Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle Vol. 8: Norman Moosewell (1961) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the wildest Rocky & Bullwinkle advernture of all, combining lots of action with a premise that remains prescient in the wake of continuing scandals in collegiate athletics.
The University of Wossamatta is running out of money and needs a star player for its football team to draw in spectators. Bullwinkle and Rocky are recruited, and soon their "Alley Oop!" forward passes and Bullwinkle's ability to use his antlers (which are also good for hanging hats on) enable Wossamatta to trounce every team they play.
In step professional gamblers Boris and Natasha. Having spent years breaking things, Boris now will fix - a game. But their first plan winds up only winning Wossamatta another game, so they get the help of Fearless Leader to build their own team, a phalanx of monstrous types known as the Mud City Manglers - and to drive the betting odds even higher they disguise these unspeakable turks as girls!
The funniest parts come as we see bookies all over the country watch in horror as the overwhelmingly favored Wossamatta team is trailing badly to the manglers-in-drag. Eventually, unable to possible pay off Badenov at the odds given, they flee the country - to Pottsylvania.
The only flaw in the tape is that it cuts out some of the funniest lines of the original serial - notably when a Southern type (Paul Frees) browbeats narrator William Conrad for using the title Civil Defense. Nonetheless, you won't watch a football game the same way again after seeing The Bullwinkle Bowl.

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Nina Simone - Live at Ronnie Scott's (1985) Review

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(More customer reviews)There was a moment at the beginning of this dvd when I thought, "Oh no, this might [be bad]." Having been a huge Nina Simone fan for so long I've been waiting for this dvd for a long time, so you can imagine my excitement when I finally sat down to watch it. The picture and sound quality of the dvd were so bad though I had my doubts, but, when Nina started singing I knew that it would all be alright. In fact, after a while I didn't even mind the way it looked because I allowed myself to imagine that I was actually there at Ronnie Scott's that night watching and listening to this amazing woman perform. Of course I was way too young back then to appreciate or even be allowed there but that's beside the point, this is my review and I'm allowed to be anachronistic if I choose :)
There is a lot to love about this dvd. Nina's performance is one of if not the most intimate performance I have ever watched and I know it's hard to understand that if you're not there in person but somehow she managed to transcend even the barriers of a television set. Listen to the way she beautifully performs her "two love songs" as she calls them, "If You Knew" and "Mr. Smith" and then effortlessly move from playing the harpsicord (on a keyboard) to the piano on "Fodder In Her Wings". Other standouts include her wonderful rendition of "I Loves You Porgy" and "The Other Woman". Both showing such vulnerability and sadness you wonder how anyone cannot possibly love her??? Her two signature songs, "Mississippi Goddam" and "My Baby Just Cares For Me" are absolutely wonderful as is the entire concert. "Mississippi Goddam" this time blended with "Alabama Song" from Brecht's "Mahagonny". Brilliant! My absolute favourite though is "For A While". I have never and I doubt I will ever hear a song perform with such aching tenderness, truth and sadness. What she does towards the end of this song is evidence of her amazing knowledge of musical performance and also one of the most moving moment I have ever witnessed. It's worth buying the dvd for this one performance alone.
I am always reminded of experiencing an amazingly emotional yet cathartic show everytime I watch this. OK, is it not evident that I am a fan? But that aside, I truly do believe this is worth the price if you're a fan, have just discovered her or somehow magically stumbled here but enjoy quality music and a performer who really knows how to get inside your heart and soul.
Interview clips throughout the concert, inserted between songs give insights into this remarkable woman but is not really necessary. Her music speaks for itself.

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This DVD features Nina Simone (vocals, piano) delivering an intense emotional performance at the legendary Ronnie Scott's in Soho, London on November 17, 1985.Simone is considered to be one of the most diverse singers of the 20th century, recording mate

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To Russia With Love (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD is a wonderful concert of Russian songs sung in perfect tone and technique as we expect from this outstanding artist. The second half of the program was very delightful as the songs are those on his Moscow Nights CD that I've come to just love. There aren't enough DVD's of this great singer and this is a "MUST HAVE" if you love Dmitri and his super talent! Highly recommended!!

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Gospel Aerobics: Inspiration for Both Body and Soul Review

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(More customer reviews)This video workout is great for anyone, but particularly for those who like Gospel or rhythm. Wish I had known about this much sooner! The only comment I have is that Kurt Carr and Singers should have appeared often as a "frame" in the video so that you can see the exercise steps at the same time as you see the choir. Sometimes during the exercises, the camera shifts to the choir so much that you miss the next exercise steps. Wonderful idea though. Wish they would release a new video or create a series. Also, they could use some more African-Amercian dancers in the video and other people too that are not the perfect body weight.

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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 25: Conspiracy (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)What struck me as being the good thing about this episode was that they set it up several episodes before hand, when an Admiral makes an offhand remark to Picard that he wants to talk to him about a new threat to the Federation. In this episode, he waves it off, but the destruction of a Federation Star ship, plus the Admiral beating Riker uncounscious, shows that something is amiss.
Another thing that I noticed, from my limited experience with the Original Series, is that as we go on, Starfleet seems less and less invincible. This episode shows that they can be infiltrated by small things; 'Best of Both Worlds' showed they can get whipped; and the end seasons of DS9 showed that Starfleet could go to war and kick hard. But what i didn't like was that they set up, at the end, the possibility that something else was coming, but they didn't follow through. I may be wrong (if I am, let me know) but nothign ever came of what could have been a great plot line.

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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 14: Datalore (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)In this episode, the Enterprise goes to the planet where Data was created. While there, they discover Data's "brother" Lore -- an android created before Data and who looks exactly like Data. It soon becomes apparent that Lore is not the sweet and innocent android that Data is as Lore attempt to destroy the Enterprise the same way he destroyed his creators.
This marks the first of many appearances of Lore.

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This Land Is Your Land - The Folk Years (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)This was one of the American Soundtrack series concerts originally aired on PBS in 2002, and includes all the great names of early folk music. Although the sound is not perfect, it is still highly acceptable, and this nearly two hour concert features a cornucopia of American folk music from the fifties and sixties. I personally enjoy this concert and others in the series not only for the music, but also to actually see what some of these people look like, since much of this type of music went out of general circulation before I was born. If you enjoy folk music, I highly recommend this DVD.
Amazing Grace, Both Sides Now, and Send In The Clowns - Judy Collins
MTA, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Greenback Dollar, Scotch and Soda,
Tom Dooley, and Worried Man - The Kingston Trio
Michael, Cotton Fields, and Number One - the Highwaymen
Baby The Rain Must Fall and I Didn't See the Time - Glenn Yarbrough
There's a Meeting Here Tonight - Glenn Yarbrough & The Limelighters
Power and the Glory, Lonesome Traveler, and Generic Uptempo Folk Song -
The Limelighters
Greenfields and Try to Remember - The Brothers Four
Madrigal - Smothers Brothers
Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire
Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn! Turn!, Eight Miles High - Roger McGuinn
Green, Green, Just Americans, This Land is Your Land - Randy Sparks
& The Minstrels
Bonus Track: Folk Rap - The Limelighters

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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 31: The Schizoid Man (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)The bonding of human knowledge and technology serves as the basis for "The Schizoid Man." Unfortunately, this intriguing premise turns out to be not as fully developed as it could have been.
The Enterprise-D responds to a distress call seeking medical help for the dying Doctor Ira Graves (W. Morgan Sheppard). Graves is seriously ill but develops a bond with Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) before he passes away. Unbeknownst to the crew and Graves' former assistant, Kareen Brianon (Barbara Alyn Woods), the brilliant cyberneticist actually transferred his mind into Data before expiring. When he learns what has happened, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) confronts the android and demands that Graves leave his body.
If you enjoy watching episodes where Data behaves abnormally, then "The Schizoid Man" is your cup of tea. However, the "switching bodies" plot is seriously underdeveloped and contributes nothing that you have not already seen in this type of story. You also have to wonder about the soundness of Graves' idea to transfer his mind into Data. If there is anything one has learned from watching the original series of Star Trek, it is that any plan involving the transfer of a human consciousness into an android body always manages to go awry. Apparently Graves did not bother consulting the research of the countless other eccentrics who tried to do the same thing before him.

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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 104: Silicon Avatar (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)Many people seem to feel compassion and mercy for those who have done wrong and even killed, but I am seldom among them. But this episode shows us an unique situation in which a creature, the crystaline entity, seems to kill on a large level because of its nature. IT MAY NOT EVEN KNOW IT IS KILLING.
Now enter the mother of a victim, who, since the death of her 16 year old son at the hands of the creature, has been obsessed with the study and eventual destruction of the entity.
The crew of the enterprise figures out a possible way of communicating with the creature (reminiscent of the "Companion" from the original series). Despite the deadly nature and our contempt for the creature, I found my curiousity in what the creature "has to say" out-weighing my hate for it.
Five stars if it were not for the high standard set by so many other episodes!

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Fame: Season Two Review

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(More customer reviews)For those of us late 30/early to mid 40 somethings who watched the original "Fame" on television in the early 1980s, this a real treat! I'm sorry, but the original television series still knocks spots off the latest film version. The first two seasons of Fame were definitely the best - series 1 was released a few years ago and MGM have ignored the series' legion of fans ever since. The only good thing about the new movie is it has encouraged MGM to belatedly release season 2, which features some excellent episodes with some half decent songs. My favourite is "Your Own Song" which features Jimmy Osmond as a singing student who comes from a school for kids who are disabled. Jimmy's portrayal of a young man with a mental disability struggling to fit into a mainstream school (if the High School for the Performing Arts could ever be regarded as one!) is well observed, down to his body language, tics and mannerisms. It is a heart-warming experience, and the episode is boosted by his brilliant singing voice belting out the classic Beatles song "Penny Lane". To me, this dvd set is worth the money even for this brilliant episode alone.
Amongst the collection is also the "Not in Kansas Anymore" where Doris gets knocked on the head, and whilst unconscious dreams that she meets the Wizard of Oz and all the other characters from the classical musical movie; of course, the main characters from the series take on the various film roles with Bruno as the Tin Man, Danny as the Scared Lion, Leroy as the Scarecrow, Miss Grant as the good fairy, Miss Sherwood as the Wicked Witch from the West, and Mr Shorofksi as the wizard himself. Another gem of an episode.
Overall, this is a welcome addition to the collection for "Fame" fans. Series 3 is awaited with baited breath, but knowing MGMs dismal track record so far, we'll probably have to wait until some film director decides to remake "Fame" in 2035 before we ever get to see any more, and us 40 somethings will be on our death-beds by then. (Message to MGM execs - you are a disgrace for sitting on many of your classic tv series and not releasing them onto dvd now whilst you have the chance and people still alive who want to buy them. Instead, you seem to prefer to churn out the more more recent film rubbish you've made. Shame!).

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Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle Vol. 9: Pottsylvania Creeper (1961) Review

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(More customer reviews)What can I say, I think the whole set is great!
This one has R&B fighting a people-eating plant from conquering the world, (yes, it is a bit of a nod to The Little Shop of Horrors in a way. A Rockie and Bullwinkle way.) Also included, Dudley goes recruiting, Bullwinkle's Corner takes a cut at Morrie's Little Lamb, Mr. Peabody & Sherman meet Lawrence of Arabia, Fractured Fairy Tales deals with a red-haired duke, and Mr. Know-It-All shows you how NOT to sell vacuum cleaners.

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Diary of a Nudist / The Naked Venus (1958) Review

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(More customer reviews)This disc is packed with stuff! There are the two movies with their very coy nudity (watch as the ladies artfully stand with their legs covering the 'rude' bits or with towels/papers/hats draped over their midsection. The picture is a good restoration of some poor quality (old poorly preserved) originals, but it is still very watchable. The movies themselves are not spectacular in their plot but still fun and interesting.
The extra's (of which there is over an hour) are the piece de resistance. You get trailers from 6 nudism related movies, extra footage from The Naked Venus, four shorts on nudity, a heap of poster art/production stills from various nudity related movies (with radio discussions over the top) and an easter egg of a nudist wedding.
About half of the extra's are in black and white (as is The Naked Venus). Some have been restored to very good quality but one or two are almost unwatchable. There is virtually no full frontal nudity, but lots of breasts and bottoms.
Everything is from the 50's and 60's and looks it (even naked, you can tell the era from the hair/makeup (sometimes this is caked on) and the cars). If you're interested in the history of nudity or nudity in films then this is highly recommended.

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: Season One, Volume One (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Warner Brothers finally decided to break out this gem. Before this DVD set came out the ONLY offering on DVD was a dinky single episode DVD (Escape to Questworld was the episode) with no stereo track or extras of any kind. This two disk DVD set gives you 13 episodes and a bonus interview/retrospective with the show's producers. Oh yeah... full stereo audio and English subtitles (you really can't expect surround sound for a 90's cartoon).
The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest is a re-imaging of the classic 60's television. Don't expect the same kind of format that the old one had to be here. It's not really even in the same spirit as the classic series. For one in the old series it was mainly the adults (Dr. Benton Quest and Race) who did much of the problem solving and Johnny was mostly an active spectator. This time around Johnny and his friends are the ones solving the problems. The problems are also not quite the same, but then again we already have the classic series to enjoy. This one may be different, but it stands on its own merits.
When I first watched this show I was a bit put off. One of the things that bugged me was the show seemed to try hard to be cutting edge with the use of some computer generated animation scenes that were used when anybody went into a virtual reality called Questworld. As off putting as this was at first when I finally sucked it up and just saw the show for how the plot develops it was clear this wasn't some flash in the pan production. Eventually the whole Questworld thing kind of phased out of the series in turn for more plots involving the real world.I won't go so far as to say it's as groundbreaking as the original, but I will say they were pretty creative with this show.
While I am glad to see the show finally get some DVD rotation I am disappointed that Warner Brothers went the cheap route and only made a partial release. Considering there are only 52 episodes created that amounts to not much more footage than a first season of shows like Heroes or 24. At this rate Warner Brothers will have to make two more collections for you to get the whole series. Why not put the entire series on one DVD set and get ALL of the fans on board the first time around? Testing the waters? Too scared to simply go for it? Too cheap or greedy maybe?
The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest has a lot of the same elements of the original shows with globe-trotting to exotic locales and brush-ups with high technology while at the same time having a very different look and feel. It's not a bad change, mind you. Fans of the original should still like this. The writing is much better that a lot of what was out there in those days and it's even better than most of what's coming out now.

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Item Name: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (Season 1, Vol. 1); Studio:Warner Home Video

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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 85: Data's Day (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)I love this episode! "Data's Day" is TNG writing at its best. Behind the simple premise lies a very complex character study of the seemingly "emotionless" android, Data. Make no mistake, even though "Data's Day" is charming and very, very funny, it's also quite revealing.
Over the course of the series, Data as a character desparately strives to become more "human." This episode illustrates the point that even though he is an android, Data posesses fundemental traits that define "humanity." He has a great capacity for forgiveness ("Data's Day" is a letter to Bruce Maddox, the man who wanted to deactivate and disect him), compassion (we're introduced to Data's cat, Spot) and friendship. We should all be so human.
"Data's Day" shows up on a lot of TNG Top 10 Best Episode lists. Definitely makes my personal Top 10. All-around great episode. Excellent writing. Spiner's acting is solid as always. Tons of fodder for trivia buffs.
Things to watch for: Spot; The Dancing Doctor; Worf & the crystal swan; Keiko and Miles; and last but not least, The Ersatz Vulcan

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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 177: All Good Things...The Final Episode ('94-'95) (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)The reason this is one of the best series finales in all of television history is that it's clearly a labor of love on behalf of the show's fans. Unlike some series ends which merely include gratuitous flashback, or which portray a significant event such as marriage, "All Good Things" is 100 minutes of innovative plot that pays homage to the entire run of the series. Building on the very first episode of the show, it creates in effect a "bookend" to tie the series together. At the same time it closes out the show, it also prognosticates about what's to come and shows us a bit of series' origin. Better still, it does so by affirming the most idealistic of Star Trek's core values, preferring to be an episode about exploration rather than conquest.
What makes it most impressive, however, is that it's ultimately about the relationships among the various crewmates. This, more than the plot-induced time trippin'--shows how far the show has come. Gone are those initial days of painfully awkward dialogue that made Denise Crosby (whose Tasha Yar thankfully reappears here) leave the show. No, just as THE WRATH OF KHAN is arguably the best Star Trek movie involving the original cast, "All Good Things" succeeds most because we get to see what these characters mean to each other.
It's such an effective blending of dynamic plot, fan wish-fulfillment, and amazing acting (especially by Patrick Stewart), that one hopes that future editions of this story will be treated more like a movie than a mere episode. Though Paramount doesn't have a particularly great track record of making feature-rich DVD versions of Star Trek movies, hopefully one day they'll release "All Good Things" on DVD with behind-the-scenes featurettes, and cast and crew commentaries.

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Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle Vol. 7: Whistler's Moose (1961) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ya gotta love that Rocky and Bullwinkle!
In Vol.7, Whistler's Moose:
Two, cout 'em, two episodes in one video! Both have to do with Moosylvania, a deserted island closly conected to Bullwinkle. In the first episode, Rocky and Bullwinkle campaign for statehood for Moosylvania. In the second, they must save Moosylvania from Boris and Natasha. Also includes Tom,Tom the Piper's Son, Whistler's mother, and Red Riding Hood (with a twist.) And everybody's dressing like Nell!

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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 77: Brothers (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is one of my favorite Next Generation episodes because it features Brent Spiner in three roles: Data, Lore and Dr. Soong. It's amazing to me, when I watch all three characters in the same scene -- all played by the same actor -- to realize that each character's personality and each performance is so distinctly different from the others. A lesser actor couldn't have pulled this off... This episode (along with ones like "Datalore" and "Masks", which allow Spiner to play multiple characters in the space of a 45-minute episode) is a gem. A must-have for all Spiner and Trek fans. Buy this one.

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