News and Reviews Movie Reviews

Prepare to enter the new millenium a few months early. Marcus transports you into his sometimes frenetic, always evocative world with a power only possible via DVD. In fact, he has created a new art form for a new medium. Production quality is incredible. Worth the price just as a demo for your surround sound, so consider the artistry a bonus.

Ok first I have to say WOW! This producer has got to be the best of his time. He does sooo much with the medium he is given that he transfers the content of the DVD into your mind exciting pace, not a dull second. The poetry and images used are first rate, not to mention he adds Digital Dolby Surround Sound™ to the mix for added vigor. I definitely would recommend this DVD to any one who owns a player, it's spellbinding.

First good use of DVD's power, with the best surround sound mixing i've heard. A collection of poetry-based short films, each one alone worth the price of the disc.

February 3, 2004 is the final release date for Newsradio seasons 1-2 DVD,

i am a huge NewsRadio fan (just like many here) and i woke up this morning and got an email saying "Releasae date for NewsRadio"

anyways, February 3, 2004 is the day.

'Genius' is a word that you would seldom connect to an American comedy series, but Newsradio is without doubt one of the best programs to come out of the United States in the last 50 years...if ever. Not only were the scripts so strong, but the balance of characters was phenomenal. They all had unique and conflicting persona's that came together to produce something quite real and special. And always funny. I literally fell in love with this show, and by the looks of things so have many others.

Genius...

Newsradio is one of the funniest, best acted shows that I have ever seen. All of the characters are wonderfully acted and the writing is exquisite. I cannot wait until they finally decide to release the DVD of Newsradio, because I will be one of the first to buy it. Since FOX has cancelled it form their lineup and put some annoying show "classmates" on in it's place, I have not been able to find it on television on any channel. After Phil Hartman left however, the shows started to get a little repetitive, but they were still very funny and Jon Lovitz's character would still make me laugh. So c'mon already you guys! Everyone's ready for the Newsradio DVD!! :)

.. but a few disappointments. First the video quality is sub par for a DVD in my opinion. Second, the video is marred by terrible-looking titles displayed for several seconds on each song--wouldn't have minded it if they were smaller and in a better font. Also Huey's singing on "Heart and Soul" at the beginning is drowned out for some reason. All of this is probably due to the original broadcast and couldn't be helped, but I just couldn't give it 5 stars. That being said there are numerous good points: Huey's harp solo, a short drum solo before "Workin for a Living", an uptempo version of "Bad is Bad" (different than the version on Sports), good camera work, and good audio quality (aside from "Heart and Soul"). Definately an essential for a Huey Lewis and the News fan!

HUEY LEWIS IS SO COOL. THIS SHOW HAS ALL HIS BIG HITS AND SOUNDS GOOD: NEED I SAY MORE?

I saw Huey Lewis and the News in Seattle, right around the time this concert was filmed. I loved his concert. The music will get your heartbeat going strong (opening song..Heart of Rock n Roll).

The video quality is quite good on this dvd, the sound is good, but not like concerts recorded in this era. Huey plays an excellent harmonica for quite a bit in a few songs. He's fun to watch on stage, in the prime of his life, and the band is flawless. Camera angles and shots on stage were done well.

If you enjoy Huey Lewis and the News, this is a must for your collection.

I love this musical, and definitely recommend it for any musical lovers!! "The Best Things in Life Are Free" and "Ladies' Man" are two of my favorite songs from this movie.

This movie is one of my personal favorits of all time. It has great acting, wonderful songs/music, and very entertaning dance numbers. The first time I ever saw this movie on TV I ran to the nearest place to rent it. And soon after I got one of my own so I could watch it again and again. I strongly suggest you do the same! You won't regret it.

This lavish 1947 remake of the 1930 M-G-M film - which was priorly a 1927 Broadway musical - is still great fun to watch! Peter Lawford plays Tommy, the football hero, and pert, little June Allyson of the croaky voice plays Connie who's working her way through Tait College as a librarian. Patricia Marshall plays the school sexpot who has her heart set on Lawford but Tommy can't make his grades, so he must be tutored by Guess Who? Most every song is winning, the choreography is stunning and the old Technicolor (by Charles Schoenbaum) is brilliant. New songs which were added to the original score were PASS THAT PEACE PIPE & THE FRENCH LESSONS. ENJOY!

Apart from sporting the most powerful newsroom dynamics since His Girl Friday, this film is a lasting account of the delicate balance between intelligence, power, and sexual attraction, and that manages to gently skewer the news industry at the same time.

It is a simple yet intelligent romantic comedy, held up by crisp witty dialogue and topnotch performances by Holly Hunter and William Hurt both at the top of their game. Albert Brooks was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of a TV reporter who wants to be an anchor (even Jack Nicholson and John Cusack in little know roles turn in a surprise guest performance).

One could speculate that this movie didn't walk away with any statuettes depite being nominated in several Oscar categories -- and this is my main gripe with the movie -- because the very interesting build-up did not really culminate into a very satisfying ending. Sort of leaves me wanting for something more everytime.

Nevertless, the bustle of the entire movie is definitely worth a ride, if only due to its convincing examination of the atavistic social obsession with physical appearance and its ultimate triumph over intellect as a valued human attribute (personified by the meteoric career success of William Hurt's character in contrast to Brookes relative decline). I have seen this movie about 11 times now, and I can still take it -- that is saying something.

What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said? I've seen it countless times, and I still love it. A few years ago I watched it on the suggestion of my mother, since it is one of her favorite movies and I loved it too. Albert Brooks' performance as Aaron is comedic genius. He had so many funny lines, and was an all-around likeable guy, despite the fact that he did come off as whiny on occasion. Holly Hunter played the part of Jane very well, and she seemed like a very real person struggling with her hectic work life and lack of a social life, especially in her scheduled crying jags. William Hurt totally had it in him to play the "all flash, no substance" news reporter who may be slightly lost in the big, bad world of news anchoring, but somehow managed to pull it off. Brooks, Hunter and Hurt all deserved to be given the awards that were unfairly received by other actors. This is, and will always be, one of my favorite movies.

BROADCAST NEWS marks the first time I saw Holly Hunter, and I was mesmerized at her focus, quickness, passion, and finally her eccentric prettiness and sex appeal. The movie is hers from start to finish, and makes the 'love triangle' subplot almost unnecessary. She's so smart in the film (a rarity for a lead female character) that you almost think if her only romantic choices are William Hurt's style-but-no-substance anchor or Albert Brooks's neurotic but intellectually arrogant reporter, she'd be better off with Robert Prosky. I guess some of my feelings mirror what San Diego Darren said down below, but it dosen't stop me from being a bit p'od at Albert Brooks. His was the character I identified with the most- the guy who's always seen as a 'brother' to the girl he really loves, and my favorite scene in the whole film is him getting the chance to kiss Hunter romantically. (It's preceded by a truly poignant moment of him confessing how much he loves her.) When he goes petulant later in the story, it's a bit hard to take. Fortunately, the James Brooks script and direction are a joy throughout, culminating in two perfect scenes: one with Joan Cusack unraveling seconds before a tape feed, and a marvelous 360 (?) pan thru the studio showing a live news feed from producer to anchor in one shot.

It was alright but not as good as the first movie and even though I like William Devane I was a little disappointed that Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal didn't also star in it but it's a decent movie that I recommend for anyone who likes movies about baseball.

I saw it in the theaters in '77 when I played little league and never really got over the idea of stealing a van. I liked it better than the original which was good but lacked the depth and incredible climax of the "let them play" scene. Plus, Bob Watson makes a guest appearance. Jackie Earl Haley never got the respect he deserved and probably should have been nominated for an Oscar for his role as Kelly Leak in this film.

I love the Bad News Bears in Breaking Training for two reasons. Its a great movie and its the first movie i saw in the theaters on a 1977 summer afternoon in Bayside, NY. I was 7 at the time when my parents took me. The movie is both funny and heartwarming. Tanner Boyle is still the toughest bear around. I remember after i saw the movie how I idolized Kelly Leak. Great story line with Kelly trying to make amends with his estranged Dad played by William Devane. I highly recommend this movie.

This movie is so full of bad language that after I seen it myself, I decided to keep it from my kids. I was surprised that I liked the movie when it first came out in the 70's. I actually read the novel when I was in junior high. This movie is a thing of the past like the hippies. DON'T BUY IT.

This is not a good movie for kids. There was a lot of bad language, and there was a lot of yelling and people were angry.
But, at the end, I liked where the team that beat the Bears apologized for being mean to the Bears throughout the season. That is the reason that I gave the movie two stars.

Walter Matthau's character in this film was despicable. He was an alcoholic and a bum, an abusive aging ex-ball-player with an ex-family who swore too much, drank and smoked all the time and appeared to be semi-miserable -- the sort of influence that every parent hates and fears.

Put another way, he was ABSOLUTELY GREAT, and I wish to heck I'd been friends with a dude like that when I was a young baseball-playing kid!!

This patriotic DVD is badly edited. Their are numerous times when the audio isn't in sync with the lips of people talking. Transition from scene to scene is rough and abrupt.
I am returning this DVD for replacement because it is defective, and the last 1/3 of the DVD is unviewable. Perhaps the replacement DVD won't have these faults.

This was a really good overview of historic events in America. There is so much news footage of events that many of us were not alive to see or if we were - to remember it. I remember my dad waking us up to see the walk on the moon - but I didn't remember the footage of it because I was so young. It was neat to see it. I also remember the Challenger explosion and they included a very short speech by President Reagan that night. I can appreciate these things more now that I understand the gravity of these situations. They had really good coverage of the September 11 attacks, including part of the prayer service on the 14th. It is well worth seeing several times and keeping to show to children, grandchildren, and on to other generations. I would recommend it highly - the only thing is, they got the date of Kennedy's funeral wrong. They have 1962 - otherwise I would have given it 5 stars.

Let Freedom Ring is a CBS News chronological, 150 minute, documentary that highlights outstanding acts of patriotism in American history ranging from World War I through the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Vignettes, soul-stirring songs, and quintessential footage, including President George W. Bush's September 20 speech in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks, mark this powerful DVD presentation. Highly recommended for both school and community library collections, Let Freedom Ring is also available in a video cassette format...

Tragedy mars the background of nearly every character in Shipping News, a very good but not perfect video made from Annie Proulx's book of the same name. The widowed Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) and his daughter head off with Aunt Agnes (the inimitable Dame Judi Dench) to the old abandoned family homestead on a heartlessly barren piece of rock on Newfoundland's coast, hoping to begin their lives anew.

For the record, I read the book first and loved it: Annie Proulx's prose is scrappy and idiosyncratic, and her characters come across as actual people rather than plot devices. But I loved the movie, too, as a separate entity. Julianne Moore is exceptionally good in this film, which is saying something. Judi Dench (who, pace a previous reviewer, does NOT appear in 50% of all films - would that she did! - not that long ago, she appeared onstage in both London and New York in Amy's View) is the perfect embodiment of Aunt Agnis. Many reviewers objected to the briefness of Cate Blanchett's appearance: to me it was luxury casting. (Thank you, Ms. Blanchett, for taking a small but pivotal role in a beautiful and well-directed film.) One reviewer complained about the inconsistent Newfoundland accents; well, many of the characters left Newfoundland early and spent most of their lives in places like upstate New York, so it's only natural that their accents were affected (perhaps this film is TOO subtle for those over-scrupulous viewers). What a great pleasure it was to see Scott Glenn, Pete Postlethwaite, and Canada's own under-rated Gordon Pinsent shine in challenging roles.
Then there was Kevin Spacey, physically unlike Annie Proulx's hero. What a performance, though! I disliked Mr. Spacey's Oscar-winning turn in the over-rated American Beauty, but his work in this film was beautiful and sincere.
A lovely, deeply moving film version of a very memorable book.
(And, pace another reviewer, it's best to finish a book before you criticize it.)

Let me say first that I have not read the book. I think it is a mistake to read a book first and then go see the Hollywood adaptation; there is just no way that the screen can capture in a couple of hours what it takes days to do in print.

That being said, I really enjoyed this movie. It is certainly not perfect, but Kevin Spacey turns in a really strong performance. I didn't enjoy Judy Dench's performance as much as I usuaally do. The story is engrossing, and this is one of the few movies that I have seen multiple times; fact is, my wife and I watch it almost every month.

Oh CRUD! Is this a baseball movie or a Japan documentary? If this was supposed to be a baseball movie of little league kids, they should have put a little more baseball in it. I like the humor however. But without Tanner and Lupus, the humor is dry. It's just plain garbage! I wish that they would get the TV series out on video too!! It beats the crud out of this one!!

This movie rounds out the three Bears movies and helped pave the way to the short lived tv series of the same name. While there is very little baseball in this film (the filmmakers get to caught up with the idea of being in Japan and forget who the film is about) and Tony Curtis is not Walter Matthau (but who is?) the film still has its moments and isn't without the smallest of pleasures. A perfect film for kids around 7 years old who like baseball. All others need not bother.

...All the Bad News Bears movies are good. I have all 3 on DVD at home and I watch them all the time and never get sick of it. This third one is good also. It does show the team from the first two of the Bad News Bears through the whole movie. They don't play till the end though. I think my favorite one is the second one where they play at the Astrodome that's my favorite one. It's still a classic and fun to watch.