JFK - A New World Order - Standard Edition

JFK - A NEW WORLD ORDER
PROS.... A good amount of unseen photos and usually unseen segments of famous speeches (*unseen meaning "I" haven't seen them in any previous docs I have seen and I have seen quite a few, but not all). Good overview of the administration.
CONS....too few interviewee's (only 3 in whole series) and those that are did have a remote connection to firsthand knowledge of the events... not the most dynamic or engaging doc on this subject... not too fussy about the narrator....very little pre-presidential coverage...reuses same stills/footage throughout series. Not crazy about the actual title of the series itself.
If you have seen many previous Kennedy docs then this might be a disappointment. If you have little knowledge of the Kennedy administration then it is informative. If you are going to have only one or very few Kennedy docs in your possession, there are better ones out there to pick from.
*The bonus disc is worth the price of purchase: it contains:
- a vintage...

Wrong Info on Amazon Website
I thoroughly enjoyed the 8 segments (27 minutes each for a total of 215 minutes) of JFK's private and political life. However, the info on the Amazon website stated that the length of this dvd was 583 minutes, which, I discovered later, turned out to be incorrect, as it contained only 215 minutes, meaning that 368 minutes were missing! I contacted Amazon & explained this & was able to return my dvd & was not charged for it.(Thank you, Amazon!) I will reorder the combination dvd/blue ray which DOES include the missing minutes. The extra info that totals up to 583 minutes is described ONLY on the dvd/blue ray site. When I ordered the dvd version, none of this info was there, which led me to assume that the 8 segments themselves would total 583 minutes. This info needs very much to be corrected! For anyone interested in seeing all 583 minutes, order the dvd/blue ray combination. The dvd does not have even half the minutes of the blue ray version. I'm so disappointed that dvds are now...

Not The Best
With all the attention being paid to the 50th anniversary of JFK's passing, many products will be on the market. This Blu-ray did have an interesting supplementary section, including a Secret Service re-creation film and scenes of the funeral. The main body of the Blu-ray was very disappointing - utilizing very poor period video and lacklustre commentary. A very poor effort.

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Dance Academy: Season 1, Volume 2

Great second season!
Dance Academy gives you a somewhat romanticized look into the lives and struggles of students at a prestigious ballet school in Sydney. In the second season, the stakes are higher because of a big international competition that is the ballet equivalent to the Olympics. The characters grow and change and there are some surprises towards the end that you didn't see coming! I watched the entire first two seasons over a week on Amazon Instant Video. Just couldn't stop!

Back Into The Fray: The Second 13 Episodes Of Season One For This Australian Teen Drama
The popular Australian teen import "Dance Academy" has been discovered and embraced by North American audiences after its run on TeenNICK and its availability on Netflix. Its first two seasons are getting an official DVD release, however, for those that want to add it to their permanent DVD collection. I always have to question the marketing thought process behind the decision to split television seasons into different products. I understand, perhaps, if the season airs over two distinct time periods and you want to rush the first batch of episodes to market. But in this case, these are all ready to go. And instead of Season One and Season Two sets with all 26 episodes present, we're getting each Season in Two Volumes of 13 episodes. Truthfully, it doesn't make it any less expensive to the consumer. Are there a bunch of viewers that are going to say "I loved the first half of Season Two, but who wants the second half?" Doubtful and especially so when they are released on the same day...

Excellent show - great dancing, plot, acting - suitable for whole family
This show is great quality - set in Australia. The ballet dancing is real and good. The plots are interesting and dramatic without being too soapy. The characters change over two seasons and it's fun to follow those stories. I was most surprised by how much I like it as an adult and how current it seems without being too edgy. It's a pretty clean show from what I recall. So glad to see good ballet technique from good actors.

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Funny Money

Not so funny
I am a fan of Chevy Chase and he is good in this movie. Miller is good too. All the acting is good. The problem with the movie is plot. It is his birthday, he finds the money, his wife gets "discovered" as an artist, and the wife is having a surprised birthday party for him. So many small things to wrong in the movie to keep the certain characters in the plot, it makes the whole thing uncomfortable. It is like a "Fawlty Towers" episode on steroids without the laughs. There a few chuckles in the movie, but it just doesn't justify the frenetic pacing. Penelope does the best she can with a strange role. She plays a depressed drunk for most of the movie. Chevy hits his part just right, but he isn't given much to work with. Even before I read that it was a movie made from a play, I knew it was a movie made from a play. It had a claustrophobic feel. Most of the action takes place within the house.

The movie frustrated me more than made me laugh. It just was not funny.

Two great actor, one bad film
This movie was developed from a stage play and shows it. Unlike most movies adapted from plays (think Harvey here) the director kept most of the action in a limited confine, the brownstone in New York.

I made it through the first 45 minutes or so then left it to play while I went and cleaned the kitchen. Nothing I heard of the remaining movie made me come in to watch anything happening on the screen. It became just background noise.

Chevy Chase and Penelope Ann Miller seemed to be trying their best to rescue this dog, but even good actors can't work with poor material! Bypass this and choose something else to see either of these stars.

Chevy Chase really does put the funny in Funny Money!
I was lucky enough to see this film shown before the public at the Sarasota Film Festival. I'm glad I got to see it with Chevy Chase in the audience. It was worth it. This movie is very funny! It is great to see Chevy Chase back on the screen. The film is well done for a low budget and full of animated characters that will have you laughing hysterically!

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The Miracle of the Bells [Blu-ray]

Why Isn't This Movie on DVD?
I watched The Miracle of the Bells for the first time this past December 2004 and I liked it. It is a sad movie but there are some very hartwarming moments in this that make it highly enjoyable! It is about a young woman on the verge of becoming a big movie star who dies and the man who loved her brings her back to be buried in her hometown. The movie stars Alida Valli as the actress and Fred MacMurray as her friend and they were both very good and the movie also stars Frank Sinatra as a young Catholic priest and I have read reviews saying that they just couldn't buy him playing a priest, I guess because of his bad boy Rat Pack image but I thought he was very good and I was able to forget about his later Rat Pack image and I just enjoyed his acting in this movie. Though this movie is thought of by many as a Christmas movie I feel that it can be watched anytime of the year, I mean just because it's set in winter and there is a miracle doesn't mean that you can only watch it during the...

The Miracle of the Bells
Undoubtedly one the finest performances by Fred MacMurry and Frank Sinatra, not to mention the superior supporting cast, Lee J. Cobb for starters. But because Sinatra isn't singing the "experts"; Maltin, Siskel, Ebert and Shalate overlook his REAL acting abiltiy. Sinatra is as pure a thespian as Olivier in this role as a priest (not even a church hymn from Frank's lips is hummed). Maltin's above review includes "ludicrous" plot-I'm sure the movie GHOST is on Leonard's his TOP 100 list. Trust no critic: see the this inspirational movie at once.

like molasses, a little slow but very sweet
Based on Russell Janey's novel, the Ben Hecht/Quentin Reynolds script for this film is sometimes sappy and often uneven, but it's also a nice sentimental story, told in flashback, by William Dunnigan (played in a somber manner by Fred McMurray), a press agent who was never a very happy guy, and is burying the woman he loved (but was never able to tell her so).
The real reason to watch this film is to see Alida Valli play Joan of Arc, in a "film within a film" segment. She is luminous and incredibly beautiful, and would have made a terrific Joan. Coincidentally, the lavish "Joan of Arc" production starring Ingrid Bergman was released the same year as this film.

Another reason to view "The Miracle of the Bells" is to see Frank Sinatra, skinny as a rail, in the unlikely part of a soft spoken priest; this was five years before his success in "From Here to Eternity", and he is surprisingly good, but far from great. He sings "Ever...

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Darker Than Black: Complete Season 2 Box Set (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Darker than black season 2
Watch the OVA before you watch this or you will be lost! This is a great addition to season 1.

Loved The First One, but...
this one didn't seem as good. It felt like there were fewer action scenes and more focus on character development. That may seem odd, because, who doesn't want character development? I sure like my characters fully rounded. What I mean by this is that the balance between action and character development that was present in the first series was off in this one.

It is also important to keep in mind that before you watch this second series, please note that this comes with the OVAs as well. These, in my opinion, must be watched first before the actual season is watched. They are kind of like a prequel that gives a frame of reference for the second season. Be warned, though, the OVAs are MUCH different from the first and even the second series as it is nearly all character development (with a love story..I think..maybe?).

Once I understood everything, this was a great second season. Again, much different from the first season, but not necessarily in a bad way. Just...

Darker than Darker than Black
The first season of Darker than Black (DTB) was a great noir, drama, comedy, super powered, sci-fi show. Can the second season top the first season? The first season's episodes were almost always two-parters, and then they would move on to another storyline. When you think that that episode didn't contribute to the overall plot, you would be proven wrong later on in the show. The second season is a story based series, rather than episodic. All the episodes are connected like most modern non-comedy anime.

This collection is distributed by Funimation, just like the first season, so all reoccurring characters have the same voices. Note that the 13 episodes are listed first on the DVDs, and then the 4 OVA episodes. I originally watched the set in that order, and was very confused because many plot points are explained in the OVAs. The OVA episodes take place before the second season episodes, so be sure to watch them first. The third DVD in the set has all the OVAs, then you...

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Gambler From Natchez, The

Dale Robertson and duels in post Civil War New Orleans
The Gambler From Natchez, Is Dale Robertson in his usual debonair style. Set in post Civil War New Orleans, Captain Vance Colby returns to see famous father Chip Colby, a notorious gambler. But on his trip home, he encounters an attempt on his life. After his arrival in New Orleans, he finds his father has died, killed in a duel, under dubious circumstances and from there the plot thickens. A great western but with flare. You'll enjoy it, I did and do.

Good film, Lousy video quality
Please see my review for Red Skies of Montana, just substitute the name of that film for this one, everything else applies, good film with what appears to be an old analog transfer, perhaps enhanced a little, and you guessed it from FOX Archives.

Entertaining adventure on the Mississippi river
A soldier (Dale Robertson) returning home to New Orleans after a four year stint in the Texas Army finds his father has been killed. He makes a promise to revenge himself on the three men (Kevin McCarthy, Douglas Dick, John Wengraf) who conspired to murder his father and cover it up. Why the film has Natchez in the title when the film's protagonist is from New Orleans is strange but that's neither here nor there. Directed by Henry Levin (WHERE THE BOYS ARE)), this diverting adventure with a touch of swashbuckle is quite entertaining. It never aspires to be more than a modest low budget time waster and it's better made than many an "A" picture. The film manages to have an authentic Mississippi river feel although it was made in Hollywood in large part to Leland Fuller's art direction. Lionel Newman did the underscore though his main title seems to have been "borrowed" from Sol Kaplan's theme to KANGAROO which came out two years earlier. With Debra Paget as a riverboat beauty, Lisa...

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Daimajin

A terrific fantasy film I loved as a kid.
A medieval Japanese village suffers a violent coup d'etats during a ceremony to placate the warrior god Majin, whose spirit is encased in a 20-foot stone statue that threatens to come to life and pummel the town to dust. The ceremony works all too well: the peasants endure ten years of forced labor and brutal taxation at the hands of an evil Warlord before the deity awakens from his slumber to destroy the tyrant and his army.

This movie rocks! (Pun fully intended.) The story moves at a brisk pace, as any good adventure should, and creates a fair amount of suspense along the way, despite the all but inevitable conclusion. The cinematography and set design are superb, effectively contrasting the beauty and mystery of the countryside with the back-breaking drudgery of the local labor camp. The special effects are also impressive, from the haunting opening shot of a giant eye superimposed on a gloomy mountainside to Majin's destruction of the villains and their...

The colossus of Japan.
Mixing elements of the jedai(samurai)film with elements of the kaiju(monster)film, Daimajin is a rousing adventure that is sure to appeal to fans of both types of films. Set in medievel Japan, the film follows the story of a boy and his sister, who are pursued by the man who had their father murdered and then took over his kingdom. Watching all of this is the giant statue of Majin, a powerful spirit that can be invoked to right wrongs and punish evil-doers. The story moves along well, aided by good performances by all of the actors, though it is perhaps a bit slow at first. Once Daimajin("dai" meaning giant, "majin" meaning spirit) revives, all hell breaks loose on the evil Lord and his men. The spfx are spectacular(immensely aided by the widescreen presentation). Functioning like a pounding funeral drum is Akira Ifukube's magnificent score, one of his best non-Godzilla works. This is a great film that is thankfully no longer obscure.

Samurai Meets Kaiju
If you enjoy the Samurai genre, this is an average film. If you enjoy Japanese monster films, this is an above average film. However, if you like bothe genres, this is an excellent movie. Great acting and special effects, as well as an appropriate and awesome score. Highly Reccommended!

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Exhale: Core Fusion Barre Basics for Beginners

Notes from a beginner
UPDATE Aug 2013: This workout gave me love handles! Not kidding. But it's a good thing ... here's why...

The tightening of the muscles up and around the top of my hip bone is so intense with this workout that where I previously had a nice (apparently) smooth round shape, the underlying muscles got so toned that the remaining fat around my midsection suddenly appeared like love-handles. Amazing results. And I expect the fat-burning that's occurring because of the additional lean muscle tissue will take care of the mid-drift fat in just a few more weeks/months. Good-bye love handles ... hello sexy! :)

I've been using this workout a few times a week for about 3 months now. I LOVE it! I've found that for me it's better if I still select to play the tutorials that come in between each of the 10-minute segments. I don't need the tutorials anymore. Instead I use the extra time to intensify my stretching. That has really helped my overall flexibility, wellbeing and lean...

Amazing results!
I got this dvd after attending barre classes at exhale soho, nyc. The exercises are great for getting to the lean dancers body. I wanted to get healthy and tone but didn't want to "muscle up" . Ive tried hitting the gyms year after year but never got rid of " lumpy knees" and inner thigh until I tried this . The barre method helps you use your own weight to do these exercises and the beginners cd is great for that. The calories burn even after the hour routine. I tried comparing the calories in the exhale barre (1300) vs a slimming series (850) with a resting burn of 860 cal vs 534 cal . my posture has improved and my knees and inner thighs are toned and butt well lifted! highly recommend the series.

Don't let 'basics' fool you!
Don't let the title of this CD, barre 'basics', fool you. These workout are short (10 minutes each) but very intense. I work out regularly and found all 7 of these workouts a challenge. I do one 10 minute workout a day and have gotten great results. I recommend this CD to everyone but caution those not familiar with core exercises; as noted before, these are intense. You will be glad they are only 10 minutes.

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The Mulberry Tree

Simply Wonderful
Great movie! I had the pleasure of seeing this film at a local film festival. The story is very well executed with depth that is not often seen anymore. The acting is superb with Joe Morton and Louis Crugnali giving absolute, award winning performances. You won't be disappointed.

Outstanding movie
Highly recommended. A heart breaking story about a young man struggling with his past and where his future should lead. The complex relationship between family members and the losses they each suffer will leave you pondering the movie for some time after.



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Mr. Sardonicus & Brotherhood of Satan - BD Double Feature [Blu-ray]

Mr. Sardonicus& Brotherhood of Satan Blu-Ray
I am a huge fan of William Castle.He was an A producer of B films. He comes through again in Mr. Sardonicus. It is a solid film with some good performances, most notably from Oscar Homolka. He is excellant as the servant. Brootherhood of Satan I felt was disjointed,and slow. Not a great film. For a Blu-Ray no extras for either film.TMr. Sardonicus & Brotherhood of Satan - BD Double Feature [Blu-ray]hey should have had isolated scores,and comentary's. Scene selection, these movies were really bare bones.

Even better than when at the drive-in!
These are two great low budget horror films that are unique, tell a great story, and are entertaining from start to finish. The remastering is superb and the detail is amazing. Mr. Sardonicus (1961) was one of William Castle's most original films, and you'll not want to take your eyes off the screen. Strother Martin's performance in The Botherhood of Satan as a coven leader is unforgettable. The nostalgia factor is huge especially if you can remember evenings at the drive-in theater in the 1960s.

great blue ray
If you think that an old movie isn't worth making into a blue ray think again Dr.Sardonicus in black and white looks so crystal clear its amazing it looks better than when it was released.this movie is on the order of a hammer film,a little far fetched but it sucks you in anyhow the acting is top notch with some graet stars.

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Dance Academy: Season 1, Volume 1

A TV show for all ages
I've streamed the first two seasons of this show, originally attracted by the ballet setting and quickly becoming completely addicted. I'm a grandmother watching a show developed for teens, but am enthralled by the acting, dancing and character development. The dancing and choreography are first rate (particularly in season 2) and deserve special mention. I'm eagerly awaiting the third season, which has been completed and will air on Australian tv in June 2013.

Into The Fire: The First 13 Episodes Of The Popular Australian Import
The popular Australian teen import "Dance Academy" has been discovered and embraced by North American audiences after its run on TeenNICK and its availability on Netflix. Its first two seasons are getting an official DVD release, however, for those that want to add it to their permanent DVD collection. I always have to question the marketing thought process behind the decision to split television seasons into different products. I understand, perhaps, if the season airs over two distinct time periods and you want to rush the first batch of episodes to market. But in this case, these are all ready to go. And instead of Season One and Season Two sets with all 26 episodes present, we're getting each Season in Two Volumes of 13 episodes. Truthfully, it doesn't make it any less expensive to the consumer. Are there a bunch of viewers that are going to say "I loved the first half of Season Two, but who wants the second half?" Doubtful and especially so when they are released on the same day...

Great Series!
My daughter and I have watched this series on TV and it is a great show! The dancing is superb and fits into the storyline. The actors are great and the writing wonderful! This is a great series for teens. Get it.

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The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection

Classic Marx Brothers not classy presentation
The Marx Brothers hit their peak with "Duck Soup". Sure, "A Night at the Opera" and "A Day at the Races" were both bigger box office hits and, while both those latter films have their moments they just can't quite compete with the inspired anarchy of "Duck Soup". Let's start with the positives first. It doesn't look like most of the films have any footage missing as near as I can tell. Sure, some of the editing still looks ragged but most of their early films (and films from that era for that matter) have that "look". The first three movies are a bit static looking (since the first two were based on their stage plays that's not a surprise--they look like photographed stage plays). With "Monkey Business" and "Horse Feathers" The Marx Brothers began to develop a style that was a bit more cinematic. All five films are essential for fans.

Now the bad news. Universal has been slapping together boxed sets lately of older films and TV series with little to no extras and without...

No Restoration, Weak Extras, but ***** Movies!
If you already own the previous DVD or Laserdisc releases of these great classic movies, you may want to think twice about investing more money for only 15 minutes total of "Today Show" interviews with Harpo, Groucho, and Harpo's son promoting their books. There is some fun here, but you want to kick the Today Show Director when they interrupt Groucho's story, after only 5 minutes, because they have other things to get to. Groucho really looks stunned and put out that he was stopped.

There are also 3 trailers (Cocoanuts & Monkey Business have none) strangely tagged at the end to promote the MCA 1980's Home Video Tape release.

I guess Universal forgot that they own the rights to the Marx Brothers half-hour 1950's TV special "THE INCREDIBLE JEWEL ROBBERY". This would have been a great addition to the box set! I have never seen this except for the old Castle Films home movie clip.

Restoration? Well, Universal never used that word in their description,...

Stars are for the movies, with no help from Universal
In summary, I will echo what's been said already about this collection. The films are worth having, because after 70+ years of existence, this is apparently the best Universal will do with the classic Marx Brothers performances of their day.

Now I will heap on some gripes of my own. First, there's just over six hours of material spread over six DVDs. You do the math--they're obviously NOT TRYING VERY HARD here. They could have easily fit this all on 3 discs, or fewer. It's not like there's a COMMENTARY TRACK or even a RESTORED PRINT that would make each film worthy of its own disc. Universal did the BARE MINIMUM knowing that real fans would buy these crappy prints anyway, and will pay again if they release restored and augmented versions later. (The Warner Collection beats this one hands down, but with different titles. Hell, even Universal's treatment of ABBOTT & COSTELLO was done better.)

The "exclusive book" is fluff; it has credits and pictures but...

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The Big Comfy Couch - Season 5 Episode 12 - You're A Gem

Season 5
So do great for children of all ages! Even my 9 year old loves it! The characters really grow on you, I was so sad when they stopped making this but so happy it is on Amazon Prime for all to see! It is a classic and will surely stand the test of time!





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The Unbelievable Truth [Blu-ray]

My favorite Hartley Film
If you like Trust and Simple Men then you'll love this film. Personally I love all of Hartley's works, but to me these three films just go so well together. They're all earlier works and in these films you witness an incredibley inspired director do more with a low budget film than most high paid directors could ever dream of doing. I'd also like to say that if you've never seen a Hal Hartley film then this is probably the best point to start out at.

RIP Adrienne Shelly
I was saddened to hear of the tragic and senseless passing of the beautiful actress Adrienne Shelly. Nobody can watch Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" and not be struck by how talented and engaging Shelly comes across onscreen. At the time of the film's release it seemed as if she was a star in the making. However, she seemed more content to stick with modest indie films and sporadic appearances in acclaimed TV shows rather than become a fixture in vapid Hollywood product that would have increased her exposure. Eventually she moved behind the lens for what was shaping up to be a very interesting directorial career. Sadly, we will no longer be able to witness her growth as an artist, but as a small consolation we still have films like "The Unbelievable Truth" and "Trust" to remind us of her once luminous presence.

...at last, a Hal Hartley feature film on DVD!
When I heard about a year ago that Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" is going to be out on DVD in 2001, I feared some low quality production - but this release should prove worthy for this masterpiece. The picture will be 1.85:1 anamorphic and hopefully the image quality is going to be excellent considering Anchor Bay's good reputation... Having been the directorial feature film debut for acclaimed director Hal Hartley, the film does not long for any big extras to be on the disc - an audio commentary would have been illusory - but we do get an interview with Hal, and the theatrical trailer of course. This is definitely a disc to get for all Hal Hartley fans, and the only thing that could make me even happier would be more DVD releases of his movies: Trust, Simple Men, Amateur, Flirt, his short films, etc... I'm desperately waiting!!

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Three Faces West [Blu-ray]

Underrated Classic - Beautiful Transfer
The Duke at his best in the beautiful HD transfer of the modern western love story. The cast includes the great Charles Coburn - directed by Bernard Verhous who a year later directed Wayne in LADY FROM LOUISIANA. One Amazon review claims that the running time for this film is 57 minutes, which is incorrect - the actual running time is 79 minutes.

Shameful
All these BR releases from Olive Films have been way over priced for simple 57 minute films. They must be using a quick remastering program since they are shoving these out at an alarming rate. Almost 25 BR releases in less than a year, with nearly all of them are less then 60 minute films and costing $20 - $25 each. This film might be a bit longer but that's just uncalled for. They could have made money at half the cost.



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Sara Ivanhoe's Taste: 10 Short Yoga Sequences

Ten very short yoga routines to mix-and-match (but no programmable option)
NOTE: I received a free copy of this DVD to review for the web site Metapsychology Online Review; you can read a more detailed version of my review on that site.

TASTE provides a series of short yoga routines--each about five minutes in length--which can be used as stand-alone practices or combined together for longer yoga sessions. Ivanhoe practices alone in a small indoor room, and she instructs via voiceover. Sometimes her mat is set up parallel to the camera, sometimes perpendicular to it. In addition to a yoga mat, a chair is required for the "Work" routine (Ivanhoe uses a stool). I have described each segment below.

WAKE (5 minutes). This routine, intended for the a.m., builds from sun breaths and forward bends to half sun salutations, which are then repeated for several minutes.

SHED (5 minutes). This practice, which has the theme of letting go, starts with some cat/cow stretches then focuses on a series of cleansing breaths, first in low...

Love it. Just what I needed
Not too long, not too short. Just right like the 3 little bears! I have heard about Sara but this is the first DVD I have tried. I'm a fan now. Will be buying more of her stuff. She has a real nice calm but motivating attitude. Nice DVD.

Wonderful Yoga DVD
Sara Ivanhoe is a great yoga instructor. I have most of her dvds and use them regularly to supplement my home practice between visits to my yoga classes. Sara is easy to follow, and her dvds are a nice blend of strength, flexibility, and relaxation.

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UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar

UFC 156...
This was the first official pay-per-view for the UFC of 2013. Given the rocky year that the UFC went through in 2012 they set up a big pay-per-view to start off the year with. Interestingly, given the biggest fight of the night was a title shot but two of the other big fights also had title implications. So, a very important night in planning the months' coming events.

Joseph Benavidez and Ian McCall are both fresh off the tournament to crown the first Flyweight Champion in UFC history. If you've been following, you should know that Demetrious Johnson won that tournament and then successfully defended said title last month. So, both fighters were looking to use a victory in order to get a title shot at a man they had both fought in the past year. Both fighters are wrestlers with decent striking but the main difference lies in Benavidez's power, a factor which most people thought would have played a part in his title losing effort against Johnson. Now, given the 125...

no behind the scenes again
disc 1 main feature:
featherweight championship belt

Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar

Rashad Evans vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Silva

Jon Fitch vs. Demian Maia

Joseph Benavidez vs. Ian McCall

disc 2 preliminary card and bonus material:

Gleison Tibau vs. Evan Dunham

Tyron Woodley vs. Jay Hieron

Bobby Green vs. Jacob Volkmann

Isaac Vallie-Flagg vs. Yves Edwards

Chico Camus vs. Dustin Kimura

Francisco Rivera vs. Edwin Figueroa

bonus material:
countdown to ufc 156
weigh-ins

I was hoping for behind the scenes for this ufc event, because ufc 155 did't have it. but the fights were good anyways there was 1 out of 5 fights one was a finish (main card) and 4 out of 6 were finishes (preliminary card) so in total there were 5 out of 11 fights were finishes. I've seen worse. and the last three...

Good Card
The Overeem vs Bigfoot fight stole the show in one of the greatest ultimate comebacks of all time. The Lil Nog vs Evans was a close technical battle which I enjoyed. The Aldo vs Edgar fight wasn't as close as I would've liked to see. Overall, from top to bottom including the prelims this was a good card to watch.

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Brave New World [Blu-ray]

Updated is O.K. but lost some of the sting
Update classics as Shakespeare and you distort the feel along with the message. It was written for a period and the more you deviate the more you lose the point let alone the ambiance. Update "Brave New World" and you threaten to do the same. However the use of today's technology and making the primitives just unruly people (shades of Logan's Run) did not actually distract that much and may even have been the original intention.
The movie uses well know actors that fit the characters (Peter Gallagher as Bernard Marx and Leonard Nimoy as Mustapha Mond). The scenery is and sci-fi technology is well done and believable.

With all of this there is a great letdown when the story line is not followed and the sting and impact is missing from the book as the story was changed into just a contemporary social commentary. The book by Aldous Huxley is based on the day's example of genetic engineering or a least a little alcohol to create people that were happy in their station. The...

Underrated gem
A made for TV film that boasts wonderful acting and a script that both visualizes and honors the thought provoking work (of great depth), which provides the title.

Leaving the plot description for others - a thought:
It is evident that the team responsible for this film treated the content very seriously, this is a work of love.

This film had somehow found itself buried under years of lesser films, and seen by too few - but it is a gem.

A recommended choice for viewing - and a buy if ever it appears on DVD.

needs to be on dvd
I agree that this was a very nice adaptation of Brave New World. Nimoy is fabulous, perfectly cast, if not quite true to the book, and the story of John the Savage and the depiction of the culture was spot-on. It is VERY useful for classroom work on the book.

Highly recommended and wondering why it isn't available on DVD?

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Jubal (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

One of Glenn Ford's Best Westerns
Jubal is the kind of adult western that was rare even in the heyday of Western production in Hollywood. A great cast, strong writing, and beautiful scenery makes it that much more enjoyable.

Jubal is a luckless drifter, played by Ford who is rescued from exposure and starvation by wealthy rancher Ernest Borgnine. Borgnine soons put Jubal to work as a ranch hand. Borgnine has a very young and beautiful wife, played by Valerie French. She takes a strong liking to Jubal, which not only complicates his relationship with Borgnine, but further strains his dealings with a jealous fellow ranch hand Pinky, played by Rod Steiger. Things go downhill from there.

Add Felicia Farr playing her normal stalwart Western beauty and Charles Bronson as a friend of Jubal's, and you have the making of a great film. It's way past time that this was on DVD.

Excellent mid-50s Adult Western with Glenn Ford
THE STORY: An injured drifter, Glenn Ford as Jubal Troop, is rescued by ranch-owner Earnest Borgnine, who ultimately promotes him to foreman of his ranch. This stirs up the envy of ranch-hand Rod Steiger ("Pinky") and the desire of Borgnine's young sexpot/discontent wife Valerie French. The latter leads to even more hostility on Steiger's part because he used to enjoy the adulterous attentions of French until Ford came along.

Add to this mix a group of trespassing Mennonites (or perhaps Quakers) who have in their company Felicia Farr, a godly woman that attracts Ford's romantic interests, and Charles Bronson, another drifter who befriends Ford.

WHAT WORKS: For the first hour and ten minutes or so "Jubal" is captivating cinema of the highest order. Borgnine is simpleminded & naive but likable and full of mirth. Valerie French is fully clothed at all times, yet somehow oozes sexuality with every simple glance or word (proving that sexiness involves way more than...

A Showcase
In the mid-1950's writer-director Delmer Daves made a series of superior westerns for Columbia studios. Too bad these films have not gotten their critical due from movie historians or critics. Perhaps it's because they lack the thematic continuity of a Buddy Boetticher or a John Ford to tie them together. Still each entry presents its own distinct virtues and all are greatly entertaining. If the compact, and tautly told "3:10 to Yuma" is the best of the lot, the scenic and sprawling "Jubal" runs a close second. This mid-series film features Glenn Ford's easy-going charm, a rowdy Earnest Borgnine, a luscious Valerie French, and the panoramic backdrop of Jackson Hole Wyoming. And in an odd piece of casting, which Daves seems fond of, method actor extrordinaire Rod Steiger appears as a treacherous ranch hand named of all things, Pinky! Following the dueling styles of Ford vs. Steiger is at least as interesting as the otherwise well-staged outbursts of gunplay.

Judging from other...

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Movies 4 You: Western Classics (The Lone Gun, Ride Out For Revenge, Gunsight Ridge & Gun Belt)

Great set of Westerns!
Here is my review in which I received my copy a day early, thank you Amazon! Again, Shout Factory! has produced another great set of Westerns and this set includes four 50s Westerns. All movies are in Full screen format. There isn't any special features and the disk is only one-sided. I wish Shout would've at least added some movie information like run time for each movie and color either on the back or on the inside.

Here is the list of the movies on this set:
-The Lone Gun (1954/color/74mins)
George Montgomery, Dorothy Malone, Frank Faylen, Neville Brand; Directed by Ray Nazarro
-Ride out For Revenge (1958/b&w/77mins)
Rory Calhoun, Gloria Grahame, Lloyd Bridges, Joanne Gilbert; Directed by Bernard Girard
-Gunsight Ridge (1957/b&w/85mins)
Joel McCrea, Mark Stevens, Joan Weldon, Slim Pickens; Directed by Francis D. Lyon
-Gun Belt (1953/color/78mins)
George Montgomery, Tab Hunter, Helen Westcott, John Dehner, Jack Elam; Directed by Ray...

priced right
I bought this for "Gunfight Ridge" with Joel McCrae and was'nt disappointed.Its an excellent 90 minute b&w movie with a great cast and great transfer.The movies "Gunbelt"&"The Lone Gun" are both good movies with average transfer,and terrible colorization.I'm not sure why they tried to colorize them? And the 4th movie "Ride Out For Revenge" is a b&w film with great transfer but stiff acting and slow story, with the exception of the nephew who does a great job of stealing all the scenes he's in.If the price is right, buy it.....support your favorite artists.

Hurraay for westerns from the fifties!
Oh, western fans, four westerns in a row to such a fine price. Two of them are in black and white and the picture quality is super. Two are in color and they are also very fine prints though now and then a bit unsharp. These kind of westerns which dominated the fifties and were the kind they showed in sunday matinee theaters in Denmark, Europe when I was a kid are not big budget John Ford films. Neither are they b-westerns like those starring Bob Steele, Buck Jones, Tom Tyler and many, many more ( I think b-westerns are the most charming of westerns ). No, they are something in between, some call them middle budget westerns and they certainly can be great too. "Ride out for Revenge" with Rory Calhoun is a bit weak because it tackles with the serious historical problem of moving the Cheyennes from their home country to Oklahoma and that is too much for the genre. But enjoy Lloyd Bridges as a drinking cowardly officer. The other three films are super. Enjoy Joel McCrea's usual...

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