Grandparents Day Movie Reviews

I won't dwell too much on the content of each episode since the other reviewers cover them in depth, except to say the Patrick Macnee did an excellent job of selecting two episodes each featuring each of his three female leads; Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, and Linda Thorson. And, for a man his age, Patrick is still holding up quite well in the newly-videotaped segments.

The extras in the package are a strong point, too. Patrick's overall introduction is worth the time to watch before watching any of the episodes. Also, he gives a short introduction to each episode. Some of his remarks seem candid such as his displeasure about the introduction of the "Mother" character in the last season in which he states that this took away some of the mystery and charm of the Avengers team by bringing out into the open the governmental spy organization in which they worked. Before, the Avengers seemed to be more like free agents loosely working within a hidden framework. "We would just show up," he said, "at the scene of a crime" and no one would question from where.

Another extra, Linda Thorson's 15 minute promo film the box set called "Town Girl" (even though no title is shown on the film) does it's best to show Linda as a happy-go-lucky star on the rise. It appears to have been filmed after the Avengers series ended around 1969 or the early Seventies. The color is crisp and sharp and shows her running around the English countryside in tight blue jeans with dirt on the seat of her pants. Then there's a scene of her jumping into a swimming pool and trying to keep her head above water. It's all good clean fun.

All in all, this is a great package from Honor Blackman's film noir episode "Don't Look Behind You" to Diana Rigg's quirky department store-turned-atomic bomb episode "Death At Bargain Prices" to Linda Thornson's wonderful "All Done With Mirrors."

This set is a great place to start for anyone who is interested in the evolution of the Avengers or a person who has never heard of the Avengers or for even the die-hard Avengers fan.

For starters, "Look - Stop Me If You've Heard This One..." is simply the best episode ever made in the series' long run. It has been argued that this brilliantly balanced crime melodrama/vaudeville act was an Emma Peel story filmed after its time, but if it was, then Linda Thorson's Tara King was well up to the task of pulling it off. The script is low comedy as high camp, yet succeeds in achieving some genuinely horrific moments. The performances all round are excellent, especially from guest stars Jimmy Jewel and Julian Chagrin as a killer clown and a murderous mime.

The Cathy Gale episodes chosen are those that put Honor Blackman's talent to the fore. "Mr. Teddy Bear" was the first genuinely bizarre story in the series, with Cathy going undercover to hire perhaps the world's best hit-man - with Steed as the target. The master assassin's name derives from his birth name, "Edward Bruin," and his eccentric trademark of doing business through a remote-control robot teddy bear. "Don't Look Behind You" is a superior piece of film noir, in which Cathy is lured into a sadistic death-trap by an escaped psychopath she helped put behind bars years before. Later re-filmed with Diana Rigg as "The Joker," Blackman's version is actually much better, both for its excellent use of black-and-white light and shadow and for Blackman's genuinely terrified performance.

The Emma Peel episodes are both from Diana Rigg's first year, "Death At Bargain Prices" and "Too Many Christmas Trees," the latter a well-known Avengers classic and one of its most sparkling scripts, and the former one of its cleverer and wittier suspense pieces.

Anyone might quibble over whether these are truly the best of the series, but no one will contest that they are excellent episodes all, and well worth watching.

3 Music Videos (Push It, Bled For Days, I'm With Stupid)

Audio Only concert

Lyrics/Subtitles !!!!

You won't be dissapointed with this purchase.

Since the film seeks a de-glamourized view of the Middle Ages, fans of Hollywood swashbuckers made during the 1930s and 40s will probably be surprised - dismayed may be a better word - at the dingy surroundings and deformed characters present in many scenes. Barrymore revelled in this type of setting and perhaps felt justified that he could never have played such parts had he remained on the stage. As it turned out, the film rights to the hit stage play, "If I Were King," were not available so Barrymore and company had to cobble a story together based on public domain information on Francois Villon, steering clear from any story elements original to the play.

THE BELOVED ROGUE on the whole is an enjoyable if somewhat creepy swashbuckler of a type never really duplicated during the sound era. Now if they only added some bonus material like Barrymore's 1926 home movie, Vagabonding on the Pacific, we'd really shout for joy!

John Barrymore plays Francois Villon, introduced as a poet, pickpocket and patriot. Though his works are widely read, writing does not pay the bills so Villon makes his living outside the law. On All Fools Day, he runs afoul of King Louis XI (Conrad Veidt) and is banished from Paris. The city is his life so to be forced to leave it is worse than death. Of course, you can't keep a hero as zany as Villon down and he ends up back in the city, falls for the pretty but bland Charlotte who is a huge fan of his poetry. Charlotte is about to be married off in a master plan by the Duke of Burgundy to take Paris. The King is too fettered by superstition to act. You guessed it, it's up to Villon to save the day.

The acting is all appropriately over the top, as is right in a silent melodrama. The sets and costumes look good. John Barrymore easily dominates the viewers attention. Conrad Veidt is also very enjoyable, the supremely weird Louis must have been a fun character to play.

My only real complaint about the movie is that the climax is played with a totally straight face, I felt that a sillier climax would have been more in keeping with the overall spirit of the film. However, silly climaxes are hard to do without being just plain dumb so I suppose I understand why the film makers decided to be serious.

The print quality is good, about the usual number of flaws expected in a silent film but always viewable. The score is piano and is appropriate (I find organ scores a bit overbearing but some fans can't do without them, it's all about personal taste) The DVD does not offer any extras except chapter selection.

This is a great investment for a silent movie or a swashbuckler fan. Overall, a very enjoyable film that is finally available on DVD.

In the 5th episode (Tooya's Destiny)
Tooya manages to save Aki from a group of thugs and instructs him to return to the Mikage residence, but Aki refuses, disgusted by his own grandfather who would hunt down his own grandchild. Understanding Aki's feelings, Tooya brings Aki to the Aogiri residence instead, where he is joyfully reunited with Aya. One night, however, as Aya and Aki are sleeping in the same room, Ceres takes over and tries to murder Aki!

In the 6th episode(C Project)
In order to learn more about Tooya and the plor of Mikage, Aya, accompanied Yuuhi, decides to tail Tooya. As she enters the building, however, Yuuhi finds himself locked out, with Aya being trapped inside! As Aya explores the building's interior, Kaga confronts her. It seems that he wants to summon Ceres no matter what the cost!

My only minor complaint is the dvd extras. It's the same character profiles that shows up in all 8 volumes along with a textless ending. Big whoop. Overall though if you don't care about the lack of extras, it's a fine, unique story with a unique ending.

We learn here about Tooya's past, and what his couse (?) is. Aki is apaering (?) here also.

Sorry about the spelling. I'm living in a non English country...

Definitely worth the $!!!

The second part about 50/51 minutes Joe and Phil take you almost track for track telling you how each song was put together. Joe and Phil also perform unplugged versions of songs from Hysteria. Overall this was a very DVD I got mine for... and I thought it was wellworth shelling out for in the end.

Apart from the use of color film, there were other subtle changes to the show for this fifth season. Both Steed and Emma were given new apartments and Mrs. Peel a much more stylized wardrobe. The device of ending each story with the two leads driving off in a variety of vehicles was abandoned and instead a tag scene was used to introduce each story, where Steed informed his partner that they were needed in a variety of humorous ways. Each story title was also given a two-line subtitle. After completion of the first batch of 16, the American backers did provide finance for a further 16 but asked for both the subtitles and tag scenes to be dropped, and also requested that Mrs. Peel's wardrobe became more recognizably en vogue.

After only 8 episodes were completed, producers Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell left the show after a disagreement and the new producers opted not to continue with Mrs. Peel and began their own interpretation of the show. It wasn't long before Clemens and Fennell were back in charge, but the 67 series ended with "Mission highly improbable," although Rigg was brought back in 1968 for the one-off "The forget me knot," to introduce her replacement Tara King. This episode is included in this release as a bonus episode.

In terms of storylines, acting and the wonderful interplay between the two leads, there is little difference between this color season and the preceding black and white stories and the show had really reached its zenith by this point. Certainly in terms of popularity and ratings, it was never as successful again. Interestingly, several of these stories are in fact remakes of earlier episodes from the Mrs. Gale era. "The joker," "The correct way to kill," and "The $50,000 breakfast," are all remakes, whereas "The return of the Cybernauts," is a sequel to an earlier Steed/Mrs. Peel adventure.

Fans of The Avengers will of course be delighted to have these discs, and I'd highly recommend them to any other fans of the sci-fi/fantasy genre, and indeed fans of the 60's spy format. If you've ever seen the dreadful movie featuring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman, don't let that put you off. These stories are the real McCoy!

The story begins with Aya and her twin brother Aki. When it is discovered she carries within her the blood of a celestial maiden, her life goes to shambles. A mysterious man named Tooya comes to her aid while her brother is taken away by her family, whom she can no longer trust. With the help of friends, and a strong will, she attempts to discover the mystery of the Mikage family, while keeping her own fate and heart in mind.

I highly recommend this series for anyone that loves plot twists, romance, and humor. If you liked Magic Knight Rayearth, Fushigi Yuugi, or Inu Yasha, I think you'll like this series.

Ps: As an added bonus, the soundtrack to this series is awesome too!