Don Movie Reviews

I love Charlotte's Web.I remember as a kid that I use to watch the movie & read the book.At the end of the movie I thought it was sad when Charlotte died.I love Wilbur,Fern,Templeton & the Goose.I love the songs that they have on the movie especially Smorgasbord.

Charlotte's Web is one of my favorite childhood movies. I recall My 1st grade teacher taking my entire class to see the film's premiere in 1973. Over the years, my family watched the film on TV. My late mother presented me with the the novel at the age of 12. The music and animation was marvelous. Charlotte's death still brings tears to my eyes. The movie is a treasure for generations.

When Farmer Zuckerman was going to "do away with" the runt of his pig's litter, his daughter tearfully convinces him to allow her the responsibility of raising "Wilbur". Wilbur turns into the barnyard joy, and eventually wins not only first prize at the fair, but because of the wisdom of the old spider, Charlotte, becomes a famed attraction.

This classic children's story deals with the life cycle and explains, through the farm animals' eyes, that birth, life and eventual death are all natural, and nothing to fear. After a laborous life, Charlotte dies, but all are reminded of her "magic" when her little baby spiders hatch and go on into the world to live their lives.

Debbie Reynold lends her voice to Charlotte, and several beautiful songs envelop this delightful story. This one is right up there with animated Disney Classics, a film every child should enjoy, one of the very best in its class.*****

I love Charlotte's Web.I remember as a kid that I use to watch the movie & read the book.At the end of the movie I thought it was sad when Charlotte died.I love Wilbur,Fern,Templeton & the Goose.I love the songs that they have on the movie especially Smorgasbord.

Charlotte's Web is one of my favorite childhood movies. I recall My 1st grade teacher taking my entire class to see the film's premiere in 1973. Over the years, my family watched the film on TV. My late mother presented me with the the novel at the age of 12. The music and animation was marvelous. Charlotte's death still brings tears to my eyes. The movie is a treasure for generations.

When Farmer Zuckerman was going to "do away with" the runt of his pig's litter, his daughter tearfully convinces him to allow her the responsibility of raising "Wilbur". Wilbur turns into the barnyard joy, and eventually wins not only first prize at the fair, but because of the wisdom of the old spider, Charlotte, becomes a famed attraction.

This classic children's story deals with the life cycle and explains, through the farm animals' eyes, that birth, life and eventual death are all natural, and nothing to fear. After a laborous life, Charlotte dies, but all are reminded of her "magic" when her little baby spiders hatch and go on into the world to live their lives.

Debbie Reynold lends her voice to Charlotte, and several beautiful songs envelop this delightful story. This one is right up there with animated Disney Classics, a film every child should enjoy, one of the very best in its class.*****

I love Charlotte's Web.I remember as a kid that I use to watch the movie & read the book.At the end of the movie I thought it was sad when Charlotte died.I love Wilbur,Fern,Templeton & the Goose.I love the songs that they have on the movie especially Smorgasbord.

Charlotte's Web is one of my favorite childhood movies. I recall My 1st grade teacher taking my entire class to see the film's premiere in 1973. Over the years, my family watched the film on TV. My late mother presented me with the the novel at the age of 12. The music and animation was marvelous. Charlotte's death still brings tears to my eyes. The movie is a treasure for generations.

When Farmer Zuckerman was going to "do away with" the runt of his pig's litter, his daughter tearfully convinces him to allow her the responsibility of raising "Wilbur". Wilbur turns into the barnyard joy, and eventually wins not only first prize at the fair, but because of the wisdom of the old spider, Charlotte, becomes a famed attraction.

This classic children's story deals with the life cycle and explains, through the farm animals' eyes, that birth, life and eventual death are all natural, and nothing to fear. After a laborous life, Charlotte dies, but all are reminded of her "magic" when her little baby spiders hatch and go on into the world to live their lives.

Debbie Reynold lends her voice to Charlotte, and several beautiful songs envelop this delightful story. This one is right up there with animated Disney Classics, a film every child should enjoy, one of the very best in its class.*****

I just got my DVD copies of both films(This & Return from witch mountain.) This is a very good movie. It's about two kids who have supernatural powers. They can forsee the future, talk to animals, lift things in the air-and jump 15 feet in the air to catch a baseball.

However, they don't know how they got these powers. Where they born with these powers? The two kids Tony & Tia(Played by Ike Eisenmann & Kim Richards)are different from the other kids. After a confrontation with Truck(Dermott Downs), They discover a map inside of Tia's star case.

After saving the life of a man, he comes and claims to be thier uncle-they are forced to live with him. It turns out that his employer is none other than Mr. Bolt(Ray Miland)who wants to use them for his own ends. Tia smells rotten fish (Try Rotten eggs)-she senses very strongly-that Mr Bolt is not a very nice man and she senses danger if they stay at Mr. Bolt's Mansion.

Then, when they dine with Mr. Bolt(I never did say he wasn't a gentleman-just not a very nice one)Mr Bolt tells them that he knows about thier powers and tells them how to make it profitable. After going to another room, Tia & Tony overhear a coversation that MR. Bolt is planning to have them locked away on a deserted island. Tia & Tony then make plans of esacpe.

They do escape and are chased till the end of the film. Helping them is a crusty old man Jason O'Day(Well played by Eddie Albert)Who has a winnebego.

I must say that the Chemistry between Eisenmann & Richards worked so well, people think they are brother & Sister in real life. They are not related in real life. I think it's the acting talents of these two is what made it work so well. Dirctor John Hough(The legend of hell house)did a remarkable job on this film.

The special effects were great for it's time. Some of them were cheezy, but in those days(The 70's)they didn't have computors. But in my opinion, the powers these kids have is not the real story. The real story is that two childern are searching for home, and discovering who they really are. This is the story.

The DVD has some special features on it and an audio commentary by Kim & Ike and John Hough. It provides a lot of insight on how the film was made.

I like Escape To Witch Mountain better than any other Disney film. It's probably in the top 5 best kid-movies ever made for that matter. I'm now 36, but was 7 when I first saw it. I probably had a crush on Kim Richards back then but I clearly remember seeing the movie at the theater and loving it.

Looking at the dvd now.. the direction by John Hough is crisp and the effects, though not digital, have loads of SOUL, creativity and charm. When a car full of bad guys wrecks.. the fact that they show the 4 occupants safely getting out of the car is a nice touch (after all kids are watching this).. and that (and lots of other things in this movie) speak to the innocence that still actually existed for those of us lucky to be kids in the 1970s... there was still a common-respect in large parts of society.. kids could be kids .. and all the in-your-face junk that permeates much of the world of kids today was years away...

Back on the subject at hand...I watched the DVD (which is nicely loaded with extras) and was surprised by a couple of moments in the film that clearly ...we'll say INFLUENCED.. a certain Mr. Spielberg years later. One involves a menacing object being shown in a rear-view mirror (like Jurassic Park!). The 2nd is when the Winnebago eludes its chasers (I won't say exactly how!).... looking rather similar (shot for shot!) to a scene in E.T. involving a chase and bicycles. (This film is HUGELY suprior to E.T. by the way!)

But I don't want to get too bogged down in how other movies clearly ripped this great one off!

This film is amazing with it's memorable musical score, acting by Albert and the kids, mystery-unfolding storyline and warm, nicely-done conclusion. The open credit sequence is really good too. Perhaps most of all... it has something that gobs of movies today certainly DO NOT - a great story.

I plan to show it to my 5 year old neice this weekend!

Enjoy it!

Escape to Witch Mountain is one of my favorite films of all time.
It differs quite a bit from the book it's based on ("Escape to Witch Mountain" by Alexander Key), but they each have their own charm...unlike the most recent remake. Tia and Tony are two of my favorite characters, an I am glad to finally see this movie available on DVD. [Return to Witch Mountain is much more faithful to the book of the same name by Alexander Key. Now if only that movie will come to DVD...]

What a car wreck of a movie! It's so bad you can't help but to watch it. Another film with the Golan-Globus seal of quality! Yeesh!! Nobody can act in this film except the kid, who outdoes everybody! Painful dialogue, lousy production values and Salt Lake City, Utah standing in for Los Angeles. Think of this film as a showcase for the wide array of ninja weaponry/gadgets shown and used and it's sort of worth your time. Expect any more than that and you will be sorely dissappointed. Real 80's cheese at it's best (or is it worst?). The gangbangers look like rejects from a Village People audition! Was this supposed to look menacing back then??! This film, however, did start a ninja craze back in the 80's and was popular enough for ninjitsu master (and star), Sho Kushugi, to make several more films (most went straight to video), and appear in a TV series (The Master, starring Lee Van Cleef as a ninja! Sho was his ninja arch enemy and made several appearances in the show). All this being said, I was impressed with the video quality of this dvd. The video is so sharp and clear that if it wasn't for the cars and clothes that gave away the true age, you would've sworn they just shot the film yesterday! It's not letterboxed, which is a shame, but since this plays like a bad made-for-cable-tv movie, it fits the full-screen format very well. If you're a ninja fan or want the nostalgia trip of seeing this film again (I hadn't seen it since I saw it in theaters as a teenager way back when), you might have fun with it. Everybody else, stay far away...!

This and Rage Of Honor are good Ninja movies, but why did MGM release the two Ninja flicks in full screen! Lazy mabe? Well TV widscreen is the way of the future so I think I'll pass this edition and hope a widescreen version is released, or just buy some Japanese import of the movie. Thanks for nothing MGM!

About 2-3years ago, I wrote a review that helped four out of five people, and one who e-mailed me back personally. These people didn't realize that there were extra gore scenes cut out and a big scene that was cut out towards the end.

I have the 35mm trailer of the film, And I was very happy that MGM put the original trailer on there. Now if MGM could start doing original movie poster artwork for their films, because the original poster art for this film is excellent.

This is the ultimate Ninja film of the 80's, and now you can see it in it's full glory with every scene intact.

A friend of mine has put up a neat Yahoo Group Site of Movie Trailers and T.V. Spots that I'm helping him with. I am making a special section of showing screenshots of the extra footage only in the original movie trailer of Revenge Of The Ninja. It's too bad those scenes couldn't of been added to the final cut of the film, but at least you get to see a glimpse of the trailer.

I would encourage anybody who's a Ninja fan or Martial Arts Fan, to buy this terrific movie, and Amazon gives it a tremendous price for the DVD.

And Drop by to visit the group site ...

I dislike saying anything negative about a Jimmy Stewart movie, but...
This was one of the worst written, poorly edited, and badly acted movies I've seen in a long time. The story was choppy, incomplete and unbelievable (even for a movie about witches and warlocks!). It was so painful to watch that I stopped it less than 1/2 way through and came back to it the next day, hoping that a good night sleep would make it more palatable. It didn't.

When black-clad barefoot Gillian (Kim Novak) yearns aloud to her cat/familiar (Pyewacket) for a normal Christmas around normal people, she gets more than she bargains for. When the new tenant in her building, Shep (Jimmy Stewart), falls across her path, she decides to seek a little revenge on his fiancee who was a beau-stealing, poison pen in college.

Kim Novak is absolutely beautiful in this one and Jack Lemmon, as her wacky bongo playing brother fills out a perfect cast. The aunt (I can't remember her name) is wonderfully batty - probably the inspiration for Esmerelda in the Bewitched series (just my guess).

KIM NOVAK! Boy, she ignites the screen [with feline companion] as the elegant gowned [courtesy of artiste Jean-Louis] Witch Gillian - seducing the befuddled, bemused and bewildered James Stewart - what a LADY and what appeal! Just a delight to watch this innocent tale of Witchery set in mid fifties Manhattan where everything seems possible - and is! Kind of a pre-curser to "Bewitched", and the rest of the delightful followers this is the counterpoint to the innate darkness of "Rosemary's Baby".

James and Kim are perfectly cast - aslo teamed in the different "Vertigo" - others? Hermoine Gingold as the rival Witch, Elsa Lanchester as the dotty Aunt, and Jack Lemon as the playful sprightly bongo-playing young warlock is a dream - also Ernie Kovacks- so funny and brilliant as the bumbling, slightly intoxicated author.

BUT it is the utter charm and devine beauty of Miss Novak [especially in those backless creations by Jean-Louis] that entraps and enspells all - not forgetting the feline Piewacket!

DVD is great - presenting widescreen and cropped format on the menu - no disc flipping. etc - neat!

With the Jackass/ CKY phenomenon currently laying waste to the Western World, angering the self-righteous geezers who rant about the greater public good & old fashioned family values; the general public has the liberating opportunity to watch wannabes in search of their 15 minutes put their lives at risk & do everything in their power to offend the sensibilities of everybody, while simultaneously having them laugh till their guts rupture.
One such fellow is JACKASS's Steve-O. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME features Steve-O performing outrageous stunts which see him risking life & limb, & stripping him of his dignity. Each to his own.
Steve-O does all this crazy stuff because he hates school & work. Fair enough. And because he wants "..to be remembered forever, dude". Do I detect a hint of megalomania here?
Here is a quick run down of some of the many delightfully disgusting & depraved items you will find within the confines of this DVD:
* Snorting hot curry up his nose in a restaurant,then throwing up on his plate- the Indian owners congratulate Steve-o, exclaiming "We don't know how you did it!".
* Diving through a car windscreen & getting a deep gash in his tuckus for his trouble.
* Getting a friend to hock a loogie directly into his eye- never mind the risk of catching meningitis, this is all for entertainment.
* Setting fire to his hair- something I'd love to see Green MP Nandor Tanczhos do live in parliament. That'd inject some excitement into the lives of those old windbags in the Beehive.
* Human dart-board a la BLOODSUCKING FREAKS, hilarious stuff. Has to be seen to be believed- will anger the morals brigade because they'd consider this to be "degrading & dehumanising conduct". Steve-O's doing it of his own free will. Nobody is co-ercing him into doing these masochistic stunts. So if this offends you, then go outside & make a daisy chain or something.
* Eating BBQ roadkill rustled up by a true blue redneck good ol' boy. Menu includes squirrel, rat & possum. Steve-O barely chews a mouthfull until he ejects the contents of his stomach. What a wussy. He'd bum out on FEAR FACTOR. Whut? No hot sauce? Shee-oot! Uncle Jesse woulda had some!
* Having vodka injected into his legs through an IV drip. This stunt is really nothing new: I read somplace that Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx once injected whisky into his veins when he ran out of heroin. Yawn!
All this and more: wait till you see the showstopping urinal stunt. I'm amazed NZ's censors let it through, & God Bless them for doing so!
So if you are sick of all this left-wing political correctness; sick of watching the TV news every night & wondering how much of it has been censored by the conservative, money-grubbing, beaureaucratic leeches. If you are under the age of 30 & just enjoy watching something different & completely unlike anything you see in your normal, average daily existance, then STEVE-O is for you.
As a disclaimer, it would be interesting to see how "certain people" will try to link this DVD to copycat stunts. Personally I think that's nonsense, but I wouldn't be at all surprised. Check it out.

THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE KACKASS, PAINFUL, ASOME STUNT MOVIE!! I THINK THIS AND THE TOUR VIDEO IS THE BEST EVER!!

P.S. I WAS AT ONE OF THE SHOWS OF THE TOUR HE DOESN'T FAKE ANYTHING!!!

Steve-O had loads of footage that he coulden't show on Jackass or anywhere on television so he decided to make his on video. And it turned out to be, "Don't try this at home. The Steve-O Video." The dvd is great. It features the Steve-O Video, Commentary, Behind The Scenes, and the infamous bonus video The Career Ender. This movie proves that Steve-O is the craziest dude on Jackass. Tune in to see hilarious stunts such as, Human Dart Board, Human Urinal, The Fireball, Cujan cooking, jump out of an airplane and great skating by Ryan Simonetti and Steve-O. The movie is hilarious, sick and shocking. If your a die hard Jackass & CKY fan, then this is for you.

It's still amazing to me how many little monster movies Hollywood churned out after the success of GREMLINS. You had MUNCHIES, you had GHOULIES and you had CRITTERS, which surprisingly enough turned out to be the best of the bunch. Not that I have anything against GREMLINS but CRITTERS has far more depth and character development than it does and it's leagues above the other two.

Directed by Stephen Herek, who would later go on to helm BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE and ROCK STAR with Mark Wahlberg, CRITTERS is a sci-fi/horror/comedy about a group of fur-ball aliens who escape from a prison space ship and come to Kansas for a bite to eat with a pair of intergalactic Bounty Hunters, who can take the face of nearly anyone they want, on their trail. Now as ridiculous as it all may sound, the characters are genuine and the family, along with Charlie, is real enough that you will end up caring about them by the time it's all over.

Still, in the end though CRITTERS is nothing more than campy fun but it's campy fun that will keep its viewers entertained. Check it out. You'll see what I mean.

B-

I saw CRITTERS on one of the IO channels because it was raining and I was bored. I thought it was going to be terrible, but, to my surprise, it's quite entertaining and enjoyable. It's a fun comedy/horror film in the vein of GREMLINS and it's very original. Even in the beginning, before the "critters" even arrive on Earth, the movie isn't boring, because we are introduced to all the charctors of the family that dealt with the "critters" and we see some of their different situations. Things really get goin' when the "critters" finally come! It's very funny and freaky at the same time and you'll definately like it if you liked GREMLINS.

There was a point in my life when I never would have thought in a million light years from now, that the Critters series would be released on DVD. Critters has to be one of my all time favorite horror/cult movies. The score was great, I never had a feeling you get when watching a horror movie where you felt something for the characters and yes, even the little Critters(a.k.a Krites; alien name). Have any of you seen those little bugs best known as rolie polies? That's what I think when I see these fury critters. Mutated rolie polies from outer space. That's a killer, right there. Cute, harmless, rolie polies that got transformed into something out of this world, with fangs, fur, and claws, oh my! Some people might mistake them for a strange bunny rabbit or something of the sort, until it faces you face to face with rows and rows of jagged teeth ready to attack you! Now the Krites like to head for the neck and stomach mostly. So, if you or I were to face one of these critters, then it would be best to wear a protection thing around your neck and probably would wanna wear a bullet proof vest or something to prevent them from eating your guts out. Yes, I know that sounds horrible, but that's the critter's nature. Eat, destroy, and eat some more. Their teeth can cut as sharp as cutting through metal, now that's sharp! And they're messy, little critters. So, if you want my advise: Stay away from the Krites as far as possible. They come mostly in packs, rarely in singles. So they are never really alone. That way, when you are alone, they can gang up on ya, and rip the flesh from your bones, just as fast as a pirana fish would. You might be asking yourself: Where do these critters come from? Well, as silly as they may seem, they come from outer space in a space ship. Yes, that's right. Outer space. In a space ship. How else would they travel? They're aliens. Man-eating fur ball aliens from outer space. How do you kill 'em you ask? With anything you got: Machine guns to knives to whatever! Just kill 'em before they kill you! Oh, I should mention that these Krites also shot posin darts from their backs and aim them at your neck and make you weak so that they will have a better chance of attacking you when unconscience. So, my guess is, to watch out for these mean, green mothers from outer space and make sure that you have protection or you can say bye-bye you. Now, enough of about the critters, and more about the DVD. I'm worried that since the price is a little lower than most normal DVDs cost, that there might not be any special features access to them. I'm one of those DVD freaks that like to explore the making-of featuretts and so forth. So, I'm hoping that this DVD isn't much of a dissapointment. But all in all, the Critters movies are still the greatest horror cults of the 80s, which makes them the number one on my horror movie list. Long-live the Critters!

This is a great movie. The scene where Devon is working out and looking in the mirror is great. He is so hot, look at him as he pulls his hair back.

rented this video for my boys and then bought it. It is fun as well as inspiring. I would highly recommend it for families with kids (5-12). Especially boys.

We love this movie! It is the funniest, most enjoyable film my children own. I cannot believe it was not one of the most popular films of all time! Hysterically funny, and a fabulous story line. I think there is one use of VERY mild profanity, but only the strictest of censors would mind. My toddler, 10 year old and husband all sit and watch this film together. When ADULTS visit while the children are watching, they wind up staying to see the movie. Belly laughs and breath holding excitement. When people ask me advice on what to get a kid who has everything, I tell them to find this movie. Children coming to visit? Have this movie ready when they get "bored." It will save the day.