Don Movie Reviews

i grew up with the "man of action" for so many years.
gi j was bar none the best action figure toyline ever
despite past competition from mego's micronauts or kenner's star wars line.

the doccumentary mostly centered who was behind the concept of joe. it was very informative and to me the real star of the show was joe himself, as in those tv ads. it brought back a lot of fond memories. i was glad that mitch (the man behind the documentary) also included a brief segment regardind a cool but all-too-short toyline..SUPER JOE. which was suppossed to be the 12 inch counterpart's successor but unfortunetly didn't live up to expectations.

it was also good to see vp kirk bozigian, after all these years.
i had the honor of meeting him at the 30th gi joe aniversary 10 years ago.

all in all a cool retrospective on one of america's greatest icons.

This is not a cheap promo knock-off. This is a serious, well-made documentary about the history and development of GI Joe. This documentary contains interviews with many of the men and women who created Joe, and their recollections are fascinating. The majority of this 2-hour documentary is focused on the creation of Joe... My only complaint is once we launch into the history of Joe, scant little time (maybe all of 5 minutes) is spent on the Adventure Team era (1970-77). How is possible to do a 2-hour documentary on GI Joe with no mention of Kung Fu Grip or Mike Powers Atomic Man? Still, I was pleased to see how much time was spent on the '80s 3-3/4 inch Real American Hero Joes, and I was very interested to learn the story being the triumphant return of the full-sized Joe in 1991. So with my Adventure Team disappointment set aside (and maybe I'm only disappointed because this was my Joe era), I highly recommend this documentary to GI Joe fans and fans of baby boomer era toys.

This documentary is flawless with great detail going into its production. The visuals created by the filmmakers are outstanding, as well as the behind the scenes footage. Being able to put a face to the names of individuals that are responsible for Joe's existance makes the production even more personal. The extras, (original commercials, etc.), makes this an informative and entertaining documentary that puts GI Joe into perspective: he is a toy as well as an icon, and should be treated as both. A must for all collectors as well as those who love nastolgia.

A great DVD! You can watch 1 1/2 hours worth of a cute, little hamster having fun and solving problems. The captions make it so that everyone can enjoy this DVD! This is a great DVD that includes Hamtaro and all of his Ham-Ham friends!
Overall:
Sound: A (Great Background music)
Menu: B+ (Good, but could include more options)
Picture: A++ (Hamsters have great detail and you are sure to love them)
Fun: A++++ (Fun for the whole family to watch!)
This is a great DVD!!!

In this, the second volume of Hamtaro cartoons, you'll find three classic episodes from the first season of Hamtaro. They are 'Come out Bijou', 'Diamonds Of Sugar', and 'First Time at the Beach'. While the length of this DVD is lacking a little, when coupled with the first volume 'Hamtaro - Hamtaro and the Ham-Hams' you'll have enough to keep the kiddies occupied for awhile.

cute and fun, with carebear values. Hamtaro is adorable and smart

A fictional story that captures the essence of minor league baseball in a small town in the 1950's. William Russ (Roy Dean Bream) is great as an aging pitcher, whose dedication and love for the game contrasts with the flippant and immature attitudes of some of the younger players. Glenn Plummer (Tyrone Debray) portrays a 17 year old black pitcher making his start in the minors. Roy Dean becomes friend and mentor to Tyrone. Russ's character has a health condition that is kept secret, revealed in the end of this poignant story. The baseball action is realistic, rare in baseball movies.

Want to see a great baseball film, without major stars or sexist overtones and language? This movie has it all. The drive and passion of an "over the hill player" on his way out who befriends a young black player trying to enter the big leagues in the 1950's, is the focus of this film. Great dialogue, fantastic acting, and bring some Kleenex. Similiar to "Bang the Drum Slowly" in pace, this is a keeper for all baseball fans young and old

Casting, detail to to the emotions and charm of the game, and the very heart of the minor league-the people that make the game.

The kind of movie you don't mind seeing over and over. This movie depicts one player's love for the game, a coaches dedication to game and the abilities of his players, and also the reality of what the minor leagues were all about.

I guess what impressed me the most what the script. The dialogue was appropriate, as was the content. A family movie.

Ahead of its time? 'The Avengers" was a popular 1960's British fantasy-adventure series that focused on the exploits of a male-female duo in the service of the British government. The series underwent several changes of its female lead but its one constant male lead was John Steed always portrayed by the debonair Patrick Macnee (Originally the John Steed had two male partners but that format eventually changed). Kathy Gale portrayed by Honor Blackman became Steed's first female partner. However, when Honor Blackman departed the series and Diana Rigg entered as Mrs. Emma Peel, the show became an international sensation. Rigg brought sophistication, wit, charm and beauty, which hid her lethal and highly visual judo and karate abilities. Macnee and Rigg complemented each other beautifully with their carefree witty and charming exchange of dialogue. The show distinguished itself with bizarre and futuristic villains and fantastic plots. Popular at the height of the James Bond craze, the show was able to distinguish itself with its simply over-the-top visual style. Laurie Johnson's catchy and sophisticated main title theme matched the visuals of the show and still conjures up an image of the series when listened to today. When Diana Rigg left the series, Linda Thorson entered as John Steed's new partner Tara King. The series soon went off the air in the United States. It was a shame because the episodes with Tara King were quite good. The King episodes seemed to be a little more down to earth and contained some very good writing and intricate plotting. In any event series definitely left its mark amongst the finest. These DVD copies are gorgeous and very welcome.

If you relish a series like "77 Sunset Strip," "T.H.E. Cat," or "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE" you no doubt know about the content of what you are getting. You are more likely concerned about the quality of the product. Like John might say to Emma, "You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back. Just watch the hat please." John and Emma are back and are here to stay via DVD technology. Being on DVD, the aesthetics about the actual episodes are not in question here. More appropriately one may ask how they look. Thank Mother because they are much better than the Sean Connery film. They look good, very good.

You can look up the individual reviews. This collection will either bring back old memories or create some new old memories. However you will have friends and relatives that will want to remember Mother (Patrick Newell.) A single case makes the movies easier to keep track of and look better on your video storage wall. Being DVDs this is a one-time investment. Buying them individually can add up in shipping and handling. So as Emma says "Always keep your bowler on in time of stress, and watch out for diabolical masterminds." And buy the collection. Also available is Avengers '67 Set 1 Vol 02 (1966).

The story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in WWII is a great story. The unit certainly deserved to have a film made about them. Nice film.

Being a third generation Japanese-American (Sansei), and having my parents interned in the camps, this movie has a special place in my heart. Robert Pirosh did an incredible job in getting so much information about the Japanese- American situation: the camps, the differences between the Hawaiian and State- side Japanese (Kotonks and Kanakas), the different views of the war and even using a Japanese curse word as a password! I was so impressed and pleased with the results.

The movie follows the exploits of the 442, the first all-Nisei (Japanese- American) Regimental combat team in WWII. In early 1942, all the Japanese- Americans in California, Seattle, Oregon and Hawaii were uprooted from their homes and put into camps. All the volunteers were from the 10 internment camps throughout the western states. They felt that this was the only way to prove to the U. S. that they were as patriotic as anybody else, in fact most of them were American Citizens! Since they had nothing to lose, but their lives, their motto was "GO FOR BROKE!" and that's what they did. They are today the most decorated battalion in the history of the U.S. military and proved something that they shouldn't have to be proved, that they were Americans!

Van Johnson is used as the "white man" foil, to show how the rest of the country looked at the Japanese-American, and he does a great job. He starts off as a bigot, but as he begins to understand and respect his troops, he becomes one of them. There's a funny scene where one of his men call him "BAKATARE", which is a curse word close to "Damn, stupid...." and tells him that the soldier is being very polite, he's bowing as he says this. This film has everything: humor, action, great characters and... truth!

This is one of the only films to focus in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. It shows the courage of the Japanese-Americans who fought against the Germans during World War II while their families were still imprisoned in the United States. A favorite of my grandfather, a member of the 442nd.

Great acting especially jerry o'connell he is a babe and i have a big crush on him im in love with him and i have loads of pictures of him. anyway back to the film was really supprised it has a great story line.

This movie is something of a departure for Sam Elliott, but he, as always, pulls it off masterfully. Like fine wine, he just gets better with age.

I think that the great strength of the film is its mood. Rather than a rousing story, although the story is interesting enough, watching it is just a pleasurable experience. The characters are believable, the scenery incredible (although it was shot in Canada rather than in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness), and is suitable for the entire family.

If you are a fan of Elliott and/or just plain old good movies, then you should enjoy this one.

Sam Elliott and Jerry O'Connell give an award winning performance. I wished there were more great movies like this today. Passion, suspence and humor are all apart of this great movie. This is a must see movie!

I got this DVD today and I liked it.It contains the music video,the making of the video,and commericals for the Osbourne Family album(there's a few.)But it was a fun DVD.If you're a real Kelly fan,then you NEED it.

I bought the Kelly Osbourne DVD and it was worth my money... and it has the video, making the video and MTV promos on it!

This DVD rocks! I was just expecting a music video and something promoting her album, but there was a lot more. This DVD single has more than any other one I've seen. The making of the video is so cool. You get to see what it was really like behind the scenes and how a video is made. The Osbourne Family TV spots were great too! This is a definite must-have for all Kelly fans! And if you're not a Kelly fan, buy the DVD and I'm sure you'll become one! I would recommend this DVD to everyone. Keep rockin' Kelly!

I just rented this fabulous DVD about Canadian novelist/poet/singer/traveller Leonard Cohen and am so glad I did... it is a little gem of a movie, giving us a first-hand look into the young Cohen as he, in his quiet, attractive way, lives and learns and laughs about life, in whatever order the day seems to bring him.

Filmed in Black & White and released in 1965, the film was made as a 'documentary,' and as such takes us 'behind-the-scenes' into a slightly-staged version of Cohen's day-to-day life, complete with scenes of him waking up, bathing, shaving, hanging out at the local bar or a friend's house with his closest friends, at a book signing, and walking in the Montreal park where he played as a child. The film was shot before he became famous as a singer, and as such it focuses mainly on his work/career as a poet and novelist.

The film was made by the Canadian National Film Board, and as such has a dated, now-quite-funny voice-over about Cohen. At the same time, the people behind the film definetely "got" Cohen -- the film is made with the same type of quiet humour that Cohen himself possesses. I think one of my favorite moments in the film shows Cohen being interviewed by a stern, older man who insists that Cohen couldn't possibly be a poet without things that "bother" or upset him. The man kind of insinuated that Cohen must have a mission of some sort, something deep -- that by being a poet, he must have been trying to address some wrong in the world and do something which would help correct it. But Cohen would have none of that. Looking like he does for much of the film: quiet, a bit smug, self-consciously attractive and intelligent, Cohen quietly responds, in a soft-spoken manner similar to that of B&W footage I've seen of fellow '60's poet Jim Morrison, "well, what I'm really interested in is a state of grace. When I wake up in the morning, I have to know that things are in balance...." The interviewer gives up completely then, and instead of getting any more miffed or confused, finally says, "okay, now you've lost me." And then you know it's Score One, Cohen and Film; Score Zero, Stuffy Clueless Interviewer.

I Highly Recommended this film to fans of Cohen's music, his writing, or others of the wanna-be beatnik variety. There are plenty of black turtlenecks, steaming cups of coffee, intently gazing eyes, sly comic humour, stern black glasses, and seductively charming lines. His deadpan sarcasm and semi-stand-up comedy routines work just as well in 2001 as they did in 1964. His dashing, quiet, tongue-in-cheek humour reminds me much of a reading I saw recently of fellow Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood. They both had me laughing in the aisles. But it was smart laughter, if that makes sense.

Better than a trip to the local coffehouse for that poetry slam -- well, just as good, but this one gives you a glimpse of history. I found it captivating. Forty years later, the Man still has It.

Leonard Cohen may well be guilty in the first of carnality and celebrity but this quaint, arcane Canadian documentary of the fameless sixties absolves him of everything. He works, as his biographer Ira Nadel states, as a minituarist, painstakingly chronicling the life of the heart. Here is the scroll of his beginnings, a sepia-tinted fusion of poetry, vanity and cynicism made great by a corner-of-the-eye self-consciousness that already spies the future. Cohen's father Nathan was a keen amateur filmmaker who documented much of his children's activities and sections of this footage reveal a boy already in love with the captive image. The film is wonderfully portentous and immediately evocative of old streets, old books, the verities. There is a little of Brassai here, nothing of MTV. If this documentary could be twinned with the terrific BBC film of the "Tower of Song" 1988 world tour, which returned the poet to Hydra (whatever happened to that film?), the span of Cohen's growth and importance would be finally coherently charted. Which is not to say "captured". No one who reads or listens to Cohen believes that the silence of Mt Baldy is his final statement. Watch this. And wait for the curve ball.

For all you people who got to know Leonard Cohen after his 1988 album "I'm your man" this should be a must see video. You will find out that this living legend received a very classical training and was groomed for a high position in the Canadian world of poetry. Instead of course he threw it all away for "an education in the world" and became a pop singer. This is an important video that almost didn't happen. The documentary was supposed to be made about five poets but Cohen was the youngest and least stuffy of them all and the director wisely focused on Cohen and saw the genius in the bard of Montreal. All of this is news to the new fans of Cohen but for the old timers like me this is ancient but never the less pleasant history. Anything by Leonard Cohen is welcome. Yes, he is that good.

this is another good noir, mabye not as good as the earlier ones, but good all the same

When Kirika begins to show an interest in an artist that she meets on the riverbank, Mirielle warns the girl not to get involved with him. When an old enemy of Mirielle's returns to town, she and Kirika are marked, and Mirielle's warning to the young girl is tragically proven when the artist is caught in the crossfire.
Then Mirielle begins to unearth dark secrets from her family's past, concerning Les Soldats, her uncle, and the reason her family was killed.
The mystery deepens when Les Soldats contracts Noir to eliminate a Triad in Taiwan. The Triad is served by a ruthless assassin of extreme skill. Mirielle and Kirika are drawn into an ambush, only to be rescued by Chloe.
After dispatching the Triad's assassin, Chloe bids the other two farewell, with the promise that "Le Grande Retour" was about to happen.
This series is amazing in it's ability to say a great deal without the characters speaking much. Kirika is not a flat, emotionless killer, but rather, a young girl, subject to the whims and fancies of love. We see her emotions most through her eyes, rather than in her words, and we also see her painting along the riverside as well.
Chloe, the deadly killer of Les Soldats, is not without her own emotional moments, such as those where she interacts with Altena, a member of Les Soldats who has designs on Noir, and the organization.
Even Mirielle tells a great deal with a single moment. After the artist is killed, she confronts Kirika, "That's why I told you." Then we see her alone, crying ,"That's why I told you not to do it."
I recommend Noir for everyone who enjoys a serious story with complex characters.

After Chloe's dramatic appearance in the previous episodes, Kirika and Mirielle face what for them is a moment of calm. First Kirika finds herself being drawn to a young painter home from the Foreign Legion. But when a price is put on her head as a member of Noir, he is dragged into a deadly conflict, and the women go on a hunt that is part self-defense and part revenge.

No sooner does the dust from that settle when Mirielle's uncle returns to Paris. He is the man who rescued her from Sicily when the Soldats killed her parents. A master assassin himself, Feyder acted as her father while he taught her the trade. But Feyder's work puts him in conflict with those of Noir with the inevitable violent confrontation. These two episodes form a parallel pair - poignant demonstrations of both of the women's human and killer aspects. Leaving the viewer to decide what lies at their center.

In the last two episodes Mirielle and Kirik find themselves hired to bring down the leadership of a powerful Taiwanese triad - by Les Soldats of all people. Mirielle suspects treachery, but is now determined to pry out the secret of this shadow organization, and accepts the bait willingly. But a difficult job suddenly turns into and impossible on when Shaoli, called 'The Cold-Blooded Killer,' enters the fray against them. Shaoli is an unstoppable killer who specializes in deadly poisons. Les Soldats react by sending in Chloe to help, and the ensuing conflict leaves casualties everywhere.

I was struck, again, by the find story line, playing Kirika's waif-like nature against Mirielle's strength of character. Chloe, whose motivations are always a mystery makes for a strange balance among killers. For the first time we hear hints of the relationship between Kirika and Chloe, which are still just as confusing as when we knew nothing. The directors have a knack of implying that there is some underlying spiritual mystery, where there very well may be none. In the shadows of Noir, anything may happen.

Art, music, and choreography are excellent, as always.

This is a film demonstrating the frustrating experiences and heroic attempts of abolitionists and fugitive slaves. It is a great introduction to the subject for younger viewers. Some scenes are graphic in violence (true to life). Other sequences are little more than stereotypical vehicles for a storybook happy ending. The cruelty of slavery is minimized, yet the terror of attempted escape is portrayed intensely. The streamlined representation of the Underground Railroad is romantacized and not enough credit is given to the initiative of the runaways themselves. As a film it is engaging. As a representation of history it needs a clarifying introduction.

I just watched this movie for a study in my history class, and was completely captivated. I thought it was going to be a boring
school movie, but was amazed to find otherwise. After the film ended, I was heartbroken because I wanted to watch it again. Fortunately, I know that it is available on video so I might purchase it in the near future. RACE TO FREEDOM is a superbly acted, well dramatized historical film that displays the horror
of slavery with great intelligence. This film is well scripted
and well laid out. The ending, though being very fairy-taleish
is extremely happy and when it ended, our class clapped. Hehe, and when Solomon shot the bounty hunter (from 'Cowboys Don't Cry'), our class cheered. An excellent film.

This video is an excellent addition to anyone's library. It follows the journeys of four runaway slaves to the promised land in Canada. The filming is beautiful and the story heartrending and powerful. Shows the difference that human beings can make by helping one another against the odds. I would definitely recommend this movie.