror movies got newly remastered in widescreen with new interviews, this movie seems to have been copied from a grainy pan/scan transfer on an old VHS tape.

The gratingly cheesy-busy menus seem to have been made up by someone who thinks the 80s were nothing but disco. The scene selection is lazily authored to force the viewer to manually navigate from page to page, rather than linking them together so you...

IRRECONCILABLE TRANSFER
I echo some of the other reviews. The movie is terrific; the other "Lost" titles (with the exception of "Slaughter High") are full-framed but pristine prints. This transfer is as grainy as if I had taken the VHS and copied it myself to a DVD. It's an amazing rip-off, but I guess it doesn't matter to Lionsgate. I can't imagine what can be done, save sending back the discs. But since there's no other version (EXCEPT an old VHS copy--with the same quality) you're plum f***k out of luck.

Please read if you are a fan of this movie.
This was a great movie with an all star cast. The plot was fantastic and it was an excellent "feel good" movie. The movie gets five stars and the film transfer to dvd gets zero stars. My rating is two stars. I love this movie so I bought it to have it in my collection. I am keeping it even though it has many dark scenes and blackouts. Keep this in mind and hopefully someday we will get a good print of this film.

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Innocent Bystanders

The Last Time Into The Breach
Director Peter Collinson's production of 'INNOCENT BYSTANDERS'-1972 arrived at the wane of the Spy Film genre as fans were seeing Sean Connery leave the James Bond franchise and awaiting Roger Moore to attain the mantle. This film owes alot to that particular time frame even down to the ludicrous music score by John Keating trying to emulate the sound and themes of John Barry. It does, however, succeed by having a clever script by James Mitchell which is based on the novel by James Munro and a stellar cast. Stanley Baker who's career was largely forgotten at this time plays John Craig, a washed up psychologically scarred Department K agent who's given one last job to redeem himself by his boss, Looms, played magnificently cold and calculating by the great Donald Pleasence. Dana Andrews ,in one of his last appearances , plays the head of the CIA and Cec Linder who played Felix Lieter in Director Guy Hamilton's classic Bond opus 'GOLDFINGER'- 1964 plays his shrink. We also have...

GREAT MOVIE BUT BLU-RAY IS REGION A ONLY
DOES NOT APEAR TO BE STATED ON THE PRODUCT ITSELF, BUT AMAZON IS CORRECT FOR THIS BLU-RAY'S REGION CODING. SADLY, IT WILL NOT PLAY ON REGION B PLAYERS, AN UNFORTUNATE SITUATION WHEN THERE HAS BEEN NO SEPARATE RELEASE FOR REGION B.

Secret agent capor for those tired of the Bond gimmicks
I was pleased to discover that Amazon carried the DVD of this 1972 British spy film.

I had only seen (in part) one other version and that was a version shown on network television years ago. For some reason, the TV version in the USA included additional scenes, apparently filmed in New York. I know that it has been a trend lately to release DVD versions (and even theatrical versions) of films called the extended cut, the director's cut, or a version with an alternate ending.

The early version of INNOCENT BYSTANDERS was, I believe, one of those theatrical films with new scenes added to the televised version to pad it out to fit into a network time slot that could include commercials. The most shameless example of this is the Hammer film KISS OF EVIL or KISS OF THE VAMPIRE which has newly (and insipid) scenes filmed for the televised showing. In some cases, scenes in the original theatrical films are often expurgated because they include footage (usually violent)...

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Live Nude Girls [Blu-ray]

The irony of the title will not be lost on the right audience
You have to smile at the idea of all of those viewers, predominantly of the male persuasion, who took one look at the title of this DVD, and may be a second look at Olivia D'Abo, Dana Delaney, and Kim Cattrall on the cover, and decided to rent it only to end up being bitterly disappointed. You have to give credit to writer-director Julianna Lavin because she reneges on all three parts of her title. Working back to front, except for some flashbacks the characters are women in their early thirties and not girls, the nudity is more emotional than physical (and for the latter you have to look really quick and then wait for the end of the movie when there is a lot of water), and when there is nudity it tends to occur in fantasy rather than reality. So there are going to be people totally devoid of any understand of the concept or irony who are not going to like this movie and the fact that what substantive nude scenes exist are erotic as defined from the feminine perspective will just...

definately a chick movie,but has a lot of laughs
This is definately a chick movie,but has alot of laughs with an ensemble cast of very talented ladies.This movie has alot of talk between women about sex,personal fantasy and turn ons. Its not the kind of thing that men would hear women talk about(very enlightening,it seems women talk about sex even more than men do). I still suggest this video for men because there is alot of eye candy:Kim Cattrail in a g-string teddy and Olivia d'abo in a lesbian fantasy scene along with Dana DeLany in a fantasy spanking scene and Cynthia Stevenson running around in her underwear. This movie is aimed at women but is really ok for guys too.

Dishonestly titled.
A better title might have been, "Chatty Neurotic Girls". Very talky and static; not terrifically engaging, unless you like the idea of eavesdropping at a substantially atypical girls' night out. There's a fine, attractive cast (Cattrall seems to be rehearsing her character from "Sex and the City," from what this cable-deprived fellow has read of that series), but (yawn) not much to do, and the situations are SO drearily melodramatic. More live nudity would have been an improvement.

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Live Nude Girls

The irony of the title will not be lost on the right audience
You have to smile at the idea of all of those viewers, predominantly of the male persuasion, who took one look at the title of this DVD, and may be a second look at Olivia D'Abo, Dana Delaney, and Kim Cattrall on the cover, and decided to rent it only to end up being bitterly disappointed. You have to give credit to writer-director Julianna Lavin because she reneges on all three parts of her title. Working back to front, except for some flashbacks the characters are women in their early thirties and not girls, the nudity is more emotional than physical (and for the latter you have to look really quick and then wait for the end of the movie when there is a lot of water), and when there is nudity it tends to occur in fantasy rather than reality. So there are going to be people totally devoid of any understand of the concept or irony who are not going to like this movie and the fact that what substantive nude scenes exist are erotic as defined from the feminine perspective will just...

definately a chick movie,but has a lot of laughs
This is definately a chick movie,but has alot of laughs with an ensemble cast of very talented ladies.This movie has alot of talk between women about sex,personal fantasy and turn ons. Its not the kind of thing that men would hear women talk about(very enlightening,it seems women talk about sex even more than men do). I still suggest this video for men because there is alot of eye candy:Kim Cattrail in a g-string teddy and Olivia d'abo in a lesbian fantasy scene along with Dana DeLany in a fantasy spanking scene and Cynthia Stevenson running around in her underwear. This movie is aimed at women but is really ok for guys too.

Dishonestly titled.
A better title might have been, "Chatty Neurotic Girls". Very talky and static; not terrifically engaging, unless you like the idea of eavesdropping at a substantially atypical girls' night out. There's a fine, attractive cast (Cattrall seems to be rehearsing her character from "Sex and the City," from what this cable-deprived fellow has read of that series), but (yawn) not much to do, and the situations are SO drearily melodramatic. More live nudity would have been an improvement.

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Our Paradise

Surprising love story, completely free of stereotypes
I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I expected to based on other online reviews. There is a good bit of nudity, but not a lot more of Dimitri Durdaine than anybody else, and (in contrast to at least two others, including Stéphane Rideau) none of him that would qualify as "full frontal" - "full side" is more like it, and even those rarely show much except skin. Some other reviews give the impression that he almost never wears clothes and that the camera examines every square inch of his body, neither of which is true at all.

What there IS more of in this movie than most is naked middle-aged and older men, which may bother some people but delights me. Except for Durdaine, all of the naked men in this movie have pot bellies, including Rideau (who's getting comfortably close to middle age himself), which is wonderfully refreshing in an age when only bronzed and hairless gym bodies under 30 ever appear in American gay movies (Can we say BOR-ing?).

Now that...

Original French Gay Drama
Our Paradise (Notre Paradis) is the latest film from Gael Morel of `Le Clan' fame. It stars Stephane Rideau (`Presque Rien') as Vassili, an ageing rent guy who cruises the streets of Paris looking for tricks. He is also a dab hand at `finishing his clients off' and I do not mean in a `professional' way - yes he's a murderer. Then one wet, Parisian night he stumbles across a young man who has been attacked and robbed. He decides to help him and ends up taking him home. The boy has no name and says no memory of before he met Vassili.

So they decide to give him a name and hit upon Angelo (Dimitri Durdaine in his big screen debut). They then start a passionate relationship that does not exclude paying clients. Then they start to work as a team, but Angelo is attracting most of the attention and Vassili can't let his own proclivities stay dormant for too long. They end up seeking their paradise which will involve others, with unexpected consequences.

This is a really...

Great dark movie
I absolutely loved this very dark movie.Love can be strange at the best of times - and this is one of those movies.trust the French to create beautiful movies

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Don Giovanni

Mozart miracle!
This is possibly the most beautiful opera video ever produced. It was not filmed on stage, but on location in Vicenza, Italy, with absolutely stunning setting. It features excellent performances, including Ruggero Raimondi (the perfect Don) and Kiri Te Kanawa (the perfect Donna Elvira). Of the 5 or 6 greatest operas ever written (all Mozart's, in my opinion), some say Don Giovanni stands out as the most perfect achievement. Whatever your opinion may be, by getting this video you will be getting the very finest rendition of this masterwork I have ever seen. It is sung in the original Italian, with English subtitles. Incidentally, one reviewer complained of the poor quality of the sound. This is unfortunately true (shame on Kultur Videos!) but don't let this stop you from purchasing this excellent video - you won't regret it.

the beautiful production and the beastly sound
This is a "movie opera", and I am not a fan of them, because I find some of the passion is filtered out when the singing is separated from the acting, and though this film is well done, it has a lot of that "lip-synch" look, which dims the dramatic impact. I would rather watch a filmed live performance, with less gloss, and more feeling.
The lavish production is stunning to look at, with great art direction (by Alexandre Tauner) and cinematography (by Gerry Fischer), a very attractive cast, and of course, Mozart's score, which I think is his most sublime masterpiece.

The singers are excellent: Kiri Te Kanawa as Donna Elvira, and Edda Moser as Donna Anna really shine above all, both so lovely and graceful, and vocally wonderful. Moser especially manages to be emotionally expressive. Ruggero Raimondi is a fine Don Giovanni, Jose Van Dam a rather elegent Leporello, with John Macurdy as Il Commendatore, Kenneth Riegel as Ottavio, Teresa Berganza as Zerlina, and...

Visually, the best Don Giovanni on DVD
Joseph Losey's Don Giovanni is masterful. The opening scenes resonate perfectly with the music. The gathering clouds slowly darkening the sky and the melancholy sea beating against the shoreline foretell of a sea-change. Bad days are ahead for the Don. Ruggero Raimondi is the perfect Don Giovanni - totally believable and true to Mozart's characterization. The location shots add a dimension to Opera that take this production to another level. Losey makes sure the music is always in sync with the action. When Don Ottario is singing in the Gondolla, for instance, the oarsman is keeping perfect time with the music which, esthetically, is a major improvement over what is normally a dry section of the Opera. Another interesting touch that Losey gives to this production is the character, played by Eric Adjani, called the "Silent Valet." A sly mephistophelean presence that provides an excellent counterpoint to the levity of José van Dam's Leporello. Though he never speaks, his...

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