Entertainment Movie Reviews

This movie is so incrediably touching. Its also very realistic to peoples everyday lives. It givs a great sense of hope that no matter what the situation is, everything will work out. Campbell Scott ad Kimberly Williams were phenominal together. This movie is filled with so much love that I think we sometimes take for granted in everday lives.

I first saw this movie when it came on T.V. I work with children and adults whom have special needs and to me this movie was so enlighting. It made me realize that a moment should never go unwasted because you don't know what tomorrow will bring. Kimberly Williams and Campbell Scott were both spectacular. It is a movie of truth, hope, dispair, and so much love.

I'm a "Enter the Matrix" kind of guy, but even I liked this movie. It is a very sensitive movie about 2 women trying to make the right decisions about their bad relationships, and how they are able to cope with their troubled daughters.

Great movie to watch with your kids. Buy it!!!

I often watched this movie on Christmas with my children and more recently with my young grandchildren because it touches the very essence of the Christmas season. I've always loved Terry Moore from her serious and not so serious movies (especially Mighty Joe Young) and of course Jimmy Durante is a clown that everyone loved and loves.

I personally feel The Great Rupert should have been produced originally in color and released as a Christmas movie. I'm so I'm so happy to learn it is now considered a Christmas classic and is available in color. Can't wait to see it in color and listen to Terry's commentary.

A Christmas Wish is a heartwarming holiday classic that truly captures the magic of Christmas. This well-written film combines a genial underdog (Durante) whom you can't help rooting for, an inspiring tale of young love, unforgettable comedy bits by Durante, and an irresistible guardian angel who saves Christmas.

The film has a touching love story between Terry Moore (Mighty Joe Young) and Tom Drake (Meet Me in St. Louis). Rupert the Squirrel (created using George Pal's Academy Award winning puppet animation technique) will charm young and old alike. Jimmy Durante shines when he sings Jingle Bells and other Christmas Carols.

Originally titled "The Great Rupert", this film has been restored perfectly and is being released in color for the first time. It looks absolutely beautiful. There also is an engaging special DVD commentary by star Terry Moore (secret wife of Howard Hughes). If you've already seen It's a Wonderful Life and are looking for something charming and new for Christmas, this is the film.

You'd Know Why I've Given This 5 Stars, After You've Seen This!
To MAke The Long Difficult Plot Quick, Rupert Helps 2 Poor Families Overcome Their Obstacles. GREAT FILM! I RECCOMEND TO ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE A GOOD LAUGH AND A GOOD CRY!

I WAS VERY UNFAMILIAR WITH JUISE NEWTON BEFORE VIEWING THIS DVD, HOWEVER THIS LADY REALLY CAN SING.
SHE SHINES ON ALL OF THESE SONGS AND IS BACKED BY A VERY IMPRESSIVE BAND. THE SOUND QUALITY OF THE DVD IS VERY GOOD IN 5.1 SURROUND.
NOTE:THERE ARE A FEW EXTRA FEATURES ALSO THAT ADD A BIT EXTRA TO THIS DVD!!
CHECK IT OUT!!

This DVD has to be better than being there. You would never get as close as the camera does. What a well polished show. Excellent band. Ms. Juice is much better than I remembered. The sound is also very good on this disk. Maybe they are finally working the technical bugs out. I'll watch this one again!!

I had the pleasure of being at this fantastic show in LA on 9/10. What an amazing showcase for the talents of Juice Newton. Watching the DVD was almost as good as being there (and I know). As a longtime Juice fan I had never seen her live and was impressed by how beautiful she sounds live. As her partner Otha Young says in the behind the scenes feature, Juice sounds even better live. Her song selection is perfect, great new songs, and beautiful renditions of older hits. I especially was touched by her rendition of "Old Flame". What the dvd doesn't show is how Juice spent so much time and energy on her fans after the show signing autographs and talking. What makes watching this concert bittersweet is how the next morning after such a great night of song our world changed forever with the attacks of 9/11.
My only quibble with the dvd (and cd) are the lame graphics. The cover is bland and could have been much more exciting looking. The picture on the cover isn't even from the show. Oh well, it's the show that counts the most and THAT is excellent. Buy this DVD and enjoy the show!

I watched this movie and it was great! This was the best movie ever. This movie is HIGHLY recomended by me and my family. Good luck to everybody!

I enjoyed this movie. It had one of the biggest battle scenes in Anime history, the taking of A Baoa Qu. The story is excellent especially the part where Amuro kicks the Zeong's butt. The Gelgoog is an excellent design along with the RX-78-2. Overall this is one of my most favorite anime movies.

This is the second installment to the first Gundam trilogy. The movie is edited version of a TV show that is 20 years old, but the depth of the story and the characters far surpasses some of anime or even sci-fi movies today. This is the anime that changed the history of anime. This is the must see not only for anime fans, but those who thinks anime is for kids.

The last 15 minutes in unforgettable.

This is an excellent biographical documentary about the life and works of Rod Serling. It is brilliantly constructed and edited. This well crafted presentation is a first rate production all around. Rod Serling was a man of great literary and social intellect, somewhat ignored because of the genre he worked within and was famous for. His endearing legacy, "The Twilight Zone" frequently bordered on the edges of science fiction if not immersed in it. Society's values being what they are, science fiction has never been thoroughly embraced by conventional thought as a legitimate literary or cinematic art form until very recently. That is society's loss and Serling's heartbreak. I originally saw this documentary on Public Television and was pleased to find it issued on DVD in this high quality format. Highly recommended!

This is a truly wonderful documentary. It examines Rod Serling's life and influences, as well as giving us an intimate look at his visionary show "The Twilight Zone".

The next best thing to discovering a "Twilight Zone" episode you've never seen before!

It is rare when an episode of national history can be interpreted without the burden of illusions, both obsolete and nostalgic. And this is perhaps one of the great strengths of Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition, a nine-hour epic about Japan's occupation of China during the Second World War. The trilogy begins with an attack on the inhuman practices within the Japanese Army and ends with a bitter denunciation of Stalinism by the would-be-socialist hero, Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai), a Japanese soldier who has confronted the horrid face of war and found it unyielding. In grand Dostoyevskian flourishes, Kobayashi suggests the impossibility of an individual altering the ethical standards of a social system. Kaji, driven by an idealized vision of Japan redeemed by social reform, tries to overcome injustice and exploitation during a military conquest based solely on these principles. Brutalized by the very country he defends, Kaji refuses to desert, for desertion implies relinquishing responsibility for his own homeland. Kaji's heroism lies in this exacting refusal to abandon Japan or his humanity. Part One finds Kaji working as a supervisor in a forced labor camp in southern Manchuria where he and his wife (Michiyo Aratama) attempt to better the dreadful lot of the enslaved Chinese workers. Kaji is accused of dissent, tortured, then inducted into the army. In Part Two, Kaji is equally appalled by the horrendous treatment afforded recruits. Given the rank of officer, he tries to install more humane procedures but only succeeds in attracting the ire of his fellow officers. By Part Three, the Japanese army is being routed by superior Russian troops. Fleeing to the south, Kaji is captured by the Soviet army and imprisoned. Here, he learns the bitter truth of the Red Army as liberators. Kobayashi's The Human Condition can be viewed as a single aesthetic entity, complete in its sweep of historical events and visual stylizations. The gargantuan undertaking to dramatize the wilful ironies of the Manchurian campaign never compromises Kobayashi's ability to define the human scale of injustice. Standing-in for the director, Kaji says, "Minor facts ignored by history can be fatal to the individual." It is Masaki Kobayashi's recognition of "minor facts" that joins the poetic to the journalistic in a scathing epic about the cruelties of war.

I can only add to the other excellent reviews for this masterpiece. This is not a light hearted epic, it is a tale based on director Kobayashi's own experiences and is quite simply haunting. Like his subsequent work Kwaidan, the use of the camera and music is breath taking. Though long you never sense the time passing and each take has you there with leading actor Nakadai (who is perfect for this role) whether it be trudging through barren slag heaps or trying to get the last drop of humanity out of the "guntai" and other Imperial bullies. His story is desperate but is also beautiful as you see how this normal man is fighting against the stream of inhumanity that was Japan occupied Manchuria. Eventually he almost has a halo like appearance as his slouched form appears in nearly every scene. This is the effect the cinematography and music combine to produce. I can not heap more praise. If you like serious subjects and character forming epics this is for you. I also recommend Kwaidan.

When Kobayashi undertook the immense project of filming Junpei Gomikawa's popular wartime novel (not, as an earlier viewer stated, by Shohei Ooka - who wrote the otherwise magnificent Fires on the Plain, later filmed by Ichikawa) he had been a director for only six years but had already proven himself as a director of "problem" films, tackling uncomfortable subjects with a straightforward candor. With 'The Human Condition' he emerged as one of Japan's master filmmakers. This trilogy of films is something on the order of Claude Lanzmann's film 'Shoah.' It documents events which Japan has yet to come to terms with - atrocities committed by the Imperial Army in China and Manchuria. Along with Ichikawa's 'Harp of Burma' and 'Fires on the Plain,' Kobayashi's 'The Human Condition' was made at precisely the right moment in Japan, when the war generation had the resources to look back at the war with enough honesty to reveal the full extent of Japan's defeat, a subject which is remains disturbing even today.

I'm a big Kenny fan. Like other reviewers, I think he's vastly underrated (in the same vein as Michael Franks, Al Jarreau, Fran Sinatra). But Kenny's got a much better voice. He moves across octaves without the obvious breaks that mere mortals have. What's more amazing to me is that his voice is as rock solid on stage as others can get in a studio.

This is a nice foray into jazz. Ans this is clearly a good CD. But, like most live albums, the sounds quality isn't as good as a studio recording. The issue is one of the superior acoustics and recording quality of a studio. (Of course, there are those who talk about the "energy" and such of the live performance. But "energy" sounds strange in the context of Kenny's laid-back style.)

So, for straight sound quality, pick up a studio CD. To appreciate what he can do live, this DVD or the "Bottom Line Encore" CD will get you started until he makes it to your town.

I have been lucky enough to see Rankin many times, the latest being a few months ago.

This DVD is a live concert, pure Rankin.

Great backup band and the interview with him is superb as well.

I'm a big Kenny fan. Like other reviewers, I think he's vastly underrated (in the same vein as Michael Franks, Al Jarreau, Fran Sinatra). But Kenny's got a much better voice. He moves across octaves without the obvious breaks that mere mortals have.

This is clearly a good CD. But, like most live albums, this doesn't sound as good as it could. The issue is one of the superior recording quality of a studio.

So, for straight sound quality, pick up a studio CD (my favorites are the most recent jazz work -- Because of You, Professional Dreamer, and Here in My Heart. To appreciate what he can do live, this DVD or the "Bottom Line Encore" CD will get you eagerly waiting for him to make an appearance in your town (unlikely. For concert appearance check out kenny.rankin.com).

Great low-budget indy horror film from the 60s inspired by the Val Lewton classic 'Cat People'. Fans of other b/w indy horror flicks like 'Carnival of Souls' should really enjoy it. It stars the great Dennis Hopper ('Giant', 'Easy Rider', 'River's Edge', 'Blue Velvet', etc.) as a naive young sailor named Johnny who falls for a mysterious & beautiful girl called Mora. Mora works as "Mora the Mermaid" in a sideshow during the day on a CA Boardwalk. After they become lovers, Johnny discovers that Mora's last two boyfriends mysteriously drowned and soon he starts wondering if Mora is a real mermaid or one of the spooky "Sea People".

The soundtrack is a mix of great bongo numbers & bad b-movie music, but the real highlight is the eerie atmosphere and great stylized photography. The director tried hard to raise "Night Tide" out of the usual b-movie abyss and it shows. Excellent flick!

I adore this little film . It was obviously made on a shoe string but it offers more entertainment value than many big budget blockbusters. All the players do a grand job they've all got interesting characters to work with . The two standouts for me , however , are the woman who plays the fortune teller (haven't got her name on me right now) and Gavin Muir as Captain Samuel Murdock. The fact that much of the action takes place at the Santa Monica pier amusement park adds to the film's surrealistic air of fantasy. If you're looking for an excellent , low budget early 60's movie that's really well crafted stick this one in your trolley and proceed straight to the check out. If you like "Carnival of Souls" you'll like "Night Tide". It certainy goes into my basket of "Desert Island" videos. Essential viewing for cult movie fans.

I saw this film first in 1963 as the 2nd half of a double-bill; American-International pictures usually put out the Corman/Poe films which were mostly under 90 minutes in length, and they filled up the time by throwing this off as a 2nd bill. It was certainly better than "The Comedy of Terrors" (1st bill). Here we have Curtis Harrington before he "went Hollywood" (Who Slew Auntie Roo?, etc.), an intuitive director who creates an atmosphere that's hard to describe; slow moving, never boring, always compelling. An innovator of the "indie" scene, Harrington couldn't find a distributor in 1961, but A-I picked it up. There's a wonderful bongo/jazz score and a wonderfully understated and heartfelt performance from Dennis Hopper (before he tried to impress everyone with his individuality and maverick style). The photography, often in dark venues, is remarkably clear and atmospheric. There's also the excellent Luana Anders, who, along with Salome Jens, was never given the career she deserved. The style of this film seems to suggest a mood which the great John Frankenheimer later perfected ("Seconds"). Not a horror film, "Night Tide" certainly had a head-start on the psychological suspense stories that became popular. Definitey worth a look!

Pelle the Conqueror is an utterly flawless film with regards to acting, cinematography, score, storytelling, etc. It won Best Foreign Film honors at the Academy Awards and was even nominated for Best Picture. Of course, the politics of Hollywood could never have allowed it to claim that honor, otherwise a precedence would have been set of acknowledging that foreign films might be (gasp!) better than a lot of the [stuff] Tinseltown shovels out.

Personally, I watched the Oscars that year exclusively to cheer for Pelle the Conqueror and even more specifically for Max Von Sydow, who turned in the performance of a lifetime. From the moment I began watching the film to the moment it ended, I never lost my sense of absolute immersion. It was, in truth, a grueling experience... because like so many Scandinavian films, Pelle is not a "feel good" story and doesn't have a happy ending. It doesn't have a happy beginning or middle, either. I'm straining my memory to remember a full happy minute, actually. Max Von Sydow is so thoroughly convincing as the widower father of 12-year-old Pelle Hvenegaard that I couldn't help but bear his anguish as all his hopes for a better life for his son get trampled. Even though I was fairly young when the film came out, Von Sydow led me to understand a poor father's burden. When I saw this movie in the theater in 1988, I was told by a friend it was "part one" and that the subsequent film would give viewers a little more resolution as young Pelle escapes to try to reach America... I waited and waited for that sequel, because I believed in these characters and wanted a better life for them; that's how powerful the film was to me.

So why only 4 stars? Because the DVD (to date -- these things sometimes change) does not contain the whole film. 22 minutes were hacked from the original to fit into American time slots, and they were inexplicably not restored when the film went to DVD. The DVD also lacks special features such as "making of," background story, director's comments, etc. that would have been fascinating, especially considering this is such an epic foreign film from a country American viewers know so little about.

Max von Sydow magnificently plays a certain type of Scandinavian man, maybe his best film of the ones I've seen. I saw the movie when it came out, remembered it as fantastic but forgot the details, then watched the video again recently. Tried to watch it with my 7 and 12 year old sons, but the older one couldn't take it: too much sadness. The theme of the movie: unfathomable human cruelty, that 'happiness' is only an illusion. How to know that the movie was filmed on Bornholm? The Rundkirk in a burial scene.

The story behind this movie was very touching. My Great-Great Grandfather went AWOL and came to America about the time this movie is set. The movie helped reveal to me why my family carries some of the attitudes it has and why he stopped speaking Danish or speaking of Denmark the day he stepped on American soil. This movie is a must for anyone of Scandinavian ancestry.

Remember this is circa 1921 Hollywood. Before CGI (Computer Generated Images), Television, Technicolor, WideScreen & Sound. Movies & Movie Idols were Hollywoods dream machine results. One of the first male stars to mesmerize and fantatize womens hearts was "Rudolph Valentino".

The "Sheik" (1921) & the sequel "Son of the Sheik", immortalize Valentino & Hollywood begins its dreammaking machine. Millions of women world wide spent their hard earn money going to the movies over & over to see this Heart throb. Valentino even went on a national tour covering 88 cities to promote & select the most beautiful woman in the world. (Special Feature feaurette in this DVD). This matinee idol became a phenomenon, an icon.

Now through this magnificent DVD can we witness an see how Valentino dominated the screen and how these lavish Hollywood silent classics ruled the hearts of so many women.

At the least you must rent this outstanding collectors DVD to enjoy Rudolph Valentino's performance. The musical score is grand and the movies very entertaining.

Many extras are included even his spectacular funeral. (He died very young from appendicitis) This too was a very sad day in the hearts of millions. Enjoy the mystery and the brief cinamatic life of Rudolph Valentino!!

Rudolph Valentino made only five films, but he was idolized by millions of women the world over. Here in a fun double-bill, are The Shiek, which made him a household word, and his last film The Son of the Sheik. Each revolves around a romance between a beautiful young girl and Valentino's sultry man of the desert. There are lovely shots of horses running across the sands, delicious eyebrow raises from the sheik, and such memorable reader cards as: "The night was young at the Cafe Maure. Not a knife had been thrown---so far."

The prints are very nice, though The Sheik is heavily tinted and runs 86 minutes instead of the 80 minutes it should. The music tracks are alright, using a small orchestra, with an alternative updated track available for the second film; I was disappointed because I had seen The Sheik on television several years ago and the accompanying synthesizer track was remarkably beautiful -- but that is not on this disc.

Three shorts are included: "Rudolph Valentino and His 88 American Beauties", in which the star judges a beauty contest (1923, 13 minutes); "The Sheik's Physique", in which the star takes a nap in his swimsuit (not dated, 3 minutes); and the Pathe News coverage of Valentino's funeral (1926, 4 minutes).

If you are interested in silent films or in Valentino, this is a terrific package.

My only real glimpses of Rudolph Valentino were through movie stills and clips and couldn't see what the fuss was about. After taking an interest in silent films, I decided to buy this dvd and see what he was all about. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. The Shiek and The Son of the Shiek are two amazing and surprisingly intriguing films though the latter is superior and was definitely my favorite. The first is the story of a shiek who becomes entranced by a strong-willed woman he kidnaps and from there on the story unfolds. In the second, he plays dual roles, father and son, and there is quite a bit more action. Still, both movies are great and worth watching.

As for Valentino, he was an amazing presence on film. To me, he is "the" sex symbol that is incomparable to any from his era to now. In the first movie, his mannerisms and facial expressions are more dramatized, but the second film, he is more natural and its in that one he was even more beautiful. I can see why people are still entranced with him after all this time. Count me in as one of those.

As for the DVD, both of the films are good prints and the music fits the film. You also get to see the Pathe newsreel showing his funeral which is very sad. Most interestingly you get to see him judge a beauty contest and there is a clip called "The Shiek's Physique" which is a clip of him sunbathing on the beach. He is gorgeous in that as well.

All in all, its a great deal and a good bargain to get to see one of the most amazing actors. Great!