Costumes Movie Reviews

Here's another fine installment from the Broadway Theatre Archive. As usual, there are no extras on the disc, but in this case, the feature more than makes up for it.

"The Ceremony of Innocence," originally a play by Ronald Ribman, is presented here in a 1972 recording. There are a few liberties taken to adjust to the medium of television (such as red-tinted snippets edited in for effect), but nothing that takes away from the incredible drama protrayed by the cast and production crew.

Richard Kiley plays King Ethelred of England, circa the 11th Century. Ethelred is a surprisingly progressive king. He wants to bring education, law, medicine, and science to his kingdom. He even commissions a famous explorer who has plans to sail the great "Western Ocean" (the Atlantic) in search of distant lands. Ethelred knows that only peace can bring prosperity to England, but no one else seems to agree with his point of view. Even his most trusted advisor quails at the idea of giving up war for peace.

Surrounded by enemies and bitter, scheming advisors, the king's plan to make peace with the fearsome King of Denmark (appearing briefly, played by Ernest Graves), is constantly imperiled. Ultimately confining himself to a monastery seeking some kind of solace, Ethelred is haunted by the visions of violence and bloodshed that surrounds him, his family, and his kingdom. Meanwhile, the enraged Danish king is about to attack, while Ethelred's frustrated advisors demand action. Ethelred is obviously paying the price for being born centuries before his time, as one by one his dreams are sabotaged by the overwhelming and painful tide of events he is forced to face.

The photography is first class for videotape, the medium used to record the play. The lighting is excellent, as are the rough, spartan sets. Even some location footage, used where appropriate, raises the quality of the play far above a standard presentation.

Excellent drama for historical study, and to introduce younger students to this period in English history. There are a sprinkling of curse words in the play, and some minor television bloodshed, but nothing too objectionable for today's teen viewers to see.

When all is said and done, you'll be keeping this disc.

This DVD goes further into Dr. Yang's catalog of Chin Na techniques. Following the same great format, you see the techniques done slowly, and also quickly, and with several variations when available, takedowns and applications. Dr. Yang also shows students trying the Chin Na and corrects their posture and technique, which is incredibly helpful.

The amount of information on this DVD is staggering, and provides enough for years of practice. A cool feature of the DVD is the Previews for all of the other YMAA videos, where you can see Dr. Yang performing kung fu, tai chi, qigong, and all kinds of things.

This DVD has the last four courses of this excellent series, which contain dozens of the most diverse hand, arm and leg joint locks. The leg Chin Na in Courses 10 and 11 is really cool, with some serious takedowns, and great wrestling technques. Very practical, powerful stuff for any fighting system. Course 12 has Chin Na counterattacks, where you learn how to avoid and get out of some of the most common joint locks, and apply a lock to your opponent in return. Very cool!

These three DVDs have enough Chin Na on to prepare someone for any type of fighting situation, in competition, or on the street.

Chinese Connection 2 (released as Fist of Fury 2 in many parts of the world) is a sequel to Bruce Lee's memorable film The Chinese Connection (Fist of Fury), taking up the story immediately following the death of Chen Chen, who was killed in a most memorable ending after avenging the murder of his Teacher. The Ching Wu school is, to put it mildly, in disarray, and this condition quickly begins to spread to the other Chinese martial arts schools in Shanghai. The Japanese, for their part, are more cruel and contemptible than ever, continuing to take out Ching Wu students and eventually, under the leadership of a new martial arts master named Miyamoto, taking over the Ching Wu school itself. It's actually rather hard to watch at times, as the defeated and demoralized Chinese fighters turn into weak cowards, and those who do stand up and fight back prove vastly unequal to the task. The Ching Wu teacher, believing he has failed his Teacher and his students, has become an alcoholic and a thoroughly broken man. At this point, Chen Chen's brother Chen Shan (Bruce Li) arrives in Shanghai determined to avenge his brother's killing. He alone shows no fear of the Japanese, delivering a number of up close and personal instruction sessions with those who try to get in his way. The Chinese actually berate the man and urge him to leave town so that the Japanese won't come after them, but Chen Shan refuses to stand down.

I must say that Bruce Li really impressed me in this film with both his acting and his martial arts skills. The other Bruce Li films I have seen left me rather noncommittal as far he was concerned, but he really gives the Japanese what for in this surprisingly good sequel to the original film of Bruce Lee's. I keep wishing Li would break out the numchuks at some point, but he definitely lets his hands and feet do the talking here.

Even on DVD, the film quality of Chinese Connection 2 leaves a little something to be desired; I believe that, among other things, the full screen presentation of the film causes viewers to miss a good bit of the visual information afforded by the original presentation aspect ratio. Unquestionably, this Hong Kong production is of an obviously inferior film type than that of the original Chinese Connection starring Bruce Lee. Still, this is one of the best Bruceploitation films I've seen, and fans of Bruce Lee should not be afraid to test the waters of this Chinese Connection sequel; it is much better than I expected it to be.

This is actually a great dvd. You actually get a chance to see some of out more famous comedians in action back when they were almost unknown. The highlight of this dvd, for me anyway and hopefully others, was that this is one of the very few chances you get to see the late, great Bill Hicks on camera. For fans of his cd's, it's worth the money just to see him on film. Definitely worth it.

We took a chance with this one, and what a score!! The Paris Opera Ballet School did an enchanting version of Coppelia. They included only acts I and II (no wedding scene), which seemed perfect! As a bonus, there is a documentary about the school, itself, which was fantastic!

This was a tremendous CD marking the debut of a New Orleans legend, Deacon John. I love all the songs and the film gave a tremendous view of all the fun that took place that night on and off stage. Great job...I thoroughly enjoyed it. You Go Deacon!!! It's about time someone showcased your talent.. you deserved it.

We loved this DVD. We have seen God Bless America on video, but it is far better on DVD, it is worth watching just for the dancers.It has some added surprises ,extra to whats on the video.The picture quality is so much better on DVD, and it is special for being one of Frank's last concerts.
World of music is excellent too, it has songs we have never heard before, and we liked the memories of his family and friends.It is a nice celebration of his life and his music,it makes you smile, and makes you cry sometimes.
The DVD is very good value,it is a fitting tribute to a great man, how lucky we are that he recorded all this lovely music.

This show, George Carlin's fifth HBO stand-up concert special, was taped at Beverly Theater, Beverly Hills, California May 2-3, 1986. Includes "Hello-Goodbye," "It's Not a Sport," which is a modified sport routine, much like "Baseball and Football", "Losing Things" which is hilarious, and a short film-noir spoof, "The Envelope," featuring George as private eye Mike Holder.

Tamerlano is Handel's most dramatically convincing and musically appealing opera, in my opinion. It is a shame it is not as well known as some of his other works. This DVD is a well filmed and documented performance from the 2001 Handel Festival in Halle. The singing is for the most part excellent and the acting is appropriate to the subject, the music, and the visual concept. The costumes, borrowed from a spectacular Glimmerglass Opera production, add much visual interest (important since the stage setting is oddly sparce). One might quibble with some of the static nature of the staging (difficult to avoid in Baroque opera), and with the somewhat unmasculine singing and acting of Monica Bacelli in the role of the warrier Tamerlane, but overall this is a very satisfying performance. Thomas Randle gives a vocally and dramatically intense reading of the crucial role of Bajazet, and Elisabeth Norberg-Schulz and Anna Bonitatibus are tremendous. The "Score Plus" feature is nice, but it does NOT actually appear as a "subtitle" - it is superimposed over the screen. Useful if you want to watch portions of the score, but otherwise distracting. I highly recommend this DVD.