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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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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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 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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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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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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The Tiger And The Monk

Amazing spiritual story
Whether you agree or not with the tourist interaction at this Monastery / Wild Life Sanctuary, the documentarian captures and presents an incredible ongoing tale well worth the journey for the home viewer. There's a couple of rough scenes, still photos of slaughter Tigers - so that part really isn't good for the kids. But spiritually speaking, the synchronicity that perpetuates the Monastery's mission will leave you with hope and may even inspire you to donate.

Interesting yet troubling
These monks have become guardians of tigers and other animals late in the life of the temple. While awe inpsireing and interesting there is also a dark side. The fact that tigers in SE Asia are endangered is horrid. Secondly, it is only a matter of time before someone is killed or injured by the wild animals on the grounds of the temple.



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Ghostbusters (Mastered in 4K) (Single-Disc Blu-ray + Ultra Violet Digital Copy)

Is it worth the Blu-ray version of it?
And the answer is absolutely YES!

I won't get caught in the main synopsis of the movie, I'm guessing you know the story and the actors. If not you should be asking your self where have you been the last twenty years or so...now lets get into it!

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc). This is a great catalog release. It is so refreshing to see a studio not attempt tweaking the original image with digital noise reduction and edge enhancement. This is a faithful to the source transfer. Clarity and resolution is where this transfer shines, all the little signs, switches, knobs and so forth are all clearly defined displaying an excellent depth of field. Colors are nicely saturated and accurate displaying good natural hues.

As for the Bonus Materials: these are presented in Standard Definition 480i and High Definition 1080i with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound.

* BD-Live -...

Good DVD and a better story.
I received the DVD a few days earlier than expected, and in an unexpected way.

There was a knock on the door, it was maybe 2 in the morning. I don't really remember. I slowly got out of bed and peeked through the doorhole to see who it could possibly be.

It was Bill effing Murray. Dressed up as a ghostbuster. When I opened the door, he clicked a remote to turn on a stereo boombox he had with him. Ghostbusters theme blaring, he starts dancing. 70's disco style.

After "WHO YOU GONNA CALL," he held the DVD case up to my face and paused the song. I was silent, he lowered the case and put it in my face again.

"Ghostbusters?" I asked.

He started the music again, put the dvd down on my doormat, took the boombox and danced away.

I opened up the DVD case when I got back inside, and on the INSIDE of the SHRINK WRAPPED DVD CASE, I kid you not there was a note that read

"No one will ever believe you. No one buys DVDs...

mastered in 4k - is it worth it?
I already have the 25th anniversary blu-ray edition of this movie, but I was wondering if the 4k would really upgrade the video quality which is not that great on the earlier edition, and this newer edition (at $14.99) was cheap enough to experiment with. I do not have any of the very expensive 4k equipment but the 4k is advertised that it will improve a regular blu-ray. Side by side with the earlier blu-ray version, I would say that there is a noticeable upgrade in the foreground of the scene and some shots come out very clear. It is enough of an improvement that I am keeping this one, but don't get rid of your earlier editions because this one does not have any features. The 25th anniversary blu has all the original dvd features plus some forgetable new features such as info on the Ghostbusters video game. So I am keeping them both. Amazon has the unfortunate habit of using all 555 reviews which go back to the dvd version which I find very confusing when I am trying to decide if an...

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American Dream

A haunting film...
This movie is so dramatically powerful, it's hard to believe it's real life. It's the devastating story of what happens to a small town when it's only industry turns against it. The characters are larger-than-life and the movie sticks with you long after it's over. The viewer is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride from the hopeful beginnings of the strike to the crushing end. Having family in Austin, MN (where the film takes place), I can say that this movie hits the nail on the head all too well. See this film. It's a truly moving experience.

An excellent film about the evolution and effect a strike
This documentary traces the development of labor unrest at a company that is planning to make substantial reductions in employees' pay. The story is told primarily from the employees' viewpoint, and includes elements of corporate campaigning, local versus international union politics, internal politics, the strike, and loss of employees' jobs. The human perspective is fully developed including emotional peaks and valleys, the strife within families, the decay of relationships between workers, and the the affect on the community.

The documentary is extremely well filmed and very moving.

Powerful document... but be warned...
Though it doesnt achieve the dramatic heights of "Harlan County, USA" this film is nonetheless a moving and disturbing document of workers and unions in battle with management, organized labor, and themselves. I have to believe that the person below who cheered the "crushing victory" of management over people who want "to earn more for doing less" was joking. This is a film about meat packers, a thoroughly disgusting job if there ever was one, who try to organize against the Hormel company, which is trying to slash their wages by $2 (It seems to me like management wants to pay the workers less for doing more). Unlike Harlan County, USA, though, the conflict of this film is mostly within the ranks of labor. The battle between international and local unions and between different strategies is what ultimately undermines the the worker's chances for success. A cheery film this is not, but an important one that anyone who cares about our...

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Sincerely Yours

The Real Thing
Instead of looking at made for t.v. biographical movies about Liberace, why not see the real thing. I go back so far that I remember watching his B&W t.v show in the 50s and I saw him once in concert in the early years before he became so flamboyant. I'm glad to say that they toned down the whiney voice for this movie and he seems to be speaking in the lower registers which, as I remember from the concert, was his original voice. This movie was made early in his career and he looks handsome. He didn't do a bad job of acting. Actually very little acting was required of him as at least 2/3s of the movie is him playing the piano. This is a remake of an old movie called The Man Who Played God. It's a good story, a bit sappy but then most of the movies in those days, especially those starring entertainers were pretty sappy. But, it's well done and even touching in several places. It was a perfect vehicle for him. I'd actually rather watch this movie than DVDs of any of his concerts...

THE ONE AND ONLY
SINCERELY YOURS WAS LIBERACE ONLY STARRING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE THAT I'M AWARE OF,HE PLAYS,SUPRISE A POPULAR PIANIST WHO HAS EVERYTHING HE COULD WANT BUT GOES DEAF AND LEARNS TO READ LIPS AND ON IT GOES,HE IS NOT THE BEST ACTOR BUT HIS PIANO PLAYING IS GREAT AND THE MOVIE IS OK,THE MOVIE WAS BASED ON ANOTHER MOVIE FROM THE 30'S,THE MAN WHO PLAYED GOD,SO JUST FOR THE NOVELTY OF IT KICK BACK AND ENJOY.

Love it!!!
Great movie! I love seeing Liberace in anything...and this movie is no exception. He was a class act. I miss him.

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Leonie [HD]

really enjoyed this movie
Leonie - The true story of Leonie Gilmour, set in the 1900's. Leonie is a educated American woman who agrees to become editor, and in time - lover, to the Japanese poet Yone Noguchi - I have to wonder how famous he would have been without her interjections. She bears his child (Isamu) and follows him to Japan only to find he already has a wife and sets her up as his mistress. She leaves him securing jobs teaching English. Once on her own she again gives birth and never reveals who the birth father is.
It's also interesting because the film has a Japanese director, it's filmed in Japan and yet it seems truly to mock Japanese sexism. Yone is definitley the villian, sexist, violent and selfish, I believe she fell in love with him because of his creativity and his constant pursuit of her.
Very good movie.

A work of art
This is a profoundly beautiful true story. A proud and independant woman is first weakened by the love she has for an abusive man, but the love for her child redeems her and gives her back the strength and the pride to reasume her life .The film is poetry and the main character engages your heart and admiration.

Interesting story of a single mother in the early 1900s.
I liked this take on the life of the artist through the story of the mother of the artist. Very well done scenes of Japan and straight-forward story of the mother's life as her son and daughter grow up. I liked seeing Noguchi's outdoor installments at the end of the movie.

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Blue's Clues - Bluestock

entertainment
I have a special girl who is now 33. She sits and watches these and signs and laughs whit them. Great stuff for the little guys. She is about 3 to 4 mentally.She has even learned some things from them. Grand kids love them also.

Good mix of Blues Clues and Music for your little one
This is your typical Blues Clues DVD and it of course keeps my little one entertained. I was leary to buy as another review said there were commericals that I couldn't fast forward and with a toddler that would never work. However, you CAN skip the commercials and go to the scene menu-the same as all the other kid videos. Is this my favorite collection of episodes-no but my kid likes them so I give it 5 stars.

Two year old loves this show
My two year old loves music and Blue's clues. She watches this movie often and sings every song and performs the hand movements.

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This is Not a Film

"Film" or not, an extraordinary document
A rare work that can be dated exactly to the day it was filmed - March 16, 2011, five days after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the coverage of which Panahi watches at one point, and also the date of the Iranian holiday "Chaharshanbe Suri" or "Fireworks Wednesday", the beginning of the celebration of the Iranian New Year which coincides with the start of Spring. So this is a home movie of a day in the life of it's (co)director, right? Not quite. Panahi was under house arrest, essentially for "subversion", and awaiting appeal of his sentence to 6 years in prison and 20 years of no filmmaking or writing or leaving the country - essentially the end of his career (the appeal was not granted). He spends the day on the phone with various people, surfing the Internet (and complaining about how nearly everything is blocked), and trying to stay hopeful about his furture. At a couple of points he acts out and discusses parts of what would have been his next film, and it turns out...

"It's Important That the Camera Stays On!" - Review of DVD
This extraordinary film has a backstory that's almost as interesting as the film (excuse me, this is NOT a film, really it isn't - because it was short using a digital camera and an iPhone - but there are other reasons). As pointed out in my fellow Amazon reviewer, Paul Allaer, the Iranian filmmaker - Jafar Panahi - was banned from making any films and this documentary was smuggled out of Iran to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. (What Allaer failed to mention is that the flash drive containing the documentary was hidden in a BIRTHDAY CAKE!).
I'll leave you to read Allaer's review but clarify a few points. 1) there are two other people who appear in the "not a film" besides Panahi: his fellow documentarian Mojtapa Miratahmasb who mans the digital camera at one point and the custodian (who Allaer refers to, incorrectly, as a Jafar's friend - he is actually the brother of the normal custodian who is filling in, and apparently Panahi has never met.) and 2) though we hear...

4.5 stars... ordinary film is extraordinary on so many levels
I happened to catch this movie in a theatre in Washington, DC some 4-5 months ago. I had heard about the amazing circumstances surrounding this documentary (more on that later), and couldn't wait to see this for myself.

"This Is Not a Film" (2011 release from Iran; 75 min.) is nothing more, nothing less than Iranian dirctor Jafar Panahi filming life in his apartment on a digital camcorder. Indeed, as Panahi explains to us, he is under house arrest (for reasons not fully explained) and barred from film-making by the Iranian authorities. Panahi has a script written for a new film and with the help of a friend, he decides to read the script to us and live out the script as best as possible in his apartment. Alas, that is not practical (a frustrated Panahi exclaims at one point "If we could tell the film, why make the film?"). In the last part of the film another of Panahi's friends comes to the apartment and the two men simply discuss their daily struggles, and then take out...

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Pokémon Black & White 4

Iris the Dragon master
im glad that they made more sets of this series and i cant wait until they start on rival destinies! And i hope it will not take long.

Its Tournament Time!
Ash and his friends finally reach Nimbasa City where they learn of a Don Tournament! Many of their rivals enter as well! Who will be the victor? Also Ash and friends find a Meowth Injured! Only to discover that its the same Meowth of Team Rocket! Meowth has decided to join Ash and his friends, but what is he hiding? Things really get crazy when Ingo and Emmet show up only to learn that some Pokemon have been stolen from the Pokemon Center! With the aide from Ingo and Emmet, will Ash be able to get the Pokemon back? Find out in this amazing 12 episode 2 disc set that concludes the Season of Black and White!

Fourth 12 Episode Set of Pokemon B/W
This is the fourth 12 episode set of Pokemon Black and White. They are:

37: A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition!
38: Movie Time! Zorua in The Legend of the Pokémon Knight!
39: Reunion Battles in Nimbasa!
40: Cilan Versus Trip, Ash Versus Georgia!
41: The Club Battle Hearts of Fury: Emolga Versus Sawk!
42: The Club Battle Finale: A Heroes Outcome!
43: Meowth's Scrafty Tactics!
44: Purrloin: Sweet or Sneaky?
45: Beheeyem, Duosion, and the Dream Thief!
46: The Beartic Mountain Feud!
47: Crisis from the Underground Up!
48: Battle for the Underground!

This set contains many episodes with awesome battle scenes, especially the tournament in Nimbasa Town (not Nimbasa City). It also has a larger Team Rocket plot (Meowth joins Ash and friends for a while) build up and unfold, finally ending in the Subway in Nimbasa City with the Subway Masters included as well. However, there are no new gym badges...

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True Story of Jesse James, The

Not very compelling
Although this version of the Jesse James story is more factual than most, it's at the expense of entertainment. Robert Wagner simply does not have the charisma that the character needs for us to believe that so many men, older than he was, were willing to follow him. Nor are any of the characters particularly well drawn, which doesn't give the actors much to do. The story is told in flashback form, starting with Northfield, but this does not seem to be to the film's advantage. The first 10 or more minutes are spent with the Northfield posse trying to track and find the gang, and because there are no characters to be invested in, it's rather dull. Later, when the flashbacks catch up to the present, we see some of the same material again. Interestingly, the screenplay credit says it's based on Nunnally Johnson's screenplay for the 1939 version with Tyrone Power. That version took a lot of liberties with the history, but is far more entertaining.

Technically, the DVD...

True Story of Jesse James
In the movie "The true Story of Jesse James, the plot is certainly following the traditions of Jesse and Frank being Robin Hoods, when in effect they may have just been Hoods Robbin for Frank and Jesse and no one else. Still it is a good movie for the time and tells much of the story about the ill fated attempt to rob the bank at Northfield Minnesota. They should have never gone into that area in the first place as it took them totally out of their land of sympathizers and into the jowls of Northern veterans and citizens, Be that as it may, I have for years tried to find out who the blind balladeer who sings at the last. The choreagraphy of that final scene with the balladeer and his aid is very story telling and a fitting end to this episode. I wish i could find this song by him in its entirety. You cannot take anything from this movie but good thoughts about all the direction and acting that went ito it. Definitely a classic and worth the money.

review summary
Pretty enlightening view of "The rest of the story". A repeat of the same ruthless banker situation which we are in today. Nothing sacred but Money.

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Frankie Go Boom

A must have!
I'm a Charlie Hunnam fan. This is funny! I love funny and everything Charlie. It's funny but there are also interesting aspects of life here. Poor Frankie is the only sane one. I'm always amazed at how different Charlie can look and be in his different roles. Amazing. I wanted to see it in the theater; I did see it online and I'm happy to own it also.

DIRECTED BY BRUCE
I am confused about the hype and raves for this film. It is a wanna-be quirky independent film using trite jokes and unreal situations in a world that doesn't require a release form. We are told that Bruce has spent his life torturing and filming his brother Frankie from the film blurb. We get to see one quick episode, hear about a second one, that really had nothing to do with Bruce and the movie is about a third one that again, Bruce (Chris O'Dowd) just happens to film.

The whole set up and building of characters was done in a very poor fashion. The get together of Frankie(Charlie Hunnam) and Lassie (Lizzy Caplan) was slightly humorous, but there was no good follow up. Bruce was extremely unlikeable. Frankie only slightly less so. The characters overall are meh, even the over the top Ron Pearlman..."call me Phyllis now" tried so hard to be funny, that it wasn't.

This is a sex comedy that lacks the crudeness of successful sex comedies, and lacks the cleverness...

Funny video
FGB is a good first comedic effort for Charle Hunnam. I've read CH had reservations about playing a lead role in a comedy film, but playing the straight character, he was great. it was fun to see him not play a bad ass as he has been cast recently. Ron Perlman is a riot as a transsexual . While I did not find the movie hysterically funny, it is definitely worth watching again.

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Fangoria Presents: Germ Z

Adjust expectations and you'll like it
I found little about this film to be original, but it was entertaining. In fact, there were several moments when i thought it did a really good job of portraying how average people would react when zombies marched into their front yard. That includes a lot of confusion, disbelief and running from room to room...until there are no more rooms to hide in. I also liked how survivors would often hear screams and gun fire in the woods, but never actually see what was going on. Wish the ending had been a little less down beat, though. I liked the deputy.

THE OTHER BAD NEWS
This is "Andromeda Strain" plus zombies. There are a limited number of characters in this film that involves a small mountain community. I managed to like one of the characters, the deputy with a sense of humor. The rest of the characters lacked depth and dialouge. The film moves slow for the first half and I was fairly bored up until that last 20 minutes. The plot while simple was haphazard. There is plenty of blood splatter.

Not Fangoria's best film, a disappointment.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. Near sex. No nudity.

B movie that's terrific (if you like zombie movies)
This isn't really a zombie movie but a movie about people infected with an extraterrestrial germ. Of course it makes them insanely violent and cannibalistic, but it's not like Romero movies with reanimated dead.
Like I said in the title it's a 'B" movie with about a half million $ budget so don't expect The Avengers quality, but it's the best "B" zombie movie I've seen in a long time. The acting is decent throughout. The unbelievable plot is made to be believable. The heroes are the imperfect heroes we tend to love, but heroic nevertheless. And most of all it's just flat out good for a cheap movie.
I hate writing movie reviews because there are so many of you that are a whole lot better at it but I felt compelled to comment on this one. It's not on Amazon. It's not on Netflix. I had to watch it on Free HULU and watch all those commercials about things you wouldn't buy if someone was holding a gun to your head. But it was great! (for a "B" movie).
Come on Amazon. Put...

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Honor Flight [HD]

Thank You Veterans
I had the privilege to see this documentary in a theater recently. We took a 93 year old WWII Veteran with us. It was an amazing and moving experience.
The documentary is about a community that comes together to take World War II Veterans to see the Memorial in Washington DC, at no cost to them. It was a project that took on a life of its own and so many were able to go.
I lost my father over 25 years ago. He and his brother served together. He never talked about the war. This documentary tells us that the soldiers "came home from the war, put their duffle bags in the basement and went out and got jobs." Most of them never talked about their experiences and now we are losing those Veterans at the rate of over 900 per day, and their stories and experiences are going with them. This documentary got the Veterans to open up and talk about it, many for the first time.
We have the freedom we have today because of them, and we need to hear their stories.
On our...

For my Dad....and my heart!
My 85th Birthday gift to my proud WWII Navy Vet Dad was an Honor Flight in October 2011. This movie brought it all back--the excitement, the tears, the pride of those exhausted but thrilled members of our Greatest Generation. "Honor Flight" came to our local theater at a stressful time in my life when my expectations of folks were pretty low. Seeing this movie and reliving our trip with Dad at my side IMMEDIATELY returned my perspective to the correct view--awe, humility and gratitude for our freedom, purchased by them then and being purchased by our Vets and Active Duty personnel today. "Thank you for your service" will never be enough. I intend to order at least one more copy on payday.

A proud and grateful daughter.

A Must See
Its hard to write a review five minutes after watching this film. I was lucky enough to order this on Pre-order direct and watched this right away. This is an amazing program to support. I strongly recommend everyone to watch this to remember what you forgot and who you may have forgotten. I think of my Grandfather, and how much I miss him along with all the times I didn't thank him. Simply amazing

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Good Day To Die Hard, A: Extended Preview

just 10 minutes preview
I thought that was the whole movie, but at the end was just a 10 minutes preview, better to see the whole movie at once.

COOOL DO IT DO IT~!!
I REALLY WANT TO WAnt to watch this movie but i'm holding lil $$$ cash and waiting for free time but looks super exciting

It OK
The movie Good Day To Die Hard is another Die Hard movie that fallows the Die Hard formula. It is a good time waster but would not go to a cineplex to see it.

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