Grandparents Day Movie Reviews

I've actually written a full review of this plus anime and manga differences on my site.

Having read the manga and having watched the series, I can say that this one is a good shoujo series no less done by Yuu Watase herself. However, this is no Fushigi Yuugi. Although there is a lot of magical and Japanese legend here (the subject of which is the Tennyo), FY is in itself a mixture of 4 legends of miko, 4 Gods, seishi, etc. This one only has the stories of various Tennyo concentrating on the main character Aya's alter-ego, Ceres.

As is with everything shoujo, romance and relationships is very very much emphasized, if not too overrated. I was sick of Miaka and Tamahome later on the FY series. Aya and Tooya is too much.

The character Chidori appears in this tape and adds more drama to the show. But she also gives out a lot of comedy as she openly expresses a crush for Yuuhi who thinks she's only 12 or 13(she's really 16). Meanwhile, Aki is being taken over slowly by an alter ego that is literally making him go mad. By the end of the tape, Tooya gets in a bloody battle with Mikage guards to escape with Aki. Will Tooya survive in time to meet Aya? Will Aki escape and take control of himself? Just have to buy the tape to find out! :D

Ceres is a very good anime, as good or better than Fushigi Yugi, though that is only my opinion. I know many people loved Fushigi Yugi (as did I) and like it better than Ceres. Ceres is a different style than Fushigi Yugi, and takes place right in Japan. I think the story line is a little more direct, and personaly I like Aya's personality a little better than Miyaka's. Both animes are very good and are worth the cash!

This volume includes the conclusion to the Golrauth's battle and the beginning of the Febdaush arc. Lamirh and Ghint narrowly escape death and land in the small Barony of Febdaush. Princess Lamirh is welcomed, while no one really pays too much attention to Ghint. With war brewing close to the Barony, the Baron is keeping Lamirh as a trump card of sorts. There are other tensions developing within the small Barony, paticularly, the Baron's treatment of his subjects. The animation and music in this series are very well done. This series initially aired on cable TV in Japan and got a very generous budget. Great artwork and a fascinating political drama make this a must-buy for Space Opera fans.

Crest of the Stars was hard to appreciate when I first sat down to watch it. The story is very complex and in depth with a lot of unexpected interaction between the characters. So, at first glance, I didn't really care much for it.
However, after watching it again, this time more carefully, I realized that I began to really care for the characters and the overall storyline. I have since purchased volumes one thru three and I love them all. I definitely recommend this series to anyone who has a passion for outerspace and character developement.

I love this series. It is set in an incredibly rich, diverse world and told in a powerful, compelling manner. The series shows its novel roots in so many areas, from the detail devoted to the Abh culture to the explanations of some of the sci-fi principles that underly this universe. It is hard to summarize, but the best way I would describe it is as an exploration of the Abhs as a culture and the conflict that occurs when human and Abh meet. The story is told through the experiences of Jinto, a human, and the Abh Lafiel as they are forced by fate into a journey together.

This second disc focuses mostly on the Abh, explaining their feudal system, noble lineage, vassals, relationships, etc. It is also where you learn a great deal about Lafiel's background and her way of thinking, making her more human to us, yet showing us just how differently the Abh behaves compared to normal humans. There is also a great space battle in the first episode of this disc, but it is so deftly woven into the story that it leaves the viewer moved by it.

Sadly, Jinto appears rather useless in this disc :). Not to worry, Lafiel more than makes up for him in this one (I'd hate to get on her bad side) and Jinto will have his time in the later discs.

This series is definitely different from the standard space anime fair. It lacks the light humor of Nadesico or Captain Tylor and is far more character focused that Gundam. Action is not the focus - some episodes contain no battles whatsoever. But it tells an incredibly good story, one that will draw you in until you cannot help but feel for the characters and cheer them on as they grow.

The final season of the original Avengers finally comes to DVD & VHS in region one. "The Forget me knot," the debut episode of Ms. Tara King played by Linda Thorson, was released back in 1998, but only now is the entire series seeing the light of day - and it's been well worth the wait.

There are many of course who do not rate these last adventures featuring the debonair John Steed as Britain's top government agent as highly as what had gone before, and it's easy to see why. Steed's pairing originally with Mrs Gale (Honor Blackman) and later Mrs Peel (Diana Rigg) had been an excellent match for his skills. With Mrs Peel leaving the show, the producers, Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell followed suit and John Bryce was brought back to the programme, following his stint producing the early Mrs Gale episodes.

The first thing Bryce did was to cast his girlfriend, twenty one year old Canadian Linda Thorson as Steed's new assistant, Miss Tara King. In order to complete the delivery of episodes to the US market, production was fairly rushed, and what came out of it was deemed substandard. Bryce was sacked and Fennell and Clemens brought back to rescue the production. Clemens was particularly unhappy about Linda Thorson's role, but it was too late in the day to do anything about it. They set about filming the initial block of 8 episodes (extended to 9), rehashing two of the abandoned Bryce episodes, and bringing back Mrs Peel for the one-off story "The forget me knot" to introduce the new character of Tara (although this "debut" was actually filmed third). Once these episodes were ready, they set about producing the final batch of 24.

There is a very significant shift in the character of Tara King between these two production blocks as Thorson began to gain confidence in the part. Also added as a regular into the later stories is Steed & Tara's boss, "Mother," played by Patrick Newell. Thorson's inexperience and the naivety of the character are often cited as the reason the show was cancelled after these episodes were transmitted. Personally, I think the inclusion of the very annoying "Mother" to be a far more valid reason. But it's all a matter of taste.

The stories are included on the discs in the order they were first transmitted in the UK. I would strongly recommend viewing them in PRODUCTION ORDER (easy to track on any Avengers website). There are several reasons for this. It's easier to warm to Miss King as you follow her character development. It also makes more sense to understand her constant hair changes and costume. She started as a blonde, moved to a be-wigged brunette, and only in the latter 24 episodes did we see Thorson's own hair. We can also see how the actress started in "slimmed down mode" (on the orders of the TV station) but regained her lost weight as the series moved along. The character also started out as a complete "spy" trainee, but by the second production block, had become one of the most experienced agents in Mother's department. I also enjoyed seeing the rehashed sets from episode to episode too. All these nuances are lost by following the stories strictly in disc order, and indeed the characterisation of the leads is actually confusing if you simply watch the shows in disc order.

As for the discs themselves, sadly A&E have once again neglected to include any extras at all. All there is are a few still photos, although it has to be said that the menus are at least very well done. The picture quality is certainly very sharp, but there are definitely flaws due to sparkle and dirt. Sadly, "You'll catch your death" has been transferred incorrectly, and the picture strobes and jumps throughout. Clearly no-one at A&E was paying much attention to the remastering process.

Clemens believes this batch of episodes to be the best of the entire run of The Avengers. He has stated that everything came together right in terms of production and scripts. I can't say I agree entirely. They are certainly as enjoyable as anything else, but the total fantasy nature of the stories and the weakness of Tara and Mother characters combine to take the edge away when compared to the earlier Peel episodes. Regardless, it's all camp and wacky fun and I still highly recommend this collection to any fan of the series as there is plenty here to enjoy.

I JUST GOT THIS DVD TODAY AND I HAVE TO SAY I THINK IT IS THE BEST YET. THE STORIES ARE AS FOLLOWS

WISH YOU WERE HERE.. TARA BECOMES TRAPPED IN A HOTEL SHE CAN NEVER LEAVE....

STAY TUNED...STEED FINDS HIMSELF LIVING THE SAME DAY OVER AND OVER AGAIN ONE PROBLEM NO ONE ELSE DOES.

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER-STEED AND TARA CHASE A TALKING BREIFCAST TO CATCH A SPY...MOTHER!!!

FOG...STEED AND TARA CHASE THE GASLIGHT GHOUL TARA FINDS HIM IN HER APARTMENT.

HOMICIDE AND OLD LACE..MOTHER TELLS A THRILLING ADVENTURE TO HIS ELDERLY AUNTS INVOLVING STEED AND TARA.

LOVE ALL...STEED AND TARA FIND ROMANCE MAY NOT BE DEAD AFTER ALL BUT THE MEN WHO FALL FOR THIS LADY CLEANER SURE ARE.

GETAWAY...TWO OF STEEDS FREIND ARE KILLED BY AN INVISIBLE MAN AND STEED IS NEXT.

ALL IN ALL THE STORIES HERE ARE VERY GOOD BUY THIS NOW I PROMISE YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT. ONE MORE LITTLE THING THE BOX I GOT WAS RED NOT THAT GARISH YELLOW ON THE PICTURE ABOVE.

The final season of the original Avengers finally comes to DVD & VHS in region one. "The Forget me knot," the debut episode of Ms. Tara King played by Linda Thorson, was released back in 1998, but only now is the entire series seeing the light of day - and it's been well worth the wait.

There are many of course who do not rate these last adventures featuring the debonair John Steed as Britain's top government agent as highly as what had gone before, and it's easy to see why. Steed's pairing originally with Mrs Gale (Honor Blackman) and later Mrs Peel (Diana Rigg) had been an excellent match for his skills. With Mrs Peel leaving the show, the producers, Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell followed suit and John Bryce was brought back to the programme, following his stint producing the early Mrs Gale episodes.

The first thing Bryce did was to cast his girlfriend, twenty one year old Canadian Linda Thorson as Steed's new assistant, Miss Tara King. In order to complete the delivery of episodes to the US market, production was fairly rushed, and what came out of it was deemed substandard. Bryce was sacked and Fennell and Clemens brought back to rescue the production. Clemens was particularly unhappy about Linda Thorson's role, but it was too late in the day to do anything about it. They set about filming the initial block of 8 episodes (extended to 9), rehashing two of the abandoned Bryce episodes, and bringing back Mrs Peel for the one-off story "The forget me knot" to introduce the new character of Tara (although this "debut" was actually filmed third). Once these episodes were ready, they set about producing the final batch of 24.

There is a very significant shift in the character of Tara King between these two production blocks as Thorson began to gain confidence in the part. Also added as a regular into the later stories is Steed & Tara's boss, "Mother," played by Patrick Newell. Thorson's inexperience and the naivety of the character are often cited as the reason the show was cancelled after these episodes were transmitted. Personally, I think the inclusion of the very annoying "Mother" to be a far more valid reason. But it's all a matter of taste.

The stories are included on the discs in the order they were first transmitted in the UK. I would strongly recommend viewing them in PRODUCTION ORDER (easy to track on any Avengers website). There are several reasons for this. It's easier to warm to Miss King as you follow her character development. It also makes more sense to understand her constant hair changes and costume. She started as a blonde, moved to a be-wigged brunette, and only in the latter 24 episodes did we see Thorson's own hair. We can also see how the actress started in "slimmed down mode" (on the orders of the TV station) but regained her lost weight as the series moved along. The character also started out as a complete "spy" trainee, but by the second production block, had become one of the most experienced agents in Mother's department. I also enjoyed seeing the rehashed sets from episode to episode too. All these nuances are lost by following the stories strictly in disc order, and indeed the characterisation of the leads is actually confusing if you simply watch the shows in disc order.

As for the discs themselves, sadly A&E have once again neglected to include any extras at all. All there is are a few still photos, although it has to be said that the menus are at least very well done. The picture quality is certainly very sharp, but there are definitely flaws due to sparkle and dirt. Sadly, "You'll catch your death" has been transferred incorrectly, and the picture strobes and jumps throughout. Clearly no-one at A&E was paying much attention to the remastering process.

Clemens believes this batch of episodes to be the best of the entire run of The Avengers. He has stated that everything came together right in terms of production and scripts. I can't say I agree entirely. They are certainly as enjoyable as anything else, but the total fantasy nature of the stories and the weakness of Tara and Mother characters combine to take the edge away when compared to the earlier Peel episodes. Regardless, it's all camp and wacky fun and I still highly recommend this collection to any fan of the series as there is plenty here to enjoy.

These original Avengers are what entertainment should be. Witty, urbane and highly entertaining, this last set is definitely a keeper. I only regret that there are not more in the works. This set is great for anybody who would like to spend an evening of quality television programming.

I am so sick of those Hollywood executives passin AndrewMcCarthy out! The dude has so much talent and he is been ignored. Thismovie amoung others shows a great talent he has. WAKE UP HOLLYOOD

Beyond Redemption is a police procedural with a religious background. An Atheist and a Jew are the detectives. It continues to be ironic and quirky all through the plot. The characters are real people with real problems, but there's enough action to suit any viewer who expects police flicks to be exciting. The acting, directing, and editing are crisp and straight up. Don't miss this film.

I am so sick of those Hollywood executives passin AndrewMcCarthy out! The dude has so much talent and he is been ignored. Thismovie amoung others shows a great talent he has. WAKE UP HOLLYOOD

Beyond Redemption is a police procedural with a religious background. An Atheist and a Jew are the detectives. It continues to be ironic and quirky all through the plot. The characters are real people with real problems, but there's enough action to suit any viewer who expects police flicks to be exciting. The acting, directing, and editing are crisp and straight up. Don't miss this film.

This volume of Ceres WAS a bit strange. Aki's mind finally snaps, and the progenitor of the Mikage family emerges in Aki's place. "Aki" squeezing grandpa Mikage's face after becoming annoyed with his rambling. (Yes, he did die o.O) Later, Aki sees Touya and Aya kissing, then kisses Aya himself. (Very un-brotherly!) Later, Touya and Aya meet a girl who's just a spitting image of Aya. Touya gets smacked by a car, then remebers his past, but he forgets all about Aya and the present. The girl they met is supposedly Touya's old childhood friend, and girlfriend. What about Touya and Aya?

The progenitor has to be one of the better of the Ceres dvd's yet. In Relic of the Mikage, the original mikage has to some extent gained control over Aki in the same manner as Ceres has to Aya. However, unlike Ceres , Mikage is unwilling to give his host control back. Leaving Aya to come to grips with it.
The return of the First, is a continuation of the Mikage assuming control. And causing a trigger to Toya's memory near the end
Toya's past is one of the more touching episodes to date. Afterall, Aya has a double? no wonder there's confusion. It also gives Toya's story( we finally learn how old he is! ) which is intersting with all of it's drama. Casting uncertainty on the relationship between Toya and Aya. It does leave one to wonder if it is true or another of the Mikage schemes.
I gotta say I have watched this dvd more than any of the other's simply for these episodes. I think this is definatly a must-have dvd.

Yes, Aki finally loses his mind and turns into, what the Mikage call, the 'progenitor.' As soon as he turns into the 'progenitor,' he kills his grandpa and sets off to find his woman; Aya(just to remind you, he looks like Aki, but his body is taken over by else). By the end of the tape, a girl named Miori introduces herself as Tooya's girlfriend from a year ago. Tooya is confused by what both Miori and Aya says, but goes with Miori, breaking Aya's heart. But is Miori who she says she is? Or is she just playing with Tooya's amnesia? More plot twists, a little more blood, but still a great series.

This film suffers slightly from being a product of its times. The Second World War was in full cry and to help raise morale (and money) well-meaning directors and actors got together to make 'Forever and a Day'. In fact the cast list is one of the prime reasons for buying this DVD - it's certainly why I bought it. Jessie Matthews, Elsa Lanchester, Claude Rains, Charles Laughton - even Buster Keaton - they're all here! But you can't escape the feeling that this is a 1940's 'USA for Africa'. Whilst you loved hearing Lionel Ritchie, Michael Jackson & all singing 'We are the World', it was never as good as listening to their solo work. 'Forever and a Day' just has too many actors and directors to produce a fully coherent movie. I may be mistaken, but I'm sure somebody once said of this film 'Never have so many given so much for something so dull'. That's a little harsh but for once I have to disagree with Leonard Maltin and award this only average marks. I'm still glad I have it in my film collection - if only for that great cast and it's historical interest.

Forever and a Day is a marvelous, lyrical piece of World War II propaganda that boasts one of the most amazing casts and crew ever assembled for a motion picture.

As the film begins, the Nazis are bombing London and an American visitor, Gates T. Pomfret (Kent Smith), journeys into the city searching for a house his father owns and that the current boarder, Lesley Trimble (Ruth Warrick), wishes to purchase. Gates' sarcastic attitude about the house leads Lesley to relate the history of the manse, and how both of their families have been intertwined since Admiral Trimble (C. Aubrey Smith) built it back in 1804. The house eventually fell into the hands of the Pomfrets, who later leased it out as a hotel during the First World War. Now, the building is only used as a bomb raid shelter.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Hollywood was inundated with a phalanx of British actors and directors seeking refuge from the war while continuing the careers. Forever and a Day was specifically designed as a morale booster for the folks back home as well as a bit of propaganda for American audiences. The house, of course, is a metaphor for England herself--stalwart, traditional, broken but defiant and ultimately triumphant. The film combines laughter and tears to achieve its end, and though the fadeout is bittersweet, it's still incredibly uplifting.

To create the film, one of the largest all-star casts imaginable was assembled to portray the various personalities who inhabit the house during the century and a half. Besides those mentioned above, there's also Ray Milland, Victor McLaglan, Anna Neagle, Herbert Marshall, Claude Rains, Dame May Whitty, Gene Lockhart, Anna Lee, Buster Keaton, June Duprez, Nigel Bruce, Elsa Lanchester, Donald Crisp, and many, many others. My favorites in the cast include Smith, who's alternately amusing and moving; Charles Laughton as a tippling butler; Ida Lupino and Brian Aherne as a maid and coal tender (respectively) who develop a romance during Queen Victoria's jubilee; Gladys Cooper and Roland Young as parents awaiting the return of their son from World War I; and Robert Cummings as an American doughboy and Merle Oberon as a hotel secretary who fall in love during that war.

There was an all-star line-up behind the camera as well, with such acclaimed directors as Rene Clair, Edmund Goulding, Cedric Hardwicke, Frank Lloyd, Victor Saville, Robert Stevenson, and Herbert Wilcox. The writing credits are equally diverse, including such names as C.S. Forester, James Hilton, Christopher Isherwood, Donald Ogden Stewart, and John Van Druten. I can't say who wrote or directed which episodes, because it's all been so seamlessly and exquisitely combined.

Students of history and classic film are sure to thrill to Forever and a Day; modern audiences that just like a good story well-told are bound to enjoy it as well.

The DVD is a bare-bones presentation, with just the film and chapter selections. The picture is a bit dark at times, showing its age, but the sound is marvelous.

The British, and some American, cast shines in thiswnderful depiction of a grand English mansion and its inhabitants for over one-hundred years. The scenes of this picture are geniusely executed and planned out to the second! The efforts of actors such as Ray Milland, C. Aubrey Smith and Claude Rains were beyond words. Anyway, to all those not familiar with "Forever and a Day," it beigns with one grand-scale English being built in 1804 during the Napoleonic Era. This film advances through all the years up to then present day World War II with humor, adventure, and historical grandeur. Even though going through rough times, the house withstands the outside threats of enemy nations until 1940. By then, the manor is bombarded by one A. Hitler and inspectors are sent to report on the tragedies. However, on the wall of the house, the portrait of C. Aubrey Smith, head master and founder of the house, remains intact and shows England's durability during its darkest hours. You can also see that in this fim, the darndest guest appearences are made by veteran actors such as Buster Keaton, Charles Laughton, etc. All the actors did this film for free and looked to help the war effort in 1943, when truly the world was involved. This film is very hard to get. However, when it first opened, I saw it in my local motion picture theatre and have yet to forget the details. They are symbolic and still stand out in my mind. The message here is simple. It just tells you to smile, for tomorrow is another day.

For those of you who are thrilled to pieces to have found that this brilliant work will be released on DVD, I might have some bad news for you. I took the liberty to e-mail the President of the studio which is producing this DVD, and he informed me that the version is one from 1973 starring Laurence Olivier. And while Olivier was no slouch as an actor, I think most people will continue to view the 1962 film version to be the superior production. However you feel about it, I thought it would be nice to know what product you are considering. I hope it helps.

This was the first production of Long Days Journey Into Night that I saw. It changed my life, I was a high school student at the time, and I was blown away by the power of the play. The following year I was able to go to both London and New York and began a now 30 year love affair with the Theatre. For me, Denis Quilley and Ronald Pickup have been the Jaime and Edmund that everyone else must measure up to. This production was legendary, and deservedly so. A must for any O'Neill student.

I prefer the Katharine Hepburn version overall but this one I will
buy just for the magnificence of Constance Cummings. Olivier got
an Emmy and huzzahs at the time but I don't really believe his
James Tyrone. But Cummings is Mary Tyrone. Just watching her
in her closeups as the morphine-addicted mother, haunted by her
past. There have been some wonderful Mary Tyrones recently.
Vanessa Redgrave and Jessica Lange were fabulous too. But each
one had a little different interpretation and all are valid I
think. But Cummings is right up there with the best. I still hope
someone puts her shattering portrayal in WINGS on video. It deserves to be preserved too.

Nicely observed portrait of West Texans at that moment when the traditional individualistic ways of the maverick wildcatters collided with the more sophisticated, play-it-safe high-tech future. Story comes wrapped up as a romance between real-life husband-and-wife Terry Jastrow and Anne Archer.
The film does a fine job of idealizing the nuts-and-bolts of small-scale oil drilling, and makes that far more interesting than you might expect. The plot is clichéd, and the characters stereotypical, but somehow, the excellent screenplay uses familiarity to anchor us quickly into place, and then spends its own leisurely time drawing in the details that bring the whole thing to quite pleasurable life.
It's familiar without being clichéd, fleshed-out without being eccentric, dignified without being pompous. Credit the writer, and the likeability of the cast, most particularly Jastrow, who is quite charming. Richard Farnsworth also stands out in a very effective early sequence.
That said, there's a fuzziness to the technicals, to the lighting and editing and such. A better director could have made "Waltz Across Texas" absolutely sparkle. As it is, though, it's still a small, slightly under-polished gem.

After years of searching, I'd about lost hope that this movie would ever again become available on video. It's not only highly entertaining with some great actors but will hold viewers attention from start to finish in this engrossing story of survival in the search for oil. Using crude technology and wits, even those not involved in the oil industry will enjoy this movie.

The most enchanting moment in this nice little film occurs when John Taylor renders a lilting litany, realizing that Gail has never heard of the Longhorns, the Cougars, the Owls, the Red Raiders, the Horned Frogs, the Razorbacks, the Mustangs, the Bears or the Aggies -- the fine old teams of the Southwest Conference (which was wholly dominated during its entire existence by the Aggies of Texas A&M). John is rueful that Gail hasn't ever heard these names, especially the Aggies -- he is astounded that a highly educated individual such as she has never heard of the Aggies.

And, you need to see this film just to watch the old cable-tool rig operate, and hear its muffled impacts somewhere downhole as it noses for oil. If you have anything to do with the oil business, and you of course realize how thoroughly the Texas Aggies dominated the old Southwest Conference, this movie is definitely for you.