Wholesale and Distribution Movie Reviews

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce star in their final film as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. This time, the duo is on the tracks of a gang stealing music boxes that mysteriously hold key information that will lead to much money. The music boxes are made in prison by a bank robber, who encodes the clues, but they are sold at an auction before his partners can buy them. There's nothing they won't do to get their hands on the boxes, including murder. There's not much new in this film that hasn't been seen in the other films of the series, although the music box angle is an interesting way of transferring information. Rathbone doesn't play this one with much energy ... maybe he was getting tired of the role, while Bruce is his usual, bumbling self. Although hardly the best in the series, fans of the duo will want to check it out.

Not one of the best in the series of the Rathbone/Bruce series but none the less one of the classics. If your a Basil Rathbone fan as many of you are, this one is a good one to add to your collection.

Director William Cameron Menzies, set designer for "Gone with the Wind" and the original "Invaders from Mars" (1953, which he also directed), keeps this modest Civil War story moving along nicely and with sufficient human-interest details. Guy Madison (TV's "Wild Bill Hickock") and James Craig are close friends who end up on the North and South sides, respectively, and who, not surprisingly, must fight one another in the movie's final reels, though they do so out of sight to one another. Come to think of it, we only see them together some two or three minutes at the start of this reasonably exciting B-epic that belies its budget, courtesy of Menzie's set designs, in spite of harsh early-fifties color and a less than liberal budget. Nothing profound, but this notable picture does convey some of the tragedy of friends and loved ones torn apart by the most horribly personal war in our history.

The story of how a hand full of heroes who blocked Sherman's march to the sea. Two friends from West Point find themselves on opposite sides in the war. The conflicts are not as cut and dry, as it would appear as two things come to mind while watching this movie. One is the basic conflict between friendship and loyalty to a cause; many times this is mistaken resulting in the balance of power changing. The second is a little more superficial but just as intriguing; both sides in the conflict must come up with ways to out gun the other side by using technology outside of its intended purpose. The use of a navel gun on a rail car is one. You will have to watch the movie to see the solution to extending the range of the smaller cannon. Other conditions call for more radical action.

Does the mission succeed and is it worth the price paid on both sides?

I can say the movie is worth the price of repeated viewing.

Don't be fooled by the title. Ghosts have nothing to do with this movie. This is another encounter of our hapless heroes with the dark master of the poverty row horror film. This time the East Side Kids find Bela and his gang of Nazi spies occupying a local "haunted" house. These little low budget comedies don't pretend to be any more than they are. This film has the added attraction of a very young Ava Gardner in the unlikely role of Huntz Hall's sister. Bela Lugosi had become a low-budget standby at this point in his career. The East Side Kids, if not lovable, are tolerable in small doses. Due to a misunderstanding that is worthy of the Three Stooges, the boys mistake the deserted house for a honeymoon cottage that needs a good cleaning and decorating. The spooky manse has secret panels, revolving bookcases, paintings with moving eyes, and mysterious people creeping around. The mild thrills and chills are suitable for family viewing. There are a few low brow chuckles, but The East Side Kids and Bela Lugosi had better luck with the earlier "Spooks Run Wild," reviewed elsewhere in Amazon.com. Adjust your expectations accordingly. ;-)

The East Side Kids/Dead End Kids/Bowery Boys did it again. All your favorite guys are back again for some more fun. If you like Abbott & Costello...The Three Stooges....or The Little Rascals/Our Gang then your going to like these guys. Its fun for the whole family, good viewing you can trust with the kids. Add Bela Lugosi and a little old time spooky fun. Its good to finally see an almost forgotten piece of film history restored thanks to our friend Loyd Kaufman at Troma Studios.

The definitive voice of Lieder and Mozart Opera is much-maligned by this inadequate presentation of her life

To start with the opening shot of this quasi-documentary is of uninformative, cheesy to say the least, shot of a flower and bee. What follows is a much too short film, lacking in available archive footage. I was left knowing very little more about Miss Schwarzkopf's extra-ordinairy life. Apart from that there were cringing moments when eg the Wienerwald song was played instrumentally with footage of unknown people dancing the waltz out of rhythm of the song. And to top it all, a most delightful recording of Schwarzkopf singing the very same song does exist!

Perhaps further research in the subject matter would have helped the director to do this wonderful singer's life and accomplishments justice and produce a true celebration of her art?

This DVD gives you a unique opportunity to see Mrs Elizabeth Schwarzkopf in some of her best live performances as an opera singer and a Lieder interpreter. I have always been curious about how she could look on scene, given that I am of her more fervent admirers. My veneration for Mrs Schwarzkopf began when I first heard her singing the role of Donna Elvira in the Giulini's version of Don Giovanni, and it grew bigger when I saw for the first time a photograph of her and I learned that she was not only an excellent soprano but also an amazingly attractive woman. This rare combination of talent and beauty was particularly unusual in the 1950's, and even today there are few exceptions, such as Renee Fleming and Angela Gheorghiu.

In less than an hour the film gives a quick account of Mrs Scharzkopf's career, narrated by herself, since her very beginnings in Berlin until her retirement in Zurich giving master classes. Then you will see her singing at the Deutsche Oper, during the nazi regime, singing La Boheme and Carmen, at the time when she was a coloratura soprano, as well as the dramatic bombardment of Berlin, which she fortunately missed due to a tuberculosis that obliged her to leave the city. Then we will find her in Viena, when she became worldly famous in the roles of Donna Elvira, Countess Rossina and the Marschallin, after her marriage with Walter Legge and her transformation into a lyrical soprano. The third part of the documentary shows her singing Lieder songs, which happened to be her favourites and used to predominate during her recitals. Finally, we can see her giving song lessons in Zurich, at a time when she surely was in her 70's but her face still reveals how beautiful she was. What most impressed me is the last part of the film when we can hear her speaking but she does not dare to show herself before the cameras, surely because she does not want her admirers to see her too old.There are only two things that I regret from this film. The first one is that is too short: the film lasts less than un hour - and the second one is that it does not contain further filmed material of her opera performances.

I enjoyed this DVD because it brought back memories of Cubes musicall accomplishments over the years. But "I've been there done that" This video left me starving for more, because apart from the music and the movies like any true fan, I wanted to know everything about what motivated this man from the very beggining. His childhood and what his parents were like, his schooling, his gang affiliation because he knows so much on the subject, his religous beliefs, The break-up with N.W.A., and the multi-picture deal with New Line Cinema. But I am happy to report that just before I returned this purchase, a friend of mine got hold to a screener copy of "Ice Cube The Making Of A Don" This DVD answered every question that could ever be asked about the man's personal life and career. Did you know that he only recieved 30,000 dollars for his involvement with N.W.A. or that both his parents were UCLA Professors. I decided to keep the "Video's" DVD because I missed those old music videos. But The Making Of A Don has vintage concert footage from the "Death Certificate" and "Amerikkka's Most Wanted" days it's definately a must have! Not only for Ice Cube fans but also for any body interested in how a guy from South Central Los Angeles where some people from his old crowd kill eachother over something as peddy as a color could rise above that and be at the top of two very competative entertainment mediums. My hat goes off to this man and I am very gratefull that this information was made available through "Ice Cube The Making Of A Don" it was truly inspiring.

Since I am one of the many early fans of Ice Cube I have been waiting for this DVD for a LONG time! This DVD gets 5 stars if not more!!! From the early classic videos to the present this DVD is surely one you have to pick up. Can't wait for Volume 2!

I had enough warm feelings about this movie from when I first saw it in 1955 that I picked up the video right away when it was released a few years ago. I still liked it enough to watch it several times then, though I haven't had the chance to view it since. To some extent, this movie falls into the "so bad it's good category". A new planet drifts into our solar system, and in a burst of creativity is named "Nova". So a space ship with two guys and two hot-babe scientists is sent to investigate. After some initial exploration they discover that Nova bears a striking resemblace to stock footage from "One Million B.C." This is all handled with likeable characters in an easy-going manner, helping to make it more enjoyable that it might seem from a rundown of the plot. {Also, I find one of the women scientists particularly easy on the eyes! And she is portrayed as a competent scientist to boot.) It goes almost without saying that there is no attempt to have any animal in the movie that looks like a real dinosaur. But all things considered this is one of the better movies that uses the "One Million B.C." footage.

King Dinosaur is a dirt-cheap, mildly entertaining collaboration between 1950s giant monster auteur Bert I. Gordon (Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People, Beginning of the End), producer Al Zimbalist (Robot Monster, Cat Women of the Moon, Monster from Green Hell), and screenwriter Tom Gries (Donovan's Brain, Science Fiction Theater). Incredible as it may sound, King Dinosaur, Gordon's first directorial effort, manages to make his The Cyclops or any of Zimbalist's other flicks look expensive by comparison. You know you're in zero-budget territory when the movie opens with 12 (count 'em) solid minutes of stock footage, accompanied by narrator Marvin (Robby the Robot) Miller. (The movie's only 63 minutes long!) Fans of the 'knobs and dials' school of poverty-stricken SF will thrill to the seemingly endless scenes of jet engines, rockets, starfields, observatories, and lotsa scientific and military types pushing buttons and flipping switches (reminiscent of one of those old B&W 16mm high school physics films). These opening scenes detail the discovery of a new planet, Nova, and subsequent rocket flight there by Drs. Gordon (Bill Bryant), Bennett (Wanda Curtis), Martin (Douglas Henderson), and Pierce (Patti Gallagher). Finally, 18 minutes in, we get some sync sound as they disembark on the new world. Unsurprisingly, Nova looks amazingly like Earth and the air is breathable. Good thing they don't need those space suits (left over from Abbott & Costello Go to Mars?), especially since there are only two of them! Bryant and Gallagher wander off and get lost in an episode of Marlin Perkins' Wild Kingdom; Henderson and Curtis are liplocked almost immediately, but their fun is soon interrupted by a rubber alligator (which he wrestles while she screams hysterically) and a giant bug (which he shoots while she screams hysterically). Later, after a nighttime encounter with a huge (real) snake (Henderson apparently gamely let the thing crawl on top of him!), Bryant and Gallagher journey by raft to an island where they're menaced by gigantic rear-projected/matted alligators, gila monster, armadillo, miscellaneous reptiles, and a mastodon/mammoth that looks like stock footage from One Million B.C., and are eventually trapped in a cave (Bronson Canyon) by an enlarged iguana. Bryant becomes obsessed with photographing the creature ("It looks just like the king dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex! No one will ever believe us!") and grimaces a lot; Gallagher wigs out (a hilarious scene). They send up a rescue flare; Henderson and Curtis rush to the island, and then do absolutely nothing. As the reptiles fight, the humans manage to escape, and then set off a time-delayed nuclear bomb that they just happened to have along! The closing dialogue is priceless, instantly redeeming the preceding 60 minutes of slow death. While Z-movie diehards will find mild- to moderate-level amusement here, mainstream moviegoers beware: nothing resembling an actual dinosaur ever appears in King Dinosaur. I think my wife summed it up nicely: "This movie is nothing but lizards fighting and people walking around in the woods!"
For this beloved bad-film classic, Retromedia delivers the best DVD package I've seen from them yet. The feature, transferred from a 35mm print that is a bit contrasty at times, looks pretty fabulous for a cheapie of this era. The black level, brightness, contrast, shadow/highlight detail, and sharpness are uniformly very good to excellent, rivaling some of the better Image/Wade Williams discs. Physical damage is limited to some very light speckling and spotting throughout, a rare damaged frame or splice, and a jump or two. It's highly unlikely that anyone will ever find or release a nicer print. Unfortunately, I did notice some minor pixelation/artifacting at times, particularly toward the end of the picture. The trailer (also from 35mm) looks merely very good with OK sharpness and detail, but a little flat and washed-out, and suffering from moderate speckling, blemishing, and lining. Six chapter stops, simple yet effective animated menus, and a rather slim but nicely done gallery of eight B&W photos are the only other extras, but this is still a very pleasing DVD release nonetheless.

If you never been to one of Uncle Luke's show, than this is the best example of it. You basically see big 'ol booties doing creative things with those booties and other body parts. Basically, if you've seen recent rap videos, than you've gotten the idea. You will recognize some of these girls from those rap videos, if you bothered to look at their faces. Guys will enjoy this selection if you are between the ages 0f 15-35. Women will like it if they like to watch other women parade around half-naked or less. This is your typical T&A video.

This DVD was fire! Once again if your looking for a vid of hot women then Uncle Luke is your favorite uncle. The vid is uncensored, so you see everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. Theres no censors blotting anything out. And the women are gorgeous, some even have sex on stage with strangers. Uncle Luke has done it again and ... you cant beat it!

Tha Kid

This movie is the original of the re-released version known as Red River Valley, a VHS copy of which I have. This DVD is of medium quality as it appears to have been made not from a film print but from a VHS tape. The double shadows and ghost effects are obvious. MY Goodtimes EP mode VHS copy was far better than this.

Another title for this movie was Man Of The Frontier. Gene delivers cattle to a small town which is having a struggle keeping swindlers from shutting down the dam that supplied water to the valley...Smiley Burnette is his sidekick and at his funniest best! Lot's of action from this early movie made in the late 1930's. You will see a rising star really doing a dangerous stunt himself. Autry did alot of his own stunts and in this one almost got sweep down the river because of slippery moss as he was wading across the dam according his film biography. So watch this and see him progressing on his way to the top!! What can you say!! He was a HERO!!

Not much of an improvement from the first half of season one. The packaging isn't as good as the first half either. Instead of each DVD in it's own slim case, all 3 are packed into one flimsy case. If you're a fan of the Man Show you'll love these classic episodes, and only time will tell if we are treated to Seasons 2 and 3 in the near future. (Juggy Twins, Man Show Boy, the funny Midget). The bonus features aren't too great either, a few short segments of Oprah Jimfrey are a nice treat though. And surprisingly, there's one quick scene of nudity, which caught my by surprise since season one part one was censored. Then again, the nudity was a second long, and was presented as a picture in frame. whoppie-ding.

The material on these 3 discs would have easily fit onto just 2 discs and might have resulted in a cheaper selling price, but it was not to be.

The Man Show is still funniest with Kimmel and Carolla -- far, far funnier than the two new hosts that took over for Season Five. This DVD set offers 12 episodes and a few bonus features, but the bonus features are nothing to get too excited about.

Language that would have been bleeped out for TV is now heard in all its glory, but there is only a scant amount of it. Nothing to get all worked up about.

I really hope they plan on releasing Seasons 2-4 someday soon.

If you're looking for an entertainingly corny '50s serial this is a good choice. But I made the mistake of buying it mainly because I already had the 3D system that can be used to watch a few IMAX movies like "Encounter in the Third Dimension" and "Haunted Castle", and this set is advertised as working with that system. Unfortunately, as it turns out the original serial was not filmed in 3D, so all they did was add some occasional 3D effects to a mostly 2D movie, like computer-animated debris coming out of the screen during explosions. So don't be fooled by Razor3D's advertising this movie as part of their "3D Sci-Fi Collection"--if you're interested in 3D movies you should look elsewhere.

There are several things that make this film important to Motion Picture History: It was among the last Saturday Matinee serials made by Republic Pictures; It contains Leonard Nimoy's first screen appearance; it was among the films influential in the youth of filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

"Radar Men from the Moon" would be of interest to anyone wanting to add an example of a Saturday Matinee Cliffhanger to their collection. It has a more intelligent story in a genre not know for its intelligence. The special effects of the Lydecker brothers holds up pretty well, though it is far from the sophistication of today's cinema.

The premise is that men from the Moon come to the Earth in a Rocketship with a plan to take over the Earth. King is the head of a government agency established to deal with threats from Outer Space. He dawns a rocket propelled flying suit, and flies in his own rocketship, and works with a staff to detect the plots of the alien invaders and fight off their attacks.

"Radar Men from the Moon" was a sequel to an earlier Republic serial called "King of the Rocket Men".