Lord Of The Ring, The - Return of The King - EXTENDED EDITION (STEELBOOK)

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Lord Of The Ring, The - Return of The King - EXTENDED EDITION (STEELBOOK) Review

Peter Jackson proved me wrong when I said, like many people, that Lord of the Rings would be a bust: Spielberg-adventure at best, Lucas-disaster at worst. Had I known Tolkien's classic was in the hands of the guy who directed Heavenly Creatures, I would have been more optimistic. As it turns out, my expectations were completely overturned. In some ways the films are actually better than the books, especially in terms of emotional power. Competent actors, amazing cinematography, and a brilliant music score combine to offer us Middle-Earth as we'd never imagined it.

Fellowship of the Ring is the most polished film, with its elegant episodic pacing. We start in the idyllic world of the hobbits and flee with Ringwraiths hot on our heels; we rest in Elrond's sanctuary and plunge into Moria; we come out grieving and console ourselves in Galadriel's safe (yet unsettling) dream-wood, and then wind up surrounded by Uruk-hai. This is a quintessential fantasy road-journey containing three episodes within an episode, each beginning in a haven and followed by a dark journey. The pacing is flawless, and the plot unfolds to a perfect beat.

Two Towers is the ambiguous film. It's excellent (or at least the extended version is) but structured in a way that the hobbits become sidelined by the Rohan story. As they are the soul of Tolkien's epic, we feel slightly nonplussed at their consignment to B-storylines. Ironically, the film is a showcase for cgi characters Gollum and Treebeard, who manage to steal the show from within these storylines.

Return of the King is the most dramatic film, tragic on almost a biblical level, and certainly the most satisfying. I can understand why Elijah Wood calls it "better than one and two combined". It centers on the hopeless mission to Mount Doom, which, as every fan knows, is the heart of the story. Around this we're bombarded by apocalyptic chaos and destruction on the Pelennor Fields, followed by Aragorn's hopeless march on the Black Gate. We finish at the Grey Havens, the best ending in literary and cinematic history, which encapsulates all of Tolkien's themes: courage, friendship, suffering, and passing on. It just doesn't get better than this.

Peter Jackson deserves more accolades than I'm capable of heaping to the point of overkill. Minor quibbles aside, the extended versions of these films are masterpieces to be treasured as much as the books. Tolkien's classic may be pure, but the movie's cinematography takes us where even the written word cannot go. Tolkien's writing is irreplaceable, but Howard Shore's music taps deeper into Middle-Earth's soul. The text is sacred, but the scriptwriters changed it anyway so that it could actually work on screen. The entire project has been too good to be true, and I'm still in awe of it.

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Tell Me a Story

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Tell Me a Story Review

This very simple video is a record of live performances of some of the nation's best storytellers at a National Festival a few summers ago. It is a tape which can serve as the perfect compromise for parents whose TV tolerance (and appreciation) is as low as mine, but have kids who love to watch videos. (At our house, videos are only allowed on weekend evenings, and we don't watch TV during the schoolweek at all.)However, I would allow my daughter to watch this tape every night--during the summer, for example. What is spectacular about these performances is actually their simplicity. The youngest child capable of sitting still long enough to listen can certainly enjoy this tape, and yet no adult will be able to leave the room when it is on. The power of the storyteller is to draw us in, the way people did before they had to compete with videogames, and violent TV shows for attention. The tape includes some of the best performances of traditional storytelling by live storytellers that I have ever seen. The stories are appropriate for children but adults will not find them childish stories. We are actually on our second copy of this type, as someone we know liked it so much, they kept it. As a result of seeing this tape (and the two other volumes) we bought several audiotapes to hear in the car, recorded by some of the storytellers who star in this video, like David Novak and Ed Stivender, two of my favorites. Even the adults will be mezmerized by the unique talents of these storytellers, and children will be inspired to tell stories of their own.The wonderful thing about this tape is how it inspires a love for storytelling--and storylistening, that can only be a source of wonder and pleasure, and language development for any child. Plus, it's real family entertainment--it serves as a focus for a family spending time together rather than wrapped up in their own little "TV cocoons". I highly recommend this tape for anybody who loves stories. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews� Was this review helpful to you?�Yes No Report abuse | PermalinkComment Comment

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Helen Keller: Separate Views [VHS]

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Helen Keller: Separate Views [VHS] Review

This video, in fact, includes three separate films, the first being 1970's 'Helen Keller and Her Teacher', which stars Barboura Morris as Annie Sullivan, her penultimate role (her last would be in "The Dunwich Horror") before succumbing to cancer at age 43. This one's in color and runs 26-&-a-half minutes. This is followed by 'Helen Keller in Her Story', better known as "The Unconquered", 1954's winner for Best Documentary Feature, running time 50 minutes, in b&w, preceded by a 2-&-1/2 min. intro. by Patty Duke Astin (posing with her "Miracle Worker" Oscar). Finally there's 'One Eyed Men Are Kings' (aka 'Les...borgnes sont rois'), a 15-minute French short (without dialogue) that won the 1974 Oscar for Best Live Action Short.

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Professional Football Workout Video

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Professional Football Workout Video Review

Top Notch quarterback workout! Complete instructional dvd with throwing drills and core training workout. Great instructional dvd for the youth player.

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M*A*S*H

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Price: $49.99   

Product Description

This is a funny comedy about the army.

M*A*S*H Review

The Five-Star Collection is Fox Studios' top-of-the-line releases. Movies like French Connection have already made the list, and now Fox debuts the greatest anti-war movie of all time, M*A*S*H. The basis for the long-running TV series (which also debuted recently on DVD), M*A*S*H introduces us to the antics of Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland), Trapper John (Elliot Gould), Hot Lips (Sally Kellerman), and Radar (Gary Burghoff). Altman's black comic masterpiece doesn't have a solid plot so much as a series of skits and sketches about life during the war. From golfing 5 miles from the front to suspension of marital promises to trying to figure out why people are dying all around, M*A*S*H handles the gruesomeness of stupidity of war in the only way possible - if you're not laughing, then you're going to be crying, so it's probably better to laugh.And what a way to bring this classic to DVD - the movie has never looked so good. For being 30 years old, it looks great after Fox's extensive restoration and is presented in its original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 with an anamorphic transfer. There's some grain here and there, but the colors are exceptionally vibrant, with great contrast on the blacks and whites especially. The sound mix is a decent DD 2.0, which is fine considering that the movie is mostly dialogue, but the lack of a more dynamic soundtrack was noticeable during the football game and any time there was music. There are enough extras to make up for it, though, including Altman's commentary track, three featurettes including A&E's "The Story of M*A*S*H" and a 30-year cast reunion that's both touching and funny.The lack of the DD 5.1 soundtrack doesn't sully the otherwise pristine quality of the rest of this 2-disc set. It's a must have - get it now. Now, trooper! Now! Help other customers find the most helpful reviews� Was this review helpful to you?�Yes No Report abuse | PermalinkComment�Comment

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Highway of Heartache [VHS]

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Highway of Heartache [VHS] Review

In defense of this film, I can only say it becomes better with each viewing. The first time I saw it, I didn't make it through- then the next morning, like some kind of a bad dream hangover haunting me, I watched it through. This film is very contrived, pulling from every cliche known from cult films, white trash culture (and beyond!)
I have enjoyed it several times since. It's great trashy eye-candy, the sets are terrible, the colors are annoying and the characters are beyond contempt. I love it! Do not view this film if you are offended by blatant racism, classism, trashism and filth in general. This film manages to offend (and degrade) virtually every person on this planet. This is as low as it gets, folks. If you're into white trash country musicals with gratuitous nudity- this is IT!
Enjoy!

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Kansas City

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Price: $47.99   

Product Feature

• Widescreen

Product Description

Product Description In Kansas City during the Depression a young man robs a gambler and is held hostage by a mysterious night club owner. In response the man's wife kidnaps a socialite whom she tries to trade for her husband.Running Time: 115 min.

Kansas City Review

Robert Altman, one of the foremost filmakers of the last thirty years followed up what many consider to be his magnum, "Short Cuts", with this quietly more ambitious project. "Short Cuts" finished 'place' at the Oscars to "Shindler's List" and helped spawn the career of Juliana Moore (sort of like Sissy Spacek in "Welcome To L.A.") although I personally liked virtually all the other performances better (and there are some great ones in it).
The release of "Kansas City" followed hard upon the heals of the Oscar 'second best', and met with 'mediocre' to 'ok' critical reviews. Thus, the film didn't have much of a run in the theatres, playing to sparsely filled houses, who basically came to see the novelty of Harry Belafonte playing a rip-snorting gangster in an Altman film. Nor was the DVD release much of a hit.
What kept the movie alive basically was the magnificent soundtrack - a group of the best of the new generation of jazz musicians playing Kansas City jazz - well - as well as Count Basie and that guy who invented the jazz saxophone (what was his name?) - oh yeah, Coleman Hawkins, themselves. The CD became a classic, and a few people discovered that Altman had fostered this long time love for Kansas City jazz, and now that he was a bigshot and could finally raise lots of money to make any film he wanted, he decided to act on his long time dream to recreate the Kansas City Jazz scene in the early thirties in a movie.
And what an incredible recreation it is! There is even a separate one + hour film which Altman made of simply the bands (as recreated by the contemporary musicians playing all the tracks in the film and on the CD and more, and nothing else!) This film evokes an amazing, dreamlike experience and ranks with any performance of twentieth century music currently on DVD, and I wish they would release it when they release the director's cut, which I predict they will (my 30 year track record is pretty good).
Simply put, "Kansas City" is a noir masterpiece. Jennifer Jason Leigh gives an incredibly complex, brilliant performance and which is only to be matched by her foil, Miranda Richardson. One of the great "two chick" flicks of all time, one wonders why Altman seems to be the only director who sees Leigh for what she is: the best American actress of her generation. Belafonte and the rest of the cast are up to the searing standards demanded by these lead performances, and the script and the almost superhuman attention to detail evidenced in the sets, editing, and every frame, make one wonder what exactly the critics had in mind when they watched this film for the first time.
But the music . . . the bands themselves take on a certain personification and become characters participating in the action of the story.
I believe "Kansas City" is due for a re-evaluation and may go down as the greatest venture of both Leigh and Altman, and that's saying a lot.

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