Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (The Criterion Collection) (1983)

This marvelous film, based on my favorite novel "The Seed And The Sower" by Sir Laurence Van Der Post, is light years away from the stereotypical prisoner-of-war film. It is so because of its profound understanding of clashing cultures, the hatreds that drive them, and the love that redeems hostile nations time and time again. David Bowie is often cited as the main character, but in actuality, his is a compelling supporting role. Tom Conti has the best role of his career as Lieutenant Colonel John Lawrence, a British officer imprisoned in a camp on Java. Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto scored the film and also plays Captain Yonoi, the aristocratic, Shakespeare-quoting commandant of the camp. These two characters have a strong relationship which, nevertheless, is handicapped by the fact that Lawrence understands the Japanese better than Yonoi understands the British. Yonoi, and Bowie's character, Major Jack Celliers, are wracked with guilt over incidents in their past; Yonoi was unable to be with, and die with, his comrades, the "shining young officers" of Japan's February 1936 military coup. Celliers betrayed his deformed younger brother while attending boarding school. Lawrence is caught in the middle of these two tortured men. He is repelled by the brutality of the Japanese, even as he respects them, and their samurai code of honor. Indeed, wayward Japanese guards are dealt cruel and lightening-fast corporal punishment by their officers; and mistreatment of the prisoners is due to cultural belief, not simple sadism. The beauty of this film lies in the empathy that ostensible enemies feel for one another, and the unexpected kindnesses they show toward one another. But Yonoi's devotion to bushido, and blindness to the British sense of honor, leads to a startling climax. If the final scene doesn't make you weep, then get your heart checked, will you?

An amazing film, only slightly marred by a few botched scenes and poor editing. (Oshima rarely shot more than one take.)

I've been suckered into a few other DVD releases of this film, so I was skeptical about this one. However in selling my other two copies and taking the money from those sells and buying this one, well need I say this is the last version, but the one I'm completely satisfied with. The extras included filmed memories by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Producer JeremyThomas and Director Nagisa Oshima as well as an 1983 thirty-minute behind the scenes short. The film is beautiful and has been mastered from a new 35MM print and the haunting score by Ryuichi Sakamoto makes this DVD a treasured film for years to come.

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A highly unusual war movie with as many detractors as fans, this English-language feature directed by Nagisa Oshima (In the Realm of the Senses) stars David Bowie as a silent, ethereal POW in a Japanese camp. Protesting--via his own enigmatic rebellion--the camp's brutal conditions and treatment of prisoners, Bowie's character earns the respect of the camp commandant (Ryuichi Sakamoto). While the two seem locked in an unspoken, spiritual understanding, another prisoner (Tom Conti) engages in a more conventional resistance against a monstrous sergeant (Takeshi). The film has a way of evoking as many questions as certainties, and it is not always easy to understand the internal logic of the characters' actions. But that's generally true of Oshima's movies, in which the power of certain relationships is almost hallucinatory in self-referential intensity. The cast is outstanding, and Bowie is particularly fascinating in his alien way.

Read Best Reviews of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (The Criterion Collection) (1983) Here

I originally saw this movie many years ago on a cable premium movie channel, and I think that version had either English subtitles or dubbed English vocals for the Japanese dialog. Anyway, the particular VHS version offered here by Amazon has neither. Amazon's product description does not warn potential purchasers of this "missing piece." That said, I am glad that I decided to purchase this movie (VHS video) so that I could see it again. Also, for you viewers who are members of the NetFlix or Blockbuster rental video service, a Region 1 DVD is not available (as of Feb. 2007).

This movie is one of the most unique and interesting WWII movies I have ever seen. Tom Conti (Lawrence) and Davie Bowie (Celliers) give knockout performances. The Japanese actors are equally excellent. With the lack of subtitles, one has to guess what is transpiring when the characters are speaking Japanese (quite a lot of Japanese dialog). Fortunately, the Japanese actors are very good with facial expressions and body language, which provide some insight into what is going on.

Some reviewers have compared "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" with "The Bridge On the River Kwai" (1957). The former reflects the sensibilities of a Japanese director, and the latter the sensibilities of a British director (David Lean). Therefore, IMO, a direct comparison is not really meaningful. These two films are so very different in many ways. I also think that "Merry Christmas..." is not so much a "war movie" as it is a study in the contrast of Japanese culture and values with Western ones. The plot also explores, with the Celliers' character, the tortured mind of a man who finds himself in the most desperate of circumstances.

In summary, this is a very unusual WWII movie, but well worth the time you need to invest in understanding the character development of the Allied and Japanese soldiers without benefit of English subtitles. Perhaps sometime in the near future, this movie will be released in a Region 1 DVD format with subtitles and some digital restoration of the original film. Such an effort should well reward the owners of this film financially. And, of course, the many lovers of this movie (in Region 1--USA and Canada) will benefit, too.

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Tom Conti is a British Officer who questions a Japanese officer (R Sakamoto) at the end of WW2. He asks questions about another British officer (David Bowie) who had been a prisoner of the Japanese in a camp commanded by Sakamoto. Told in flashbacks it's tells the difference in cultures between the British and Japanese. Sakakoto tries to break Bowie but in the end is taken prisoner by the British. Good story but sometime brutal and disturbing. Overall I recommend it for the 3 actors and the way the movie portrays what being a POW in a Japanese prison was like. Criterion is the best when remastering these older movies.

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Up All Night: Live Tour (2013)

I was able to review this during a Pre-Screening & the girls that were able to watch it with me went wild! This is a great DVD & it's refreshing to see a band that focuses on singing their music rather than focusing on trying to do the latest dance moves. This DVD is a must have for any 1D fans you won't be disappointed. It definitely got us hyped for the concert that we're going to next month! Loved it! :)

Gonna get 6 copies :), 5 for a tumblr giveaway and one for myself! Can't wait to watch it.

Sincerely, a guy "Directioner" and the first reviewer.

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Seeing as One Direction hasn't had a tour in the United States yet (they will in 2013 though! YAY!) this is a total must have! One Direction went from getting 3rd on the XFactor to becoming total heartthrobs, very famous, and amazing singers! They are deffinately something great! With each of the 5 boys having their own unique personalities, it really adds to making the band amazing! Harry Styles has such an open and funny personality, Niall Horan is soooo adorable, Louis Tomlinson is HILARIOUS! (seriously, watch the video diaries on YouTube and you'll see),Zayn Malik is really cute and good at making the girls fall in love ;), and Liam Payne is such a great singer and really sweet! These boys are deffinately great singers and have a bright future ahead of them. This is a must have DVD!

Read Best Reviews of Up All Night: Live Tour (2013) Here

I bought this DVD for my daughters. They went wild! Watched over and over, singing all the songs. It was nice to see a band that focused on the music not all the hipe! Move over Justin Bieber.....!

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Bought this item on a whim and just received it today and I LOVE it! The boys are adorable, the music is infectious (as long as you love boy band music) and the bonus 3 music video's are worth the DVD. The hype is there for a reason, these lads really do deliver and they do all that they can to make their fans happy.

I look forward to their next DVD and their follow up CD to Up All Night.

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The Ring (2002)

"The Ring" is an American adaptation of the 1998 Japanese horror film called "Ringu." The plot is hideously simple: a videotape floating around kills anyone who watches it at the end of seven days. We know this because after the poor viewer gets to the end of the film, the phone "rings" and a voice whispers "seven days." A week later, someone finds the body of the viewer dead as a doornail with horribly swollen facial features. During the final week of life, people who watched the tape suffer from unpleasant hallucinations and nosebleeds. If this sounds like an urban legend to you, you're right on the money. But when this urban legend appears in the form of a movie like "The Ring," it blows hooks hanging off doors or ghostly hitchhikers right out of the water. This movie is full of creepy shocks, claustrophobic atmosphere, and hidden symbols and clues. It even has Naomi Watts, the blond babe from Lynch's schizophrenic "Mulholland Drive" as the main character.

The beginning of the film pulls no punches. Katie and her friend Rebecca are discussing the effects of electromagnetic waves on the human brain when an offhand comment about a videotape that kills comes to the fore. Katie looks fearful as she confesses to her friend that, indeed, she saw the tape in a cabin with some friends. After some playful hijinks, we discover that Katie really did see the tape as we catch a quick glimpse of her final moments of life. This tragedy brings into the story her enigmatic cousin Aidan and his mother, a reporter for a Seattle newspaper named Rachel. At the request of Katie's mother, Rachel begins to investigate the videotape, a task that assumes dire proportions after Rachel watches the tape and realizes she might die in a week's time. What follows is a race against impending doom, a doom that assumes additional dimensions when Rachel's acquaintance Noah and her son Aidan watch the video.

Research into the tape unearths one strange turn after another. A woman who appears in the tape turns out to be one Anna Morgan, a horse breeder who went insane after adopting a little girl named Samara. Moreover, the images Rachel saw on the tape continue to turn up during her investigations. As the mystery slowly unravels, many questions arise. Who is Samara and what is her connection with this dreadful videotape? Is this frightening little girl a ghost who chooses to haunt through the processes of media instead of rattling chains in a house? How can misery transfer itself to an inanimate object? And my personal query, did anyone else find Aidan as eerie as Samara?

One thing is certain: repeated viewings of this film are most helpful. One time through won't do the trick with this movie. You must be patient and pay attention because the answers are do not come easy. I think too many people expected an undemanding slasher film instead of this suspenseful, downbeat exercise in cerebral terror. I for one welcome these fresh attempts to deepen the horror genre. Gory exploitation films and teenage stalker movies certainly have a place (consider how Jason, Freddy, and Michael Myers are now a permanent part of our pop culture), but for those of us who want something deeper and darker to strike us insensate, "The Ring" delivers the goods. The scene where Noah experiences what really happens when one's seven day waiting period expires will stay with me for a long time, and it was all done without a knife, axe, machete, power tool, or whatever else horror film murderers are using to dispatch their victims with these days. I haven't been this unsettled by a little girl since the twins in Kubrick's "The Shining." "The Ring" hits a home run on several levels.

The DVD version, with wonderful sound and a great picture enhanced the horrific aspects of the film. Included on the version I watched was a trailer for the original "Ringu" and deleted scenes that provide additional information about the mysteries of the film, including a chilling alternate ending. Regrettably, there were no commentaries or behind the scenes clips for the movie, although one imagines that a "Special Edition" will soon appear containing such things (for extra dollars, of course). If the Japanese public's response to "Ringu" is any indication, expect a sequel to "The Ring" in our country within a year or two. Sequels often do serious damage to the original picture, but if more films take us deeper into the mysterious realm that is Samara, I welcome them with open arms.

The Ring (unlike its inferior sequel) is a complex, mysterious movie with a deep backstory. However, it is told in a subtle almost evasive way in which the audience needs to figure it out through repeated viewings. The Ring's fascinating yet mysterious story spawned many websites and web forums simply devoted to unraveling its mysteries. If you were ever confused about what in the world this movie was about here are the basic meanings behind the story. Though the movie is meant to be "interpretive" and many create their own explanations to many of the mysteries, here are the ones generally agreed upon by The Ring aficionados. Much of this information is taken from Ring websites and forums. WARNING: Watch the movie first since this will basically give all the major story behind the plot away. You've been warned.

The Backstory of Samara and the Morgan's:

Samara, when alive, was a very powerful psychic child with a terrible sadistic streak. She could implant her nightmarish mental images into photograph film. This specific ability is labelled by Eola County Psychiatric Hospital as "projected thermography". This is what is generaly known as PHOTOKINESIS (the telekinetic ability to create, control, and manipulate light and energy). She also had limited Telepathic powers as she had the ability of implanting thoughts and images into the minds of others (into her parent's minds and the horses at the Morgan ranch), however, she could not tell the future nor read other's minds since she could not stop her own murder. She may have had Hydrokinesis (the ability to manipulate water) and she also seems to have Pyrokinesis (the ability to manipulate fire) -the wooden walls in her barn room were burned by her. Anna Morgan could not have a child naturally and according to her husband Richard, "was not supposed to". The Morgan's left the island and came back with a very young Samara, "adopted, they said". Afterwards Samara began attacking Anna Morgan (along with the horses and apparently Richard Morgan) with horrific images and hallucinations. Anna was driven almost insane and would spend hours brushing her hair in front of a mirror for no reason. Anna spent some time in a mental ward. Samara was diagnosed by doctors and paranormal researchers. Richard Morgan apparently put a stop to that and tries to hinder any more attention on the "little monster" Samara (apparently out of concern for society). Anna, out of sheer torment and maybe also out of concern for society, kills Samara by throwing her down the well. (Its interesting to note that Richard may have also been there helping since its unlikely Anna had the strength to move the stone lid over the well by herself). After spending seven days slowly dying at the bottom of the well Samara contemplates revenge on all humanity over her horrific death. Anna Morgan commits suicide by jumping off a cliff apparently out of a combination of guilt and persisting hallucinations (probably intensified by Samara's agony and rage directed at Anna while dying in the well).

The documents:

There are shown several documents regarding the whole backstory from which some of the above is based on. There are two interesting ones of note. A certificate of live birth of Samara is shown stating the Morgan's as parents. Another interesting document states that Samara was impervious to physical pain. Neither of these two documents seems to be of any relevance in either of the two Ring movies.

Samara, the present:

Samara, now dead, exists mainly in these 3 primary ways:

1) Her psychic energy persists inside the minds of her victims who watched the tape (in dreams and hallucinations).

2) Part of her psychic energy seems to persists in the physical world mainly in broadcast signals (air waves, phone lines) and magnetic media like VHS tape, (example: the phone rings when you make the connection to her after watching the tape). When alive one could assume that Samara learned or accomplished this while spending months isolated in a barn with only a television as her companion.

3) Around the immediate vicinity of death. Her spirit haunts that place down in the well.

The Tape

The images on the tape are a combination of dream imagery and symbols that representing some aspects of Samara's life, her suffering and death, and the "nightmare images" she likes to come up with. Most prominent was the ring of light created by the well's stone lid that she would stare at for seven days until she died -hence The Ring.

The Curse:

Samara, now dead, has no power over the world or the living, except down in the well which she haunts. The ONLY way Samara could spread her curse and kill her victims was through the visuals of her VHS tape. The images act as a conduit for her psychic force to infect the minds of the ones who watch the images. If Samara is in your head, she can kill you! (Apparently in the most horrific way causing cardiac arrest and facial deformity.) The VHS tape concerned in the movie had its origin in the lodge that was built above her well where the teens where taping a football game but the "curse" images were taped instead. Samara's angry spirit did it. The victims, with Samara firmly in their brains overseeing them now, were spared death if they made a copy and made someone else watch it, but that is merely a riddle that few can solve in time. Thus, a perpetuator of the curse is spared death but most will die.

The death of Richard Morgan:

Richard Morgan was still being plagued by the hallucinations for years until his death (he states this in the bathtub scene) and somehow knew that now (via the tapes) Samara's curse was out in the world so he kills himself. Richard thought the tape-duping was only the beginning in which Samara would be unleashed on the world.

Conclusion:

There you have it. Take this with you next time you watch the movie, ;). This also does not contradict the inferior sequel's continuity of the story either, even though the sequel seems to diminish the importance of the tape curse (unfortunately). The disappointing sequel is a lot less about backstory, unsolved mysteries and family ambiguities and more about the immediate scenario of Aiden's possession by Samara's spirit and it also tries to add conclusion in the form of a hockey hollywoodesque showdown between Rachel and Samara. The only backstory information we get from the sequel is that Samara's real mother is still alive but insane and Samara's spirit has tried many times throughout the years to posses other children, that's really it.

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After being barraged with countless trailers and promotions for all the movies that come out, I somehow manage to find only three or four really worthwhile movies that I like every year.

Despite some of the criticisms leveled at The Ring by a variety of disparate sources, I consider it to be (if not a masterpiece) a provocative and entertaining movie.

I watched this movie without the corrupting influence of Ringu to color my views. I have yet to see Ringu (I await its imminent release on the 4th), so I have rated The Ring based on its own merits rather than comparing it to the original (which by the way differed so much from Koji's book as to relegate criticism leveled at Kubrick's "The Shining" for its lack of similarity to King's book to a low level of believability).

I bring up Kubrick to make a point... I consider Verbinski's "The Ring" to be just as frightening as Kubrick's "The Shining." And when evaluating the merits of Kubrick's work, it is unfair to compare it to another source (in this case the book). It is similarly unfair to criticise differences in Ringu and The Ring. Carbon copies stink of redundance... and the twists that Verbinski adds to his work to "Americanize" it should give Ringu fans another perspective from which to view the characters.

The other source of criticism lobbed at The Ring stems from what some consider to be an editing problem on a massive scale. I argue that this was intentional and fit the schizophrenic and unpredictable plot better than spoonfeeding us the whole thing. The whole reason that the movie was frightening to me was that it had all these subtle connections (like the fly on the tape walking in circles) that you had to really look hard to notice. And those little things added to the subtle ghost story that is The Ring.

Upon watching the first scene, I was worried that this was going to be another teeny flick, but then I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the teeny-bop feel of the beginning was incidental and that the plot would be mainly played out by adults. In fact, one of the strongest points of The Ring is that, unlike most horror bilge, it does not use violence to carry the plot. Of the relatively few deaths that occur, I can say that each was in the plot for a definitive reason. There was no ritual "killing of the excess characters" that always seems to be a staple of the more "R-ish" rated movies in Hollywood this century.

And this is the real terror of the movie. There are a few jump scenes (including the infamous final sequence that still makes me nervous when I walk past my TV) but the feeling of dread is constant. I could not distinguish points in the movie when there was less or more dread (as one can usually do in horror flicks to accurately predict such jump moments) so the few BOO!s that there were had me surprised and scared.

The Ring was more than anything else a classical ghost story wrapped in the facade of a modern setting. In fact, I was reminded in some scenes of the last great ghost story to grace the theaters... The Shining. The difference being that the ghostly Samara chooses to haunt our technology rather than be constrained to a specific place. This is an interesting cultural event... our world has been "shrunk" by technology and people are no longer tied to one locale. Neither is the haunting in this remarkably innovative movie.

Overall, I highly recommend this movie for anyone who wants to be frightened sans knowing that a good portion of their ticket cost will be paying for the massive quantities of katchup used to produce the film. Verbinski's "The Ring" is an intelligent movie for an intelligent audience that will neither compare it mindlessly with its predecessor or need the actors to spoonfeed them the whole plot in direct dialogue. So, go watch it. You know, you have to, because... Before you die, you see "The Ring"!

Read Best Reviews of The Ring (2002) Here

I watched this film because I thought it was another I had seen several years ago. It wasn't. "The Ring" is much more. Another reviewer called it a cerebral exercise in terror. Exactly! What could have been so hokey became excellent frisson (that thrilling moment that makes your hair prickle).

First, the premise: An urban legend that watching this particular video, receiving a phone call immediately after watching will cause your death in exactly seven days. Don't we pooh-pooh urban legends? "The Ring" makes us consider their validity.

Second, the video itself. Where did it come from? Who made it? How? Why? So many questions, none answered, ever.

Third, again the video. What do the scenes represent? The strange, surreal images?

That brings in Naomi Watts' character, a reporter doubly bound in the story, first through her son, not unlike the boy in "The Sixth Sense" with his sixth sense for the supernatural. Aiden is definitely attuned to the other world.

Secondly, Rachal is bound to the story through her research. Her niece watched the movie and died horribly seven days later. Rachal first watches the tape, then begins investigating the images. One by one she peels off the layers of this gothic mystery/puzzle/freakshow.

Rachal's appearance in the movie parallels the changes with the story. At the beginning she is frankly beautiful, cool and assured. As revelations unfold and she begins to experience frisson, she begins a shift in appearance, becoming rumpled. By movie's end she is almost gray, as if psychologically preparing to join the urban legend dead.

The viewer's frisson builds. The ending is a nightmare. "The Ring" is definitely a cerebral experience in terror.

SPOILER ALERT:

One of those fast flashes of film reveals this: "Live birth." An intriguing bit of information that many viewers and reviewers missed or I misinterpreted. It explains better what happens at the well between Anna and Samara.

A definite see-again movie!!

Special recognition goes to Jeffrey Leach for his superb review. Please read his for a great overview of this haunting film.

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Ok, let me start by saying that I saw The Ring in the theater and it scared the bejeesus out of me, not so much in the theater as over the next few days in my own home.

How scary is it? It's probably an individual thing. Some people can't stand the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard, for others it's the sound of a squeaking balloon; I thought the Exorcist was a joke, some people call it still the scariest movie ever. For myself, I don't think I've ever seen a movie that freaked me out as much as this one, but that's just me. I guess that what tweaks that sensitive nerve is different in everybody.

There has also been a lot of comparison between The Ring and the original Japanese Ringu, mostly by reviewers whose level of discrimination and taste are, by their own admission, far beyond that of the average American. Please! Most criticism in this area is just snobbery. Ok, I haven't seen Ringu, and I admit that The Ring probably has suffered to some extent in it's adaptation for American audiences. For example, the cursed video contains some images which are meant to be disturbing but which do not have anything to do with the movie, and that probably weakens it. But the original Ringu video (which I've seen) is only about 40 seconds long, too short for an element so central to the film. On the plus side, The Ring's production values are outstanding and the acting is solid. I'm sure The Ring stands up nicely next to the original.

To Verbinski's credit, The Ring doesn't succumb to the temptation to explain everything. That may make the movie seem disjointed and plotless to some, but in my view such spoon feeding is usually just patronizing. Some ambiguity here is probably a good thing.

I can't promise that this movie will scare everyone, but if my TV (which is broken) ever turns itself on and shows static, I'm running!

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Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)

This (yellow poster on DVD case) is the Hal Roach edition of the 1950 film starring Jose Ferrer. I'm aware of two other editions: Alpha Video, & Marengo Films. The Alpha Video edition (full colour head shot of Cyrano) is crap -not worth $5. The Marengo edition (black poster on DVD case), while clean in sound & video, is darker than this Hal Roach edition. In several significant scenes taking place outdoors at night, this edition shows more detail and is easier to watch. It has a minor flaw, a purple band that slowly rolls from bottom to top of the screen; I can eliminate it by reducing the colour intensity on my monitor.

I have all three editions; this is the one I watch.

This review is based on the Apha Video DVD. That's the cheaper one with the close up of Cyrano's face on the cover. The picture jumps so badly, I got a headache. There are also several split-second gaps in the footage, causing snatches of spoken lines to be obliterated. Worst of all, the actors sound as though their heads are being held underwater and the violins on the soundtrack are similarly submerged.

This is lovely, literate film, with several average performances and one astonishing, Academy-Award-winning performance by Jose Ferrer. His portrayal of Cyrano might well be the greatest of all time, even when it sounds like it is spoken from inside my fish tank. The story itself, rich and romantic, and almost Shakespearean in its sense of tragic romance, may cause you to cry as much as the horrible quality of the DVD. The closing scene, in the courtyard of a convent during a light-falling snow, has been etched in my memory ever since I first saw it as a kid.

This film was nominated as one of AFI's best love stories of all time.

I am going to order the more expensive version distributed by Image Entertainment and will update my review based on that.

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Such a good performance to be wasted on such a bad transfer. Had I known how lousy a copy this was I would have saved my money and purchased the Marengo version. The best copy I've seen so far was by Image Entertainment on laserdisc but...

Read Best Reviews of Cyrano De Bergerac (1950) Here

This a great motion picture. The source material for this Alpha Video DVD is an old tired 16mm print. Sound is as muddy as the picture. The screen actually "crawls" with grain. Contast is bad no detail or resolution. The experience of Jose Ferrer's Academy Award Winning performance is ruined by the quality of this DVD. I don't know why they would manufacture it and I know NO ONE should buy it! Someone should find new source material like IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT their Laser Disc was pristine.

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This splendid film was never the best looking movie ever made, being done on a low budget in black and white, but this so-called "enhanced" edition is so badly transferred to disc as to be virtually unwatchable.

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Beethoven Symphonies 1-9 (2013)

In 2001, during the month of February, the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado, were in residence at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome to play all nine of the Beethoven symphonies. The first eight symphonies were recorded for television by the renowned music film producer Paul Smaczny and directed for television by Bob Coles. The 9th had already been recorded in Berlin the year before with a distinguished cast of singers -Karita Mattila, Violeta Urmana, Thomas Moser, and Eike Wim Schulte, along with the Swedish Radio Choir and the legendary Eric Ericson Chamber Choir -and it is that performance that is included here. These performances have been released on four single DVDs previously, but this compilation box set of four discs is now available from Euroarts for an amazingly low price, much lower than than if you bought the single discs. You can read other customer reviews of the single issues here: Beethoven Symphonies 1, 6, and 8 / Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic, Beethoven Symphonies 2 and 5 / Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic, Beethoven Symphonies 3 and 9 / Abbado, Mattila, Urmana, Moser, Schulte, Berlin Philharmonic, and Beethoven Symphonies 4 and 7 / Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic. I have not reviewed the single issues but will not linger here to offer a review of each disc. I will simply say that for me Abbado is the master conductor of the present age and that his Beethoven interpretations, using the recently completed Bärenreiter edition of the symphonies done by English musicologist Jonathan del Mar, are almost universally hailed. The main achievement of this edition is the removal of hundreds of errors that crept into the first edition and have been perpetuated, or have multiplied, in subsequent editions. Abbado chooses to use somewhat reduced string sections in Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 4 & 8, as is fitting for their gentler spirit. These same Rome and Berlin performances have been issued in a CD box set Beethoven: The Symphonies [Box Set] and in my view are generally preferred to his earlier issued traversal on Deutsche Grammophon Beethoven Die Symphonien (Symphonies 1-9) / Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic, which in addition is hugely more expensively priced. Interestingly, the present DVD box set costs less at Amazon than the CD box set. Go figure!

Interpretively these performances tend to be a bit on the fast side, with absolutely clear sonics and transparent balances. The men and women of the Berliner Philharmoniker, a younger group than we had been used to even a decade earlier, play like angels. Abbado himself had just been through a harrowing bout with stomach cancer and looks very thin but otherwise healthy in these performances. He says of this period, 'Music is the best medicine. More than any other form of therapy, it is music that has helped me through these last few difficult months.' Visually, the performances on DVD are neatly photographed. In several of the symphonies -Nos. 3, 5, 6 & 7 -the viewer has the option of viewing the performance in a 'Conductor's View' in addition to the usual 'Concert View' by use of the 'angle' button on the DVD's remote control. The 'Conductor's View' simply focuses on Abbado from the orchestra's perspective.

In addition to the bonus of the 'Conductor's View', there is, on the disc with with Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7, a half-hour interview with Abbado talking about his understanding of and response to the music of Beethoven.

These performances gave me enormous pleasure and I can't recommend them highly enough.

Running time: 6hrs, 34mins; Format: NTSC 16:9; Sound: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1; DTS 5.1; Substitles: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish; Region code: 0 (worldwide).

Scott Morrison

I will defer to Mr Morrison's previous review posted here for more details. This is an amazing deal for a complete Beethoven symphony cycle on DVD $30 for a 4 DVD set! Great conductor/orchestra/audio recording and nice 16:9 widescreen, for those with newer TVs. A great aquisition for a new or discriminating collector I am glad to own it.

But just a heads-up. This is a very different Beethoven and Berlin Philharmonic from the Karajan era. I mean almost a polar opposite extreme. Abbado has gotten into the whole newer performance practice of "fast and light" versus "slow and weighty". I am not judging here, just pointing it out. You will see/hear smaller orchestras, wooden flutes and lighter dynamics more akin to Gardiner than Karajan. The whole thing is a little "nicer" than the Beethoven I am used to but the trade-off is an incredible attention to detail and subtleties of dynamics.

The great thing about Beethoven is that it can really work with different approaches. So I recommend this set highly but just know that it is only one approach to this essential repertoire. (Bernstein with the Vienna Phil is a good alternate)Bernstein: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 2, 6 & 7 or for the "complete opposite" I mentioned earlier Karajan Beethoven The Symphonies Boxset / Herbert von Karajan, Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Jess Thomas, Walter Berry, Berlin Philharmoniker

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This set of all nine Beethoven symphonies provides a great deal of pleasure for a remarkably modest price. The added excitement of witnessing a live performance visually while enjoying the benefit of superb sound is what makes this a special journey through the Beethoven symphonies for me.

Not one of the performances will become my favorite; and given the biases we build up over time, including the fact that we tend to become attached to the first performance of a given work that really moves us, this is not a surprising result, nor one that should particularly dissuade the potential buyer. I do have to register a small amount of disappointment, however, because Abbado is one of my favorite conductors; and I was hoping for a few more revelatory moments than I encountered.

The collaboration of one of the world's best conductors and similarly superlative orchestras has produced performances that are at a very high musical level, containing much beauty and not a little virtuosity. I believe that Abbado has carefully considered and honed every phrase of the music, bringing to bear many years of experience and finely tuned sensibility; in addition, he has updated his interpretations to benefit from corrected editions of the scores and has also incorporated a style that is more in keeping with current performance trends, such as hewing more closely to Beethoven's tempo markings and generally eschewing any Romantic excesses. While all these things give us much to admire and recommend these interpretations as almost definitive, I found them to be just a little too much on the "safe" side to excite me if I remove the visual element. For all their excellence, these are performances that are neither fast nor slow, neither opulent nor austere, neither quirky nor routine, with the result that they fell a little flat with me.

I admit, and in fact insist, that Beethoven symphonies are not a good place for conductors to make highly personal statements--stray too far from a straightforward interpretation, and a conductor risks justified wrath at tampering with the sacred; but once in a while someone adds personal touches that make for a truly great performance for all time, for example Bruno Walter's Columbia Symphony recording of Beethoven's Sixth. It may not be correct, especially in terms of today's sensibilities; but it is unique in the best of ways. Abbado has the temperament and supreme musicianship to bring off a similar feat, and yet in this set I do not see that he has.

The modern avoidance of anything remotely approaching sentimentality in presenting the work of such a classical and architectural composer as Beethoven is probably as it should be, but I cannot wholly buy into it. As a result I found several instances in which opportunities for expression were passed over, especially in the first three movements of the Ninth. Adhering too closely to Beethoven's tempo markings leads to a sense of trivialization and sing-song-y-ness in several other places, too. A bit surprisingly, though, I actually enjoyed the brisker pace taken in the slow movement of the Ninth.

A few very brief impressions of these performances by individual symphony: No. 1, too bouncy; No. 2, not enough humor; No. 3, probably the best of the lot; No. 4, unexceptional; No. 5, really quite exciting; No. 6, not "pastoral" enough; No. 7, possibly tied with No. 3 for best of set; No. 8, not sunny enough; and No. 9, rallies in the end for a rousing last movement, with outstanding contributions from chorus and soloists.

Well-balanced and nicely spread-out audio is further enhanced by the choice of three different mixes: PCM stereo (CD-quality, or better, for the purist and for those lacking a surround-sound setup), and both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround modes. Those, like me, who like a little heavier bass and a more enveloping surround sound, will probably like the DTS the best.

One quibble with the production (and one that does not apply, for obvious reasons, to the other packagings available of this performance of Symphony No. 3, in which it occupies a disc all to itself) is that the pairing of the two longest symphonies, Nos. 3 & 9, on one disc leads to an unfortunate hesitation of play in the last movement of Sym. No. 3 as a layer-switch occurs to accommodate the greater-than-two-hour length of the disc. First, it would have made more sense to have avoided the problem altogether by swapping the Sym. No.3 with Sym. No. 2 so that one of the discs would have had Sym. Nos. 3 & 5 and another would have had Nos. 2 & 9. The current arrangement that has one disc consisting of only Symphonies Nos. 2 & 5 and with no added special feature, while crowding Nos. 3 & 9 onto one disc, just doesn't make sense. The layer-switch burp could also have been avoided by making the switch occur between movements, or even between symphonies; letting the switch occur just wherever layer #1 ran happened to run out of space was careless.

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This set is incredible. Everything is amazing The music, The interpretation and The execution. The Sound quality and the video are unreal as well. Just get it, you will not be dissapointed

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This Abbado/Beethoven cycle has been repackaged and is available at a bargain price. I would snap it up as it is generally a superb set. Symphonies 1-8 were filmed at live concerts in Rome. Abbado has a scaled down orchestra and these performances are lithe and vigorous. I cannot think of any of the eight that are not excellent interpretations. My surprize was the Seventh, the work I heard last. Taken at a generally brisk pace, is an absolute knockout; it should have you moving around with the music. The sound and filming qualities are quite satisfactory.

The set concludes with a Ninth that was recorded in Berlin. Unfortunately this performance seems quite flat and uninspired; certainly well below the elevated Rome standard. Given the excellence of Symphonies 1-8 one can still confidently acquire this very reasonably priced cycle. I have returned to it on many occasions with undiminished pleasure.

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Shaft (2012)

'Shaft' , the classic detective film from 1971, is just as good as 'The French Connection' or 'Bullitt' but with a style all it's own. A good story, convincing action and a gritty realistic look plus Issac Hayes and his driving score and you really have a time machine slice of the early 70's. I really hate this film being called the first "Blackploitation" film. Whether or not the main character is played by a black man, 'Shaft' is a cool and hip urban detective thriller with loads of action, a bit of humor, plot twists and even romance here and there. (ok, how about just some casual sex but hey, I'm talkin' about Shaft!) This is a really cool movie and has stood the test of time!

With that said, this review is going to focus on the picture and sound quality and if this Blu Ray is a solid upgrade from your DVD or VHS copy.

Shaft is presented on a BD-25 in full 1080p with a good solid transfer. Strong primary colors abound and while there is an abundance of film grain, for the most part it is just not obtrusive. There are 2 or 3 short scenes where the film elements have badly degraded and they are easy to spot. For an example, look at the master shot where Shaft is ready to leave after drinking his espresso. Another is in Bumpy's office when his wall hangings seem to come alive with dancing mosquito noise. But all in all, this is a good solid transfer. A bit of edge enhancement exists but it helps support the overall rendering in this case. DNR is just not an issue with 'Shaft' on Blu. You get all the grain, the good and the bad. Compared to the Blu Ray of '48 Hours' this is demo material, so don't think it is really bad. It isn't.

The motion is smooth and artifact free and while grain sometimes darkens the contrast levels just a bit too much, overall 'Shaft' looks really fantastic on Blu Ray, especially given the fact it was a low budget production. I was really happy watching it and felt I was watching a film and not some digital piece of garbage. A good solid 3 and 3/4 stars out of 5 and sometimes it strays into a solid 4 and beyond.

So how is the audio? What you get here is a Mono DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack. Before you get up in arms over the soundtrack being in Mono, the original audio elements used to create this films soundtrack were not available and as such the mixed elements from the original Mono track had to be used. They have been cleaned up and are presented in Lossless Audio and they sound as good or better than they ever did in the theater where 'Shaft' had always been presented in nothing but Mono. Because things are so clear sounding, you can pretty much spot every time the dialogue had to be looped (dubbed later due to problems with the original production sound) but they don't stand out too badly. The music has plenty of dynamics and while stereo would have been SO MUCH better, this rendering is just fine. A few lines here and there seemed a bit buried in the mix, but this IS the original mix and you can rest assured you are hearing things much better than people did back in '71.

You get a few cool extras with 'Shaft" as well but they are unfortunately all in SD. You get a full length 1973 Shaft TV episode and a short documentary called'Soul In Cinema' plus trailers for all 4 'Shaft' films.

'Shaft" comes to Blu Ray in a very respectable package, with a better than average transfer for a catalog title and solid sound as well. This is not demo material, but it presents this film as good or better than it ever looked at the movies, unless you saw a brand new print on the first run. Now if they would get busy and release the other 3 that would be quite the collection.

Recommended for fans of 'Shaft' and fans of older films in general!

This is a great blu-ray release from WB.

The original flipper dvd also had a vintage featurette, that is also on this BD, but there is a an extra that really makes this release special, the inclusion of a rare 1973 Shaft TV movie called "The Killing" it's in rough shape, but it's awseome that Warner Bros included it as an extra, so in a sense you get two films for the price of one!

The PQ and AQ on the feature film is good for this 70's classic.

Forget the Samuel L Jackson remake, THIS IS THE REAL SHAFT, as portrayed by underrated Richard Roundtree.

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This has been one of my favorite movies since it first came out. I've admired Gordon Parks eye for detail since his days as a still photographer and he and his cinemagrapher Urs Furrer made this a gorgeous film to look at. The one thing that always bothered me about this film was the muddy, murky sound. That is no longer a problem. The sound is now crystal clear. So if you're a fan of this 70's hit, Isaac Hayes soundtrack and all, get it!

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Man, I bought the original Shaft, dual-sided DVD back around 1999 or 2000 and kept it all the way until today it even survived a house fire! Since then, I must have watched it at least 500 times, that's how much I love this film. Since Blu-Ray came out (I bought in a year later), I always imagined this film on BD and how it would look. I EXPECTED surround sound given the classic soundtrack as well as superb picture, even though the film grain I knew would be a problem.

I have gone through different DVD and Blu-Ray players up until now. I have had HD upconverting players and various BD players that upconvert to varying degrees. I now have a Sony BDP-S1000ES which as far as I am concerned, is as good as it get's without having Farrari money! So I have seen Shaft on different Players and I know this film and every detail like I know myself. Of course I could not wiat to see if this was an improvement or not. "Professional" reviews gave the picture quality 4.5 stars out of five, which looked strange since their screen shots looked murky. I still had to have it regardless.

The Good: It is on BD so this is a plus, but of course the heavy grain follows it as well. I expect the grain since much of the film's scenes are dark. When scenes are filmed in darker areas you get more grain, when in lighter areas there is less grain and much more detail. The colors did not really get a BD boost and they still look similar to the DVD, but with a little bit more pop but not much! I can say that I can now make out the finer detail in the clothing (but not like other BD's) and I can now appreciate the suits as fine wears. You know 70's gear is always laughable, but Bumpy's suit and coat looked really fine in the scene where he asked Shaft to find his daughter while in Shaft's office. I could make out that he had a green hat, tan outer coat of which I can now see vertical lines, fine tailoring and nice buttons. It changed my perception of some 70's clothing.

The sound was clearer of course, but still kind of muddy, but you can hear each sound clearer than before. The music sounds way better than the DVD, but it would have been nice to get at least stereo like I had written Warner Brothers for years asking for! I am still hoping for at least stereo for the Superfly BD!

The Bad: It had no surround sound or at least stereo! I expect that these days, this is not a 1930's film and it had an Academy Award winning soundtrack! This is not acceptable, but I do not expect them to d anything about it. They could have also put this in a box set with all three films as I expected them to do.

They could have at least designed a new cover or used elements of the original theater poster art of promos those were hot! I know that the idea is to not make and old film look old for this day and age or get lost on the shelf with too much detail, but after having stared at the DVD cover for the last 12 years, it would have been nice to seen something different! The actual disc art is not here at all! The disc is just a black disc with the word Shaft on it! Talk about cheap! I guess that is how they are doing these BD's these days. It is the studio's fault for cheapening them up and now people expect $10 BD's!

Final: Is this a major jump from DVD to BD? Not really except for the last third of the film where it is filmed in a better lit area like the hotel where Marcy was being held. There, you can see finer details that you expect on a BD disc. Again, the dark scenes will have too much grain no matter what so that cannot be helped. It is likely that this will be as good as it can possibly get unless that take the best print of the film and do a restoration of some sort, but when 4K becomes common, I will not make the upgrade if this is offered.

I love technology, so I had to have this film on BD. If you are one of those who just turns things on, likes that it is clear and does not care how it works, then this is for you. If you were looking for a BD upgrade of the DVD similar to a Scarface, Dog Day Afternoon or The Green Mile, then this may not be for you as you do not see such a jump throughout the film, but it is a step up. If you have the DVD and you are not the upgrading type and you have an upconverting DVD or BD player (that does it well), then you can keep your disc, unless you really want to get rid of that dual-sided disc like I wanted to! If you do not have the DVD, then of course get the BD and forget about the DVD! If you love Shaft (and Shaft's: Big Score!) like I do, then you will get this regardless.

Lastly, they included one of the TV films on this disc, which they could have made clearer. It is not as bad quality as some make it sound, but it is not even DVD quality. They could have at least made it DVD quality along with making the trailers true HD and all bonus materials on ALL BD's that were not shot on film HD. It is supposed to be HD, so that is all that I expect to see. Since this is on a single layer, 25GB disc, it goes to show that all they did was put the DVD transfer onto BD as opposed to going all out and doing a new file for BD. You can tell they did this because of the size of the disc and because of the same cover art which they used for the menu! Also, maybe they did it because of the amount of film grain and figured it would not matter to most, but 50GB is the standard. When they talking about 100GB discs being the future (I have not see on yet, of the Deep Color!), there was really no exucse for not giving us a 50GB disc.

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Product is great. Video transfer is superb. Sorta wished tho it was available to purchase in stores as opposed to burn on demand. "The black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks' deserves better, but the chance to have vintage stuff like this is a blessing so I can't complain.

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Peter Pan (2003)

I do not think that most kids can appreciate how great of a movie P.J. Hogan has made with this new version of "Peter Pan." However you really have to be familiar with not only all of the various versions of the story from Disney to Steven Spielberg but also J. M. Barrie's original plays and books to really appreciate everything that is in this movie. Hogan's purpose was to go back to that original material, but it is impossible not to touch upon everything that has come since then. My generation cannot hear the words "I do believe in fairies" without thinking of Mary Martin beckoning out from our television sets beseeching us to clap (or when Smee turns and gives an aside to the viewer).

On the one hand there are the fantastic elements as Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter) and the Darling children Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood), John (Harry Newell), and Michael (Freddie Popplewell) fly off to Never-Land. But this is a more realistic Never-Land than every before for all the wonderful computer generated images. More importantly, these are more realistic children than ever before. Peter Pan is the boy who will never grow up, but he is also on the cusp of puberty, as is Wendy. Into the Darling household comes Aunt Millicent (Lynn Redgrave), who insists that Wendy is not a girl anymore and while her father should start looking for marital prospects at the bank where he works, the more immediate goal is to move her out of the bedroom she shares with her brothers. When Peter Pan appears on the windowsill and requires his shadow to be sewn back onto this feet, Wendy not only does the sewing but accepts his offer to come to Never-Land because she too desperately wants to avoid growing up.

In this "Peter Pan" a kiss is more than just a thimble. This is not to suggest that there is a sexual element to these children or this film that parents need to worry about, but there is the potential for sexuality in Peter and Wendy. It is around the corner and that is important because there is a price to pay for never growing up, and never before has the tragic flip side of Peter Pan's joyful and magical existence been so obvious in telling this tale. Adults will recognize that period of their life it all it's metaphoric splendor in this film.

We also have the most realistic Captain Hook (Jason Issacs) of our acquaintance as well. Hogan continues the long-standing tradition of having the actor who plays Hook do double duty as Mr. Darling as well, but in this richer vision of the story they are as opposite as night and day. When this Hook crosses swords with Peter we know that they it might look like great fun, but these two are deadly serious about the final, fatal outcome. More importantly, when this Hook blusters and bellows he manages to do it without falling into parody. This is Hook as Barrie intended him to be, larger than life, but still a real figure.

Ultimately the power running throughout this story is the power of the story. The Lost Boys are despearate for a mother and to them Wendy can fulfill the role because she has what they consider to be the single requirement: she can tell stories. But there is another, more important requirement for a mother, and this film remembers that as well in the end when the Darling children return to their mother (Olivia Williams). I especially liked the way the film plays the beginning of the reunion of the scene, a nice underscoring of the idea that you can wish for something so hard that you do not notice when you have it.

This is a stunning visual film, but it is also a film of substance that mines Barrie's idea of the boy who would not grow up for everything it is worth. This "Peter Pan" has a depth greater than every all the other versions we have seen on the silver screen to date. This is a glorious film and even if few will really appreciate it the way it truly deserves, there is still the fact that just coming into contact with it will open the minds of its viewers to the greater realm of meaning and significance. Besides, there is always the possibility that somewhere down the road as they enjoy this beautiful film again and again, that eventually they will appreciate what it is all about.

The last time J. M. Barrie's infamous creation hit the big screen was in the lacklustre "Return to Neverland", the latest in a long line of pitiful animated sequels that the Disney Company have been mechanically churning out. The time before that was in Steven Spielberg's critically ill-received "Hook". With these two movies as a somewhat stale background for writer/director P. J. Hogan's attempt to recreate the fairytale, it was not surprising if audiences at large were somewhat cynical.

But children's literature translated onto the big screen is always successful when it is done faithfully and respectfully, and that is precisely what Hogan and his team have done. For the first time ever (if you can believe it) a young boy plays the part of the Boy Who Never Grew Up: Jeremy Sumpter, complete with bare feet, pan pipes and captivating smile. Following in the pantomime tradition, Jason Issacs plays both George Darling and Captain Hook, meek and clumsy in one role, charismatic and brutal in the next. Ultimately a figure to be pitied, Hook is more aware of his dependence on Pan than he lets on, and the two are more similar than either would like to admit.

Olivia Williams plays the beautiful and graceful Mrs Darling, whilst Richard Briers makes a humorous Smee, often making side-comments directly to the audience. John, Michael and the Lost Boys are played by some wonderful child actors, in particular Slightly (Theodore Chester) who creates most of the laughs for the movie: "Okay boys, look lovable." Ludivine Sagnier takes on the rather difficult role of Tinkerbell. The role means she has to rely solely on exaggerated facial expressions to present Tink's "one emotion at a time", though I was disappointed in the failure of creating the bond between Peter and Tinkerbell, which somewhat lessens the impact of her later sacrifice.

The real star of the story however belongs to Wendy, and new-comer Rachel Hurd-Wood breaths her to life. Gone is the prissy Wendy of the Disney productions, thankfully replaced by a young woman who is both mischievous and wise, playful and sensual, with a hidden kiss in the corner of her mouth. She is a remarkable find, and shows considerable talent for one who has no previous experience.

There are a few changes to the original story (mostly surrounding the considerably heightened romantic inclinations between Wendy and Peter), but they are sparse. The inclusion of Aunt Millicent was something that intially didn't appeal to me, but luckily she is not portrayed as a grumpy, aristocratic matriarch, but a somewhat befuddled, though loving aunt. And let's face it, Lynn Redgrave never fails to deliver a performance. The changes are slight and understandable, but those kept true are breathtaking. My main concern was that of Tinkerbell's cure, would could come across as cringe-worthy if done badly, but just try to refrain from smiling when Peter, then Wendy, then the Lost Boys, then the children of London begin to chant: "I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!" (and I was especially glad to see adults included in this declaration I'm certainly one of them!)

The visual creation of Neverland is something I can't really comment on, as it is entirely a matter of opinion let's just say it's bright, vibrant and doesn't hesitate to bend the rules of reality. I thought it was beautiful, but only wish I had more time to enjoy it, as sequences of potential awe (such as flying through London and the fairy-covered pirate ship) flashed by too quickly to really soak in.

There is one fault (if you can even call it that) in the telling of the story, and as it's playing on my mind, you'll have to bear with me in sorting it out. By creating a mutual attraction between Peter and Wendy (whereas in the book he called her "Mother" like the Lost Boys), the screenwriters begin a personal development in Peter that is not brought to a conclusion that makes sense. Throughout the story, Peter shows signs of perhaps wanting to leave Neverland: he is horrified at the thought Wendy might marry someone else, it is discovered he loves Wendy's stories because they all end in love, her "thimble" saves his very life, and he even admits to himself at the conclusion "to live would be an awfully big adventure". And yet, he still returns to Neverland. It would seem all that Wendy has shown him, all that he has discovered about himself comes to nothing, and there is no doubt in audience's minds that the choice he made was the wrong one.

But of course the alternative was that Peter actually *does* grow up, and that defeats the very purpose of Barrie's book. It was a no-win situation for the screenwriters: they could either stay true to the novel, or continue with their own creation and complete Peter's self-awareness. They choose the former, making the conclusion not just bittersweet, but truly heartbreaking.

There is no real right or wrong answer to my comments, its just something I wanted to bring up for people to think about. Ultimately, the story of Peter Pan is as Hook says: a tragedy a boy is trapped in youth without any experiences of love or marriage or fatherhood. Whilst Wendy will one day embark on what her Aunt Millicent called "the greatest adventure of all", Peter remains a boy that cannot give her what she seeks. Only a hidden kiss connects these two soulmates as a testimony to what might have been.

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This live-action version of Peter Pan stars Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook and Jeremy Sumpter as Peter. The story begins in London, where motherless Peter has come to listen to stories told by young Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood). He takes her and her brothers to Neverland to live the wild pirate life, until it is time for them to return home and grow up.

All the characters you remember from your childhood are here: The ticking crocodile (computer-animated and scary), the fiesty Indian Princess, funny Pirate Smee, spunky Tinkerbelle, and even Nana, the dog-nanny. The film is photographed almost entirely in dark, moody lighting to heighten the feeling of magic and danger. Jason Isaacs hams it up just right as the dashing and outrageous Captain Hook and he is good as the timid clerk, Mr. Darling. Jeremy Sumpter looks just like Peter should look beautiful, cocky, and fun-loving.

Definitely darker and more sinister than the old Disney version, this film has a lot to offer adults: It is visually stunning and reminds us about the innocence and fun of childhood. It's an interesting movie that will put a smile on your face and perhaps a few wistful tears in your eye.

Read Best Reviews of Peter Pan (2003) Here

I'd never understood the story of Peter Pan. The Disney version is still probably my least favorite fairy tale adaptation of all of the Disney animated films. And every play or televised version featured a Peter Pan who was played by a tiny, female actress or gymnast, doing very little to bring the story to life for me. So last year, when I took my children to see the movie, I figured I'd settle in for a little nap while they enjoyed the kiddie flick. Boy, was I ever surprised when I walked out of the theatre completely bedazzled.

Never before has this story been presented with the very important angle of the innocent romance between Wendy and Peter, an angle that goes a long way in explaining both the reluctance and the desire to grow up. Finally, with this adaptation, I understood why Wendy might decide to grow up despite the allure of Neverland, and why Peter might regret his eventual decision to remain a forever-boy.

Adding to this the wonderful chemistry between Jeremy Sumpter and Rachel Hurd-Wood and you have a movie that appeals to kids on an adventure level and to adults on an emotional level. The vulnerability and grief in Peter's eyes during the final scene were enough to bring tears to my own. And I have to say that this movie contained one of the sweetest on-screen kisses I've seen in a long time. Using actors that are (or are very near) the actual ages of Wendy and Peter was a spot-on decision, because their very natural fascination with each other and awkwardness about these new and amazing feelings showed in every one of their scenes together.

The film itself is beautiful and lush. Only complaint I have is in the final battle scene between Peter and Captain Hook when the red lighting is used to an extreme, making it difficult to see properly and distracting from rather than adding to the feel of the moment.

Finally, I simply loved the casting of this film. Jason Isaacs showed the perfect balance between cartoon evil and human realism with his Captain Hook. Rachel Hurd-Wood was amazing as the fearless girl who could hold her own against pirates and Lost Boys, yet still showed that special romantic, dreamy quality of all young girls. And Jeremy Sumpter perfectly nailed Peter Pan confident and cocky with a grin that is going to turn into a wicked lady-killer someday, yet still he showed Peter's ultimate sadness so very well.

Wonderful movie. I'd pick this one over the Disney version any day of the year.

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Neverland has never looked so lush and treacherous, nor has the subtext of incipient sexual longing ever been so prominent as in P. J. Hogan's Freudian take on the J. M. Barrie childhood classic. Hogan skillfully revives Barrie's original concept of the story as a coming-of-age tale about a girl facing the terror and allure of womanhood -and the fantasy boy who temporarily seduces her back to the world of make-believe.

Hogan dares to cast authentic boy Jeremy Sumpter as Peter. Androgynous and feral, with his tousled hair and unsettling coquette's smile, this Peter combines irritating boyish bravado with hormonal confusion; he doesn't know what he really wants when he brings Wendy to Neverland as a surrogate mother. Rachel Hurd-Wood is a ripe and trembling Wendy, who fears the grown-up world, yet expects something more than childhood games from Peter. When Peter can't or won't comply, Wendy dallies with an even more ambivalent and unstable romantic object-Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs). Wendy is "not afraid, but entranced" by "the dark figure that had haunted her dreams."

Isaacs' superb Hook is no comic buffoon. Psychopathic enough to gut his own crewmen with his hook, he's also a raging wit, vain of his own erudition, amusing himself with jokes no one else can grasp. ("Split my infinitives," he exclaims, mid-battle.) Isaacs revitalizes Hook with dark comedy and menacing brio. Yet there's a poignant underpinning: the poison he concocts from his own tear is a toxic brew of "malice, jealousy, and disappointment." Isaacs' textured performance invites us to ponder the tragedy of a grown-up Hook trapped forever in Peter's eternal childhood. (...)

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Say Anything... (20th Anniversary Edition) (1989)

One of the best teenage romance films of all time.

Like many teenagers and young adults, "Say Anything..." was the ultimate teen romance film when they first saw it back in 1989. And for some people, within the last 20-years, the movie still left an impression on those who watched it.

The film received rave reviews from critics, the publication Entertainment Weekly voted the film as the "Greatest Modern Movie Romance" in 2002 and #11 in their "Best High School Film" movie list.

The film marked the debut of Cameron Crowe ("Jerry Maguire", "Almost Famous", "Vanilla Sky") who wrote and directed the film. The film included cinematographer László Kovács ("Easy Rider", "Miss Congeniality", "My Best Friend's Wedding", "Two Weeks Notice") and music by composer Anne Dudley ("The Full Monty", "American History X", "The Crying Game") and Richard Gibbs ("Battlestar Galactica", "10 Things I Hate About You", "Singles").

"Say Anything..." is about Lloyd Dobler (played by John Cusack, "2012", "War, Inc.", "Runaway Jury", "Sixteen Candles", "Better Off Dead") who is a guy who wants to become a kickboxer. A normal guy who happens to have a big crush on the valedictorian Diane Court (played by Ione Skye, ""Fever Pitch", "Wayne's World", "The Rachel Papers"). Dianne is a very intelligent young woman but has not really experienced a boyfriend let alone any teenage social outings.

For Diane, she has a lot of things going for her. She won a fellowship to study in England and plans to go there at the end of the summer. But when Lloyd builds the confidence to ask here for a date, she is surprised by it and intrigued by him, she agrees to it.

So, Lloyd who never had a serious relationship is ready to go out on his first date and he gets advice from his sister Constance (played by Joan Cusack, "War, Inc.", "Ice Princess", "Raising Helen", "The School of Rock") and even his friend/musician (played by Lili Taylor, "Public Enemies", "Six Feet Under", "State of Mind") who is depressed and constantly sings about her on and off again boyfriend and also getting advice from his other female friends and his male friends which include Mark (played by Jeremy Piven, "Entourage", "Smokin' Aces", "The Kingdom").

Needless to say, both Lloyd and Diane fall in love. But Diane's father Jim (played by John Mahoney, "Frasier", "Dan in Real Life", "Primal Fear") is very strict and wants her to go to college, no distractions and to succeed. He sees Lloyd as an underachiever and doesn't want him around his daughter.

Unknown to Diane, her father is doing shady things at the nursing home that he is in charge of and is under investigation by the IRS for tax evasion.

With her father in trouble, Diane feels that she should put her father first and thus the two breakup. "Say Anything..." deals with two people who are in love but have their first major breakup and what one would do for the sake of love.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Say Anything... 20th Anniversary Edition" makes it debut in High Definition with a 1080p transfer that looks absolutely fantastic for a film that is 20-years-old. I have complained in the past of how 80's and early 90's film tend to get the DNR (digital noise reduction) treatment and sometimes the picture quality appears to be waxy and unnatural but in this case, there is a good amount of detail in the film. Compared to its DVD counterpart, you can see the clarity, the colors and also the nice deep blacks. Grain is definitely present which is great and I didn't notice any major compression or edge enhancement. This is the best I have seen of the film thus far. So overall, picture quality is pretty solid.

As for the audio, the film receives a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (as well as English Dolby Surround Sound, Spanish and French mono). The film is pretty much front and channel-driven. There is no major sound effects as dialogue and music are what drives "Say Anything...". In fact, when I first watched this film, what made the biggest impression on me was hearing the musical soundtrack as we hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers "Taste the Pain", Fishbone or even the popular Peter Gabriel song "In Your Eyes" with such clarity. There could have been more surround usage but I didn't really notice anything via surround channels. But for the most part, this is the best that the film has ever sounded up to now and dialogue and music can be heard clearly.

As for subtitles, the film is presented in English, Spanish, French, Cantonese and Mandarin.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Say Anything 20th Anniversary Edition" comes with the following special features:

* To Know Say Anything...is to Love It! Trivia Track (over 200 questions) A Blu-ray exclusive, during the film, one can watch "Say Anything" with a trivia track playing throughout the film.

* An Iconic Film Revisited: Say Anything...20 Years Later featurette (21:57) A Blu-ray exclusive featurette. An awesome featurette as Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Nancy Wilson discuss the making of the film 20-years-later and why the film has been so popular even today. Some interesting tidbits of the film, the boombox scene that may have never happened and the Peter Gabriel song that may have never happened and more.

* A Conversation with Cameron Crowe featurette (9:31) Cameron Crowe talks about the film and the characters and how Cameron Crowe became the director and learning from making his first film and challenges with the studio on the script and more.

* I Love Say Anything...! (7:31) Comedians and talent discuss what they love about "Say Anything" and their favorite scenes in the film.

* Intro and Commentary by Cameron Crowe, John Cusack and Ione Skye Featuring a 20-minute intro with director Cameron Crow, actor John Cusack and actress Ione Skye. The first 20 minutes features the three talking about reuniting for the first time since the early 90's and how big the film was for them and for the audience and how Cameron Crowe got the idea to write the film and then how he became the director. For the most part, the audio commentary is quite solid as we hear from the three about what went on behind-the-making of the film but for the most part, how real the chemistry was between John and Ione. In fact, the two admit that while shooting the film, they had a spark but the fact is they had their own relationships with other people and Ione Skye is the first to say that if they weren't dating other people, the two probably would be dating each other. Suffice to say, a pretty solid commentary.

* Alternate Scenes The following alternate scenes are featured: Scene 106 Lloyd at the Phonebooth, Scene 128x: Lloyd & Diane outside karate studio, Scene 108 Diane in Bedroom (with commentary by Cameron Crowe), Scene 109: Lloyd with boom box (with commentary by Cameron Crowe), Scene 109R: Lloyd with boom box (with commentary by Cameron Crowe).

* Deleted Scenes Featuring ten deleted scenes which include: Scene 46: Mr. Deegan at Party, Scene 56J/K: Lloyd giving advice to girl, Scene 57: Corey sings "He Hurts Me", Scene 70: Court in Front of City Council Meeting, Scene 80: Cool English Road Tape, Scene 87: Montage of Love Clips, Scene 107: Sims Questions Court at the Home, Scene 128: Diane looks for Lloyd, Scene 132J: Love Birds in Bed (MOS), Scene 137: Agent Sims in Eva's Room.

* Extended Scenes Featuring a total of 13 extended scenes.

* Vintage featurette (6:58) The original "Say Anything..." featurette. Featuring interviews from 1989 with John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney and director Cameron Crowe.

* Theatrical Trailers Featuring two theatrical trailers.

* TV Spots Featuring eight TV spots: I Love You, Phone Call, Boom Box, Scam Review, Pretty Great Review, Coffee Shop, Chilli Peppers, Fish Bone,

* Photo Gallery A "Say Anything..." photo gallery montage.

JUDGMENT CALL:

1989. I can easily remember when "Say Anything..." was released in theaters. The whole concept of a guy going for the girl that he falls for and just the lasting memories from the film. From the party, teaching his girlfriend to drive, the mixtape, the boombox... it was one of those film that just captivated me and as a teenager, I don't even know how many times I watched the film or listened to the movie soundtrack.

Having graduated from high school in 1989, for me at the time, the film was almost inspirational in some ways. If you want to ask a girl that you really like for a date, just do it. And sure enough I did and in the end, many years later... I married her. So, "Say Anything..." was definitely a film that was inspirational for me and I'm sure it was inspirational for others.

I loved the film mainly for how natural the characters were. I always felt that John Cusack and Ione Skye had tremendous chemistry and that they were phenomenal in the film. Of course, it was revealed in original DVD commentary that the two were actually pretty close with each other during the making of this film and even brought up by Cameron Crowe during his Blu-ray special feature and we learn that from the commentary.

Cameron Crowe was able to create a film that captures the natural emotion of finding that first love. John Cusack and Ione Skye did a fantastic job bringing that to the big screen. For example, after the two make out in the car and to see the character Lloyd sweating and shivering and of course, the chemistry between both characters as the kiss doesn't look like some sort of Hollywood acting style of kiss, these two were literally making out on screen. Those small details are emotions that are just well captured on film. Love, happiness, pain, sadness, anger. You name it...it's in this film.

The music was also fantastic. I literally played out the cassette to the point where you can't really hear the music all that well. From Living Colour's "Cult of Personality", Cheap Trick's "You Want It", Red Hot Chili Peppers "Taste the Pain", Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes", Depeche Mode's "Stripped", Fishbone's "Skankin' to the Beat". So, it was cool to hear the audio for this film in the lossless audio soundtrack and of course the picture quality is absolutely beautiful.

Overall, "Say Anything..." is a film that I probably am quite biased towards but the fact that many print and online publications regard it as a classic film in such a highest regard, that tells you how special this film is. And now the 20th Anniversary Edition is available on Blu-ray. Highly recommended!

This is the movie I use to see if someone is worthwhile. "Do you love '...say anything'?" I'd say. If the answer is 'yes', then I have a friend for life. If the answer is 'no', then be gone with ye.

This movie has many outstanding moments. Of course, there's the 'In Your Eyes' scene outside Diane's window. But I also love the moment where John Mahoney (who is great as always) breaks down in the bathtub. Or when Lloyd has his picture taken with Diane after graduation. "I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen". I could go on and on.

In most romantic comedies, it is essential for me to fall in love with the girl as deeply as the boy does. Usually that's the kicker for me. This is the exception. I didn't fall in love with Diane Court. I don't blame this on Ione Skye she did a great job with what she had. It's just that what she had is nothing spectacular. There's something cold and distant and unaware about Diane that I just can't wrap my head around. She is the kind of person I probably wouldn't think twice about. Come to think of it, she's the kind of person who probably wouldn't understand '...say anything'? Hmm.

And you know what? None of that matters. Because I fell in love with Lloyd Dobler. One of my three all-time favourite screen characters (along with Hannibal Lecter and Max Fisher), Lloyd is a unique individual. He's confidant yet vulnerable, extroverted yet shy, pure yet complex. John Cusack does a great job here. He plays Lloyd with pitbull intensity (witness the kickboxing) and yet puppy dog emotion. His relationships with his friends and his sister and his nephew are all super sincere and beautiful.

And just like his friends, I can totally see someone like Diane Court falling for someone like Lloyd Dobler. It's in the details, it is. He checks up on her at the party; he points out the broken glass; he teaches her to drive a stick; he eases her fears on the airplane. And that's why this movie is so great. Because even though I may not have fallen in love with Diane, I can still understand Lloyd's passion for her.

Buy Say Anything... (20th Anniversary Edition) (1989) Now

It's been almost 20 years since I first saw this film -despite widespread critical acclaim -in an extremely uncrowded theater east of San Diego.

Perhaps because it lacked star voltage, perhaps because it lacked (at least back then) any recognizable household names, perhaps because it was strapped with a low budget yet enthusiastic TV ad campaign (compared to glowing newspaper ads published in L.A. and New York, which I clipped and still own, tinted brown with age) -almost everyone I know who has seen this jewel -never got to see it on the big screen. They caught it on video or on television.

The great news is everyone I know who has seen this film, fell in love with it.

Other reviewers have already done a terrific job discussing the machinations of the plot, the great acting, the fabulous, five-star ending ...that absolutely shatters you with joy and a sense of exhilaration that doesn't feel cheap or contrived. It feels earned, real, honest and true.

Some films are worth renting or seeing once and then perhaps catching up with few years later on television. But the story in "Say Anything..." hasn't aged at all, even though we're watching everything unfold based on objects and the perceptions of people in 1988 and 1989.

In my mind, there were only two GREAT films worthy of the Best Picture Oscar in 1989. It wasn't the winner that year ("Driving Miss Daisy"). And it wasn't the favorite to win that year ("Born on the Fourth of July"). My first choice was "Glory." My second was "Say Anything..." Neither film was nominated in the Best Picture category and neither film was a box office hit. But thanks to cable, both have since gained many fans.

So BUY this film. There's no need to "test screen" it first. You won't be sorry.

Read Best Reviews of Say Anything... (20th Anniversary Edition) (1989) Here

This is quite simply my favorite movie about teenagers. What sets it apart from the rest of the pack is the fact that it's realistic and doesn't rely on horny teenagers a la "Porky's" to get laughs. This is a true, genuine film about kids in love.

The brilliant John Cusack stars as Lloyd Dobler, who asks out the class brain, Diane Court (played by Ione Skye) the day after graduation. A unique relationship begins, complicated by Diane's overprotective father, her impending move to England and Lloyd's general lack of direction. It's hilarious and moving at the same time.

There's a reason why this has become a cult classic. There are so many great moments. Lloyd's friend Cory singing all her songs about Joe; Lloyd's speech about kick boxing; Joe badly singing a Whitney Houston song at the graduation ceremony; Lloyd's meeting with the guys at the Gas'n'Sip; Lloyd's first "photo op" with Diane; and so on. Those of you who think crap like "She's All That" constitutes an honest, funny movie about high school...think again. This is the real deal.

The DVD is worth the wait...there's wonderful audio commentary from Cameron Crowe, John Cusack and Ione Skye; featurettes, deleted scenes, extended scenes and much more. If you're a fan of this movie or are discovering it for the first time, check it out. If you love the work of director Cameron Crowe or anything John Cusack has ever starred in, check it out. "High Fidelity" fans will eat this up. What are you waiting for?

Want Say Anything... (20th Anniversary Edition) (1989) Discount?

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I saw it in the theater on a Saturday and loved it so much I went back with a friend on Sunday. As soon as I saw it on video, I grabbed it, and as soon as it's out on DVD I'll buy another copy.

Lloyd Dobler, John Cusack's character, is the kind of guy every girl should have for a best friend and if they're really lucky, a boyfriend. He's not pretty, not rich, not brilliant, not popular, not ambitious but he has heart and integrity that you seldom see in a teen movie. I shouldn't even call it a teen movie because it crosses that boundary.

I'm not terribly fond of Ione Skye's portrayal of Diane Cort ("a brain, trapped in the body of a game show hostess"), but except for her, the people in this movie are so real you feel you could have gone to high school with them.

Lloyd's best friend (played by Lili Taylor) has one of my favorite lines she tells Lloyd, "Don't be a GUY, be a Man." This movie does it all it's quirky, romantic, serious, happy, sad, funny there's even some kickboxing. You can't go wrong with this movie. Buy it. Buy two, in case you wear out the first one.

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Katt Williams: It's Pimpin' Pimpin' (2008)

I thought that Katt was as amazingly clever as usual in this new release. I pre-ordered it and me and my girlfriends watched it on Saturday night. Unfortunately I live in a building in South Florida with alot of old people. We laughed so hard and loud during the entire Blu Ray disc, that one of my neighbors told the security guard to come tell us to be quiet because he was trying to sleep. Even after the security guard left we were still falling over laughing with tears down our faces. If you love Katt, or if you love humor that pokes fun at (while at the same time celebrating) race, sex, and politics, then this Blu Ray is a must have for any collection. In this DVD, Katt discusses the Olympic winner who was disqualified for running on prosthetic legs (Oscar Pistorius), the election, Obama, Mccain, Hillary Clinton, and a news story about some guys being attacked by a tiger in a California zoo in April 2008 amongst other things. I thought it was really interesting the way Katt approached each issue and spoke of the irony in each situation and made it funny even though the stories he discussed were tragic.

I was in the 5th row when this was filmed and of course I'm still looking very closely for EXTRA footage. Anyhow, the more I view it from reading from reviewer's perspective, the more I appreciate it in retrospect. I had seen various portions of it prior to the DVD on YouTube thanks to uploaders from across the 100 city tour. So by the time I purchased my ticket day of the show, I figured I would know the whole show in full. What surprised me seeing the entire routine in full start to finish was not as funny THAT day. But now seeing the promo releases, reading various commentary from all levels of perception, it's funnier than it could ever be.

The material is very relevant to what we are experiencing as people. Reading many, many Blogs, Katt is quoted almost on every line, no catch phrase from every DVD he's released. Getting in tune with your "star player" is about self esteem which a lot of folks lack badly. Making sure your team is in tune make sure those around you have your back as you should have theirs. Check your own house before stepping into someone else's. He even touches on how the Paralympics runner was mistreated. Katt tied all his thoughts together in this just like The Pimp Chronicles which will forever remain #1 in my collection. All topics were seemeless and flowed very well all in accord with his animatics. He's always been a very animated and hyper individual. This adds to the humor he's bringing forth because you can just laugh at his facial expressions and/or even leap and curl around a stool (and holding on without tilting backwards/forwards) imitating a hungry lion on a wildebeast.

GET THE DVD is my final word.

Buy Katt Williams: It's Pimpin' Pimpin' (2008) Now

Man Katt Williams was funny as always and made you think at the same time. But there is alway people out there who's going to hate. So all I'm going to do is laugh at the first reviewers post. I'm glad i didn't fall for it. Katt will explain it to you in this stand-up. The first reviewer just didn't get it. But i bet now you do! lol

He had me and my wife lol all night. And she is Vietnamese. His jokes where multi-tribal (explained everything so more then one person can relate to his jokes ) We are a big fan of Richard,Eddie,Red Fox,Robin Williams,Chappelle,George Carlin. So I'm glad I added katt to my collection. So just take some time out and watch it. You will enjoy. This is my own review. But if you already know his work you will be smiling at the end of it.

He was on point about being the star player. I dont know him personal but i know the next time he in concert i wont miss it.

Read Best Reviews of Katt Williams: It's Pimpin' Pimpin' (2008) Here

Katt's first few standup specials were classics, but this one was just not as good. I can't even remember any genius one-liners from this dvd like I do from the last few.

Want Katt Williams: It's Pimpin' Pimpin' (2008) Discount?

This was a very good comedy DVD. As far as other people on here talking about him being too preachy or all over the place. No offense but you must be a little slow on the uptake, cuz he wasnt all over the place with his jokes, juat pay attention. Katt Williams always drops knowledge in his shows, once again pay attention. Another awesome performance from Katt Williams and its entirely new material from him, unlike Pimp Chronicles and American Hustle which were good performances but basically a re-hash of the material with slight differences that can be found in the Katt Williams Live DVD. I do own all of his stand up DVDs so far as well. Anyways this DVD is definately 5 stars in the perfomance and production. A definate solid buy and well worth the money.

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