One Christmas

"Reality Christmas"
"One Christmas" was a film I happened upon some years ago. I did not know that it had been a story or a play, etc. I viewed it because I was familiar with the talents of the late Kathrine Hepburn and the talented Henry Winkler.

The story is not typical Christmas fare, but it is more real than many of the idylic Christmas movies. It is a tribute to the truth that many people struggle 365 days a year--their imperfections not taking a holiday.

Anyone who enjoys the talents of Winkler/Hepburn will enjoy this film; it is not stellar, not is not neccesarily their best performance, but it is a nice piece of "reality Christmas", if you will.

Teacher
This is a well done version of the Truman Capote story by the same name. As always, the actual story is better, but Henry Winkler comes aross well as a gigolo trying to be dad for Christmas. You can view it with your kids, or use in in school to follow the reading of the story.

Way overrated!!
We love Christmas movies but this was probably our biggest disappointment thus far. Expectations were high with the quality of the stars (Hepburn, Winkler) and the writer, but the quality scenes were just too few and far between. I suspect that people who liked the movie loved the book where the characters were presumably better developed and more likeable. Not having read the book, I found that I just didn't like the people on the screen and by the time they finally get into the spirit of Christmas, I just didn't care! Take a pass on this one.

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Twister (Keepcase)

Stunning Dolby 5.1 sound and Visual Effects
This is the best sounding 5.1 channel DVD that I have heard so far! The thunderstorms sound like the real thing and the dialog is always crisp and clear. This disc includes both widescreen and full screen versions of the movie. Unfortunately, there aren't any good special features on this disc (thats why only 4 stars instead of 5). I would have liked to have seen some behind the scenes info. This film has stunning visual effects and it would be nice to watch the computer art gurus in action! Even without special features, this disc is worth the money. It will squeeze every drop of performance out of your home theater!

Twister
Probably the best disaster movie made about tornadoes/twisters. The special effects were really exciting if you can overlook the inaccurate scenes enhanced for dramatic effect. It was a good balance between the story and the action. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton were really good - actually the whole cast was wonderful.

Hang on!
If ever a film was made to perpetuate the stereotype of Oklahoma as a state mercilessly and relentlessly ravaged by tornadoes, TWISTER is it. As a resident of Oklahoma, I can assure the readers of this review of two things: 1) tornadoes do on occasion occur here; and 2) tornadoes do not come in endless waves, one after another, like some sort of demented assembly line.

Having said this, TWISTER is a remarkably entertaining film. It's a fasten-your-seatbelt, get-ready-to-duck, leave-both-hands-inside-the-car rollercoaster ride, complete with eye-popping, hair-raising special effects. This movie is a vivid feast for the eyes: menacing, swirling tornadoes of various shapes and sizes; flying cows; and an endless assortment of storm debris to block the path of our protagonists, from tractors to tanker trucks--even houses.

The plot plays second fiddle to the action and special effects. Thank goodness: if the plot had to carry this film, the movie would have collapsed into a...

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Nirvana: Live at Reading

Nirvana Live At Reading - Worth The Wait!
In a word - amazing! Live At Reading serves as a vibrant reminder as to why Nirvana belongs in the pantheon of great rock bands, and how they may likely be the last great and meaningful band to emerge in the past twenty years. Live At Reading captures the band at a crossroads - just a year before in 1991, the band played the very same festival, but was relegated to an afternoon performance somewhere in the middle of the multi-day, multi-band gathering. Just a year later, they would be arriving as conquering anti-heroes, having in the space of a year, accomplished the small feat of changing the face of music. Now the festivals headliners, Nirvana - and particularly Kurt Cobain, had become the subject of much public attention, and amidst a cloud of rumours and innuendo stirred up by the press, the appearance was as much anticipated for the spectacle as it was for the expected performance, a performance that would be the bands final in the U.K. What is captured on tape, hardly comes...

Amazing from a 3 Piece
One of the things that struck me eventually, was the fact that here were just three lone wolfs and the sound they managed to make was amazing! Most of the bands I can think of are at least 4, most are 5 person bands. And along came Nirvana with three....and played awesomely ! Not having had the opportunity to ever see the band live, this recording is absolutely fabulous to have. I TRULY HOPE THE NIRVANA CAMP PUTS OUT ONE OF THE IN UTERO CONCERTS at some point because I would surely buy it as well. I assume eventually they will & they should. Contrary to what some people know of Cobain's views, he was a paradox when it came to his success in that he wanted commercial validation, and the money from it, as much as the next guy, but certainly shunned the notoriety associated with it.

At the time of this concert he was at a particularly difficult time in his life concerning his family - his daughter was born just 2 weeks prior and the child was removed from their care because of...

Amazing...makes you wonder what else is out there?
this will be pretty short...I've been a Nirvana fan since I was a wee boy. I was lucky enough to see them on the In Utero tour in 1993 and its always been one of the best concerts I've ever seen. I love this concert and can't wait for more. The shot is professional...over the years I've been used to crappy bootlegs. The Nirvana machine keeps rolling. I'm sure Kurt is rolling in his grave.

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Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy

One of the best Comedy Central-related DVD's that I have seen in 2009 thus far!
The comedian known as the "Fluffy Man". Gabriel Iglesias is one of the hottest comedians out there. Latino flair and hilarious delivery, from his voice impressions to jokes about his weight or personal issues, he knows how to get the audience laughing from beginning to end. There is no slow down in deliver, Iglesias is just hilarious!

Iglesias is known from being the finalist of the fourth season of "Last Comic Standing" in 2006 but in 2007, it was the success of his 2nd special Comedy Central 2007 DVD "Hot & Fluffy" (which sold over 300,000 copies) which would propel Gabriel Iglesias as a comedian that can sell out live performances and also comedy DVD's.

Earlier in the year, Iglesias released a double album CD titled "We Luf Fluffy" from performances from 2006 & 2008 and now he returns with a new DVD titles "I'm not Fat...I'm Fluffy" which was recorded in El Paso.

The tracklist on this DVD are as follows:

1. Return to El Paso...

Gabriel Iglesias never fails
I've seen both of his specials and he never, ever fails to provide laugh out loud jokes for me. His other special "Hot and Fluffy" was slightly funnier and there were a couple of repeat jokes, but he is definitely one of the best stand-up comics in my opinion. He stays far away from political humor (something I appreciate - I don't care for comics doing "preachy" commentary. I'm watching to laugh, if I want to be serious about the awful things in the world, I'd watch the news). Gabriel comes off as a very real person, one that I'd love to sit and have a beer with sometime and he always makes my sides hurt.

Hilarious
I recently saw him perform live and all of the material was different. He is a great comedian with all new jokes to keep his audience entertained

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Accountant

The Accountant Adds Up
There is a reason this movie won the Oscar: it is simply a great movie. It takes place on a farm in the South. And unlike nearly all other TV shows or movies set in the south, the accents and characters are authentic and multi-dimensional. You definitely have 30 minutes to see this movie. But I bet you spend a couple of hours, as you will want to watch it several times.

Amazing short film!
How can two struggling brothers save their family farm? By calling in an "accountant". Enter an almost cartoonish-looking Ray McKinnon (who also wrote and directed the film). What follows is a moving, hilarious and sometimes sad look at how drastically life has changed in the South and wonders whether we are better off for the change. Watch this movie. Seriously good short film.

Excellent, ahead of its time
What is almost an extended comedy skit is surprisingly prescient in it vision and analysis of the economic disaster being unleashed upon the American people. While the trappings presented are those of rural farmers and a backwoods accountant, the explores the core issues cancerous corporatism, self-determination, and the media created nightmare of the American Dream.

I saw this after the housing bubble burst in 2008 and the American economy started swirling down the toilet. It is at once both satiric and sobering, and should shame anyone with a credit card or a home mortgage with an unpaid balance. And yet for as much moral instruction as the movie provides, I can most heartily recommend it for its humor and compassion.

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Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One

A blessing for those who held out on the cropped and "psuedo" remastered season sets
REVIEW

Having my hand at watching the Dragon Box and the extra material it offers, I can say this is easily a great quality release from FUNimation. It's a near perfect release. Now let's break down what it has to offer.

Picture: Taken from the original 16mm film preserved in cold storage, the picture was quite perfectly clean, but with most old animation, it will suffer from some damage over time. Pony Canyon, the company that went through the remastering process, had all the new digital technology available to them to clean the footage frame by frame while reducing jitter and removing most of the grain. With FUNimation's Dragon Box Masters, most of this is quite evident. The picture is clean and looks great in motion. As most say, screenshots really don't do it justice. There were times where I did notice some minor inconsistencies with flesh tones. Somewhat pinkish in one frame, not so much in another or another episode. It's a minor problem and I suspect it...

Dragon Ball Z as I remembered
Like many, I grew up watching Dragon Ball Z. Unlike most, I grew up watching it through nth generation fansubbed VHS. For years I wanted a box set of DBZ that was presented the way I remember (With a more vibrant picture and clearer sound of course.). Funimation's earlier efforts were foolish to say the least, but it was understandable when you consider and understand Toei gave them very little to work with.

The Orange bricked sets released a few years ago was not how I remembered DBZ. The widescreen presentation was a major turn off. I heard about the Japanese Dragon Box sets but considering it was over $500 to order and it was strictly in Japanese I passed on them. Then the Otakon announcement hit and my mind was blown. After a back and forth email session with a friend with connections to Funimation I quickly preordered it.

Three months later, I received it. THIS is the DBZ I remembered! The picture and audio quality is impeccable to say the least. The...

FUNimation redeems itself for Orange Brick nonsense.
When I first heard the Dragon Box was coming to America, I thought it was some kind of lame joke. But it turns out that it is actually true. For those who don't know. The Dragon Box was released in Japan years ago which featured a true frame by frame restoration of the Dragon Ball Z anime. The original 16mm film was used to create the DVDs that were sold in Japan, so the original colors and frame alignment are being displayed correctly.

One thing about the Japanese Dragon Box release was the price. It actually came in 2 seperate boxes, each containing one half of the series, which retailed for about 100,000 yen, or about $850 USD for each box. So for the Japanese release, you would spend over $1700 USD for the entire series. Also keep in mind there is no subtitles on the Japanese release as well, just Japanese language only. Instead of 2 boxes, FUNimation has decided to split the set in 7 seperate sets. This will make it easier to purchase the entire series at a much lower...

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Empire of the Sun (Keepcase)

An Unheralded Masterpiece
This epic film is the first of Spielberg's World War II trilogy that includes "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan." It was made at a time when Spielberg was financially successfully but artistic merit eluded him. That this remarkable piece of filmmaking has been overlooked is no reflection on him; it is the failure of the tastes of critics and the public alike. Spielberg tells a beautiful story of the horrors of war, how families are uprooted and separated, and how the human spirit overcomes adversity. Christian Bale is superb in the film. I cannot comprehend why his career did not soar after the film's release. It was good to see him in the role of Jesus in the recently televised movie on Mary. John Malkovich is his usual fantastic self as a fellow POW who becomes Bale's Long John Silver, a sly comparison to the classic "Treasure Island." The film is beautifully photographed and has a subtle and moving score from Spielberg...

A Forgotten Classic
The first time I ever saw this film was just last year when I was 15 years old. I had never even heard about it until I watched the Making of Saving Private Ryan. This documentary played a clip of some of Steven Spielberg's movies set during World War 2.

When I heard the beautiful John Williams' score play on my TV and a boy watching a lone fighter plane soar across the runway, I was immediately captivated and sat in awe as this boy cheered on the fighter plane. I immediately rewound the tape and read the title of this clip: Empire of the Sun.

I quickly ran to my local Blockbuster and rented the movie not even knowing what the film was about and was witnessed to the most amazing film I had ever seen!

The performances were top notch and the performance from the young Christian Bale, who plays the young boy, Jim, forced in a Japanese Intern Camp, is the greatest performance by a child I have ever seen, exceeding that of such names as Henry Thomas (E.T.) and young...

My Favorite Spielberg
EMPIRE OF THE SUN is my favorite Spielberg film. It's a close tie with CLOSE ENCOUNTERS ... but EMPIRE is really high on my list. What an outstanding (and underrated) film! I saw it in the theaters in 1987, owned an old video of it for a while, and bought this DVD as soon as it was released. The film, in all of its forms, has stayed with me all these years.

First, Spielberg has a top-notch script from Tom Stoppard (who is surprisingly restrained with the dialogue). The cinematography by Allen Daviau is exquisite (and the transfer to DVD looks outstanding on my widescreen HDTV). The acting -- especially Christian Bale as the main character, Jim -- is great as well. I get tears in my eyes if I just hear one of the EMPIRE OF THE SUN themes from John Williams' score.

THE COLOR PURPLE and EMPIRE OF THE SUN were Spielberg's "stretch" films where he attempted to do more adult work. EMPIRE OF THE SUN is deeply moving. On the surface, its story concerns young Jim and how...

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