A Christmas Carol [HD]

My favorite adaptation of my favorite Christmas tale
Christmas just isn't Christmas unless you watch at least one version of A Christmas Carol, and this is by far my favorite. George C. Scott gives one of the greatest performances I have ever seen an actor give; he truly becomes Ebenezer Scrooge to the fullest degree possible. Scott can say more with just the slightest hint of a facial movement than many actors can say during the course of an entire movie. All of the performers here are excellent, bringing to life adored characters such as Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and Scrooge's nephew Fred. All four spirits are remarkable, none more so than Scrooge's old partner Jacob Marley; having Marley's jaw drop after untying the burial cloth holding his mouth closed is an important aspect of the story and certainly does make an impression on the viewer. This is just one example of the moviemakers' faithfulness to Charles Dickens' original story; another would be the inclusion of the two miserable children, Ignorance and Want, beneath the robes...

The best of all possible Scrooges.
The celebrated version of "A Christmas Carol" is the one starring Alastair Sim, who gives the definitive version of the traditional, crabbed miser performance of Scrooge. It indeed is very fine, but this version is better. It is probably the most faithful of all the screen "Christmas Carols" to the original Dickens story. It pulses with color and life, and the ancient Midlands town of Shrewsbury makes a delightful stand-in for 19th-century London. But what really makes this version unforgettable is the superb, surprising casting, beginning with George C. Scott as Scrooge. Scott plays Scrooge not as a crabbed old coot, but as a man whose imposing, smug facade masks enormous sorrow and insecurity--a man who suffered greatly, lost his way because of it, and needs to find that way again. It is a brilliant performance, and the supporting players shine like rubies: Frank Finlay as a truly terrifying Marley's Ghost; "Tom Jones" co-stars David Warner and Susannah...

A Holiday Must See
George C. Scott makes an outstanding Scrooge in this 1984 TV production of the Christmas classic. The story is once again told of a miser, miserable and alone. He shuns Christmas and helping others, only doing things that will increase his personal wealth. But then one fateful Christmas Eve, he's visited by four spirits who try to show him another way. Will it be enough to redeem him?

I love this story, usually enjoying it in a couple forms over the course of December. This particular film version is my favorite. Probably helps that I've watched it almost every year since it came out. The acting is superb, especially from Scott. The costumes, scenery, and effects are wonderful as well, and they stick very close to the original story. Just watching a few minutes, I get... in and want to watch the whole thing all over again.

This DVD is the perfect way to watch the film. The picture and sound are remarkably clear for an almost 20 year old made for TV film. Definitely...

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The Robe [HD]

A Good Biblical Epic
The Robe is most famous now for being the first movie filmed in CinemaScope. It was not the first film shot in a widescreen process. There were a few experiments with widescreen in the twenties and thirties, but The Robe was the film which started the boom in the production of widescreen epics. The Robe therefore has a definite and important place in cinema history, but this would mean little today if it were not also a fine film in its own right. In this respect it does not disappoint. The story tells of Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton), a Roman tribune sent to Palestine who oversees the crucifixion of Christ. He wins Christ's robe in a dice game, little realising the significance it will have for him. Burton is very good in this role and shows what a fine film actor he could be. Victor Mature is also entertaining as Demetrius, Burton's slave and later his friend. Best of all the film shows Jean Simmons at her best, playing Diana the woman Burton loves. My only complaint about her...

The Robe -- RESTORED on Blu-ray!
I was blown away watching "The Robe" on Blu-ray disc last night. I've never seen it like this. The richness in detail is exhilarating. The score sounds incredible, especially on Audio Channel 6 (isolated). It's long been one of my top 5 favorite scores and Fox Home Entertainment (FHE) served the film and the soundtrack very well with this massive restoration.

FHE spent the most money in this restoration on the soundtrack according to the man in charge of the project, Shawn Belston, VP of Library and Technical Services for FHE, in a chat he had with Ronald Epstein of Home Theater Forum this past Monday evening. They even removed the "wow", which is likely a costly process, but a process well worthwhile in such endeavors.

The entire score is isolated, and it has NEVER sounded better. I noted, however, that in the "Rescue of Demetrius" sequence as Marcellus and other men were preparing to burst in on the torture room, the mix wasn't what I am used to hearing...

"as for me, I have found another king"
A marvelous epic melodrama, with portions that are emotionally stirring, and with two exceedingly attractive stars, this film ranks high in the "sword and sandals" genre.
This is prime-time Richard Burton, at age 27, heavenly to look at and even better to listen to; his crisp enunciation makes the English language shine, and though some of his scenes are a little "over the top", he carries them off with charismatic presence. Jean Simmons is exquisite as Diana, the woman who has loved Marcellus (Burton) since childhood, and their screen romance has a rare depth and spark.
Other notable performances come from Victor Mature as Demetrius the slave, with a mute but moving scene at Christ's crucifixion, and Michael Rennie is grand as Peter. Jay Robinson is wonderfully rotten as the vicious Caligula.

I always like a good fight sequence, and there is a brilliantly choreographed one between Marcellus and a centurion. It is the kind of swordplay great...

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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian [HD]

More of the Same? Yes, but well done
Most sequels either fail miserably at trying to "top" the original ("Miss Congeniality 2" springs to mind), or succeed beyond all expectations ("Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan" is a good example).

"Night at the Museum 2, The Battle of the Smithsonian" hits neither of these extremes: it has no pretensions about being a great film. It seems the writers and producers just wanted to make a film that their audience would enjoy, and they succeeded. Certainly, the original film was better and more original in many respects, and there is lots of continuity with the first film, as many of the characters have returned. There are also some notable additions to the cast, such as Amy Adams - who is superb as Amelia Earhart (as many of my fellow reviewers here have noted).

Yet, the scene stealer in the film though is not Ms. Adams, but Hank Azaria, who plays the Egyptian Pharaoh Kahmunrah: the evil and inept older brother of Ahkmenrah (the Pharaoh from the original film)...

Even Better than the First!
My wife and I enjoyed the original "Night at the Museum" we expected to the sequel to be typical of seconds... not quite as good. However, "Battle of the Smithsonian" bucks this trend - and in our opinion it is significantly better than the original. The plot is a bit silly - our favorite night-watchman had made it big as inventor of useless products. His new position as CEO means that he is no longer working at the museum. The museum has also undergone a few changes - namely most of the exhibits are being shipped into storage. The storage is below the Smithsonian... and that is where the action begins!

"Battle of the Museum" blends, action, humor and a numerous celebrity cameos into a fun-filled flick. The story introduces us to some Egyptian pharaoh (can't remember which one), Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon, Amelia Earhart , Abe Licoln, and miniature Einstein bobbleheads! The star of the story is the incredibly imaginative action sequences... the jumping in-and-out...

Not the movie
Stop putting the previews of movies as free downloads. It's silly, I'm not going to waste my time downloading a movie preview. I thought it was the actual movie, for free.

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The Story Of Ruth [HD]

Okay, but not the Bible
The Story of Ruth, the movie, adds a great deal to the biblical story of Ruth and changes some of the biblical narrative. I understand why there are additions to fill in some of the gaps, but I have never understood why writers and directors want to change the biblical story. For instance, Boaz's rival wants Ruth in this film. In the biblical story it appears his rival want's land, but is very willing to give up the land when he learns it comes with Ruth. The film shows Jewish disdain for Ruth because she is a Moabitess. Even Boaz initially shows disdain in the film. There is no such showing in the biblical story. Boaz appears gracious from the beginning in the Bible.

That having been said, the film is still worth watching and does capture the essence of the biblical story of Ruth.

Inspiring Story of a Woman's Devotion!!
Stuart Whitman, Jeff Morrow, Peggy Wood, and Elana Eden star in this screen version of the story of Ruth.

Ruth is a young Moabite woman who was raised from childhood to become a priestess and revere a pagan idol, but when she meets Mahlon the Judean (Tom Tryon), she's deeply affected by his belief in a merciful God who demans no human sacrifices, so she marries Mahlon, and when he dies, she renounces her own culture to remain with her mother-in-law, Naomi (Wood).

Now she comes into Judea, where she meets Boaz (Whitman), and the story begins anew. There is a wonderful depiction of loyalty, romance, faith, and devotion, and although the film is 132 minutes, it seems so short once you get into it.

Highly recommended, and the whole family with enjoy it.

A great film of a great Hollywood period!
The Story of Ruth was released in 1960 and I remember seeing it on a wide wide screen, curved, and in stereophonic sound; it was glorious, as were all Cinemascope films.

This film is not the Bible, but a meditation on it, factual, no, but it gets the point of The Book of Ruth across.

The best bits are a very moving perfromance by Peggy Wood as Naomi, and some stylish acting by Elena Eden and Stuart Whitman.The Wood scenes are excellent, and Naomi's prayer is quite striking, all filmed in a small house in earth tones...very good. Peggy Wood's many scenes of emotional upheaval are instances of excellent screen acting.

The Moabite scenes are crazy, as is all of that Chemosh stuff, but this film has great appeal...for die hards only, and especially for cinemascope afficionados of yore who can re-imagine it all even on the tiny screens we must put up with now, TV and movie alike. Buy and enjoy. Still not letterboxed.

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show [HD]

DVD = Perfect format to truly experience "Rocky" at home
I loved going to "Rocky Horror" when I was in college, but watching on home video just wasn't the same. I'm probably committing heresy but there's a reason why this sci-fi, horror, B-movie satire, rock musical didn't really make it big until theaters started showing it as a midnight movie and fans started attending in costume and talking back to the screen. The 25th anniversary DVD, with several audience participation options, really is the next best thing to being there.

For the uninitiated, "Rocky Horror" tells the story of two clean-cut American youths, uptight Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick of "Spin City") and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon of "Dead Man Walking") whose car breaks down on a dark, deserted road in the middle of a storm--the classic beginning to many horror movies--and who seek help at a nearby castle. Castles, as Rocky fans know, don't have phones! What this castle has instead is a cross-dressing mad scientist Frank-N-Furter Tim Curry, in perhaps his finest...

good, but with some major problems
Having owned several 35mm prints of this film and watched many others, I know how this film should look. Overall, this disc looks amazing with intact grain structure and details; however there are 2 major issues.

1. For unknown reasons Science Fiction is LETTERBOXED ( within the 1.66 frame which the Fox logo and the rest of the film is in), cutting off the top and bottom of the lips during parts of the song. The entire film was 1.66 on the dvd so this blunder on the Blu-ray is unforgivable.
2. The blue tint from Brad's bedroom scene has been removed. The blue tint from the Timewarp flashback has also been removed.

I have emailed FOX and have not heard back.

Let me show you my favorite obssession...
So you haven't seen this movie and you call yourself a true movie fan! BAH! I'm sorry, folks. Whether you like it or not, this one's required-reading. And I will tell you something now: I've seen worse on USA's UP ALL NIGHT. In fact, that's just what this movie makes fun of. It takes all those late-night science-fiction thrill-omedies and skewers them mercilessly. A favorite of mine since first-viewing, it's a great musical and an outrageously fun romp. Misunderstood greatly when it first came out, this satire preys on cheesy musicals("Dammit, Janet" is a wondeful indication of this), sex-and-science-fiction films(read "Flash Gordon" & "Barbarella") and a bit of society's judgement of man("Frank-n-furter!/It's all over/your mission is a failure/your lifestyle's too extreme") and how we're crucified if we're not perfect. The performances are on par(including early ones from Barry Botswick and Susan Surandon) but it's truly Tim...

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The Boys in Company C (Special Edition)

Outshines Full Metal Jacket
The Boys in Company C was not only released 10 years before Full Metal Jacket, but is 10 times better. R. Lee Ermey plays the USMC DI who whips a bunch of civilian misfits into a cohesive fighting unit that will have most of them going to Vietnam upon graduation. (Sounds familiar doesn't it Mr. Kubrick?). This movie gives the viewer a fantastic Who's Who of most of the cast before they even show up to "Boot Camp". From the concientious objector, to the high school jock, to the street-smart drug dealer, the first ten minutes of the movie gives you a solid understanding of why their characters do what they do throughout the movie. Although this movie is paralleled by FMJ, The Boys of Company C has a much better story line. After graduation, the ones chosen for Vietnam meet their new company commander on the transit ship and are exposed to an interesting concept of how to defeat the Vietnamese by playing soccer. The entire movie is excellent, well acted, and flows evenly...

A few good men...
The parallels between 'Full Metal Jacket' and this film, 'The Boys of Company C', could not fail to be noticed, even without the stand-out performance of R. Lee Ermey in both films as a Drill Instructor (DI), a role he fulfilled in real life prior to his acting career. This was Ermey's first film role, and made him a person to watch; ironically, Ermey is better recognised today that most of the other stars of the film. Stan Shaw gives one of the best performances of his career here as Tyrone Washington, the independent, out-for-himself recruit who, being a natural leader, is tapped to take charge, and finds his sense of duty and teamwork growing stronger as his time in the Marine Corps proceeds.

Other recruits followed include Billy Ray Pike (Andrew Stevens, in one of his early roles), a high school jock depressed because he has lost the glory of those days; Alvin Foster (James Canning), the aspiring writer who is hoping to turn the Marine Corps into a story for fame and...

Great Movie, But Possible False Advertising for "New" DVD and Possible Illegal Copy
The movie is a great movie. The movie itself I will heartily recommend to all Marines, and I guess other military enthusiasts. ;-)

BUT...

I thought I was getting a newly released DVD version from the parent company. I was wrong.

Choices advertised of this item are NEW and USED. I ordered NEW.

However, upon receipt yesterday, I discovered that while it was sealed in a box, it was not an original, but a copy of a VHS. While it may fit the bill as NEW because of a new DVD on which it was copied, it should not be advertised as such.

Yes, the plastic box was new, but that was all.

1. The DVD was a copy of at least a second generation VHS copy.

I own a 1st generation copy bought almost 20 years ago in Japan. My copy still higher quality than this DVD.

2. The artwork on the box is a poor scanned-in copy of the original VHS box and possibly clips cut from the movie.

I have since...

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A Cool Dry Place [HD]

An excellent "dad" movie
As a single father, I really appreciated this movie's viewpoint on raising a child from dad's point of view. Too many movies make the dad look like some free-swinger while the mom in the divorce is this abused single woman working two jobs to keep her kids fed. This movie shows reality: that sometimes it's the mom who walks away from it all and dad has to step in and become both parents. This movie was great, and the characters were well-developed. The story was true-to-life, with things going good, and things going bad sometimes. Vince Vaughn was great, and Monica Potter showed a great depth in her character as the mom who leaves one day without reason, and now wants back into her son's life 18 months later. Joey Lauren Adams is nice as the girlfriend, but her voice gets annoying kind of quickly (sorry, Ms. Adams). All in all, a great movie and definitely one worth owning.

One of my personal favorite films
'A Cool Dry Place' to me is a very underappreciated film. It all but slipped under the radar and recieved little if any attention, but that's a shame, a huge shame. This film has always been one I enjoyed, but recently having seen it four times in the past month (it's played on TV almost every day) it's really grown into one of my personal favorite films. Vince Vaughn pulls out a brilliant performance, far more serious than most of his recent films, and he taps into something I've never seen in him before. Vaughn I think has hit some bad luck, for he's actually a pretty good actor he's just not given near enough credit where credit is due, and here is a prime example of due credit. Vaughn plays a single father, recently single, as he struggles to raise his young son (Bobby Moat). Not able to balance his career as an attorney and fatherhood he decides to leave his practice and move to Kansas where he coaches basketball and meets a lovly woman played by the beautiful Joey Lauren...

ENGAGING!
From beginning to end, "A Cool Dry Place" genuinely entices the viewer. My 20-year old son introduced Vince Vaughn's acting versatility to me when he rented "Clay Pigeons"; his cool, suave manner could "best" James Bond's attitude anyday - and you have to love that "unique" laughter! "Psycho", "Swingers" and "The Lost World:Jurassic Park" are GREAT movies (between my son and I, we own them all), but Vince Vaughn's performance in "A Cool Dry Place" is charming and attractive! Any actor who can portray a "cold, deadly" killer in one movie, but yet portray a loving, but firm, Father in this movie has "Oscar" written into his future.

Joey Lauren Adams was well cast for this film. I bought "Dazed and Confused" last year because I also suffered from the "screwed-up" seventies and graduated from high school in May 1976. I completely related to that movie! I thought Joey Lauren Adams was "Renee Zellweger" - Sorry Joey! After watching "Big Daddy", I had no doubt that there...

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