Jeet Kune Do Training Drills

great
it is very good learnining tool. if you want to be good at the martial arts this is one of those dvds.





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Runaway [Blu-ray]

An Ambitious Six Part British Crime Drama Centering On An Ill-Fated Romance
After loving the British TV adaptation of Martina Cole's "The Take" (with a riveting, star-making performance by Tom Hardy), I was more than eager to check out this six part series. While "The Runaway" is also based on a Cole novel exploring the criminal underbelly of recent London, it has a much broader scope. With a story that spans several decades, occurs across different continents, and focuses on multiple plot lines, "The Runaway" certainly doesn't lack ambition. It may, however, miss out on an intimacy as episodes jump forward through time, often just when things are at their most interesting. Although I have not read the source novel, this television production does feel like the equivalent of reading a sprawling potboiler. By the end, the central protagonists have lived through a good chunk of history and it's fascinating to see just how far they come as actual characters within this broad narrative arc.

"The Runaway," at its core, tells the story of star-crossed...

An Ambitious Six Part British Crime Drama Centering On An Ill-Fated Romance
After loving the British TV adaptation of Martina Cole's "The Take" (with a riveting, star-making performance by Tom Hardy), I was more than eager to check out this six part series. While "The Runaway" is also based on a Cole novel exploring the criminal underbelly of recent London, it has a much broader scope. With a story that spans several decades, occurs across different continents, and focuses on multiple plot lines, "The Runaway" certainly doesn't lack ambition. It may, however, miss out on an intimacy as episodes jump forward through time, often just when things are at their most interesting. Although I have not read the source novel, this television production does feel like the equivalent of reading a sprawling potboiler. By the end, the central protagonists have lived through a good chunk of history and it's fascinating to see just how far they come as actual characters within this broad narrative arc.

"The Runaway," at its core, tells the story of...

Brighton Rock Revisited
Although this series succeeds beautifully as a crime drama and a romance, there's more going on than one might at first think. I have not read the novel on which this program is based, but at the very least the adaptors of Cole's story, if not Cole herself, have put together a stylish twist on the classic literary quest for redemption. Whether or not the creators of "The Runaway" intended to reference Graham Greene's "Brighton Rock," I couldn't help seeing Eamon as a slightly more appealing counterpart of Greene's Pinky Brown, and his struggle as parallel to Pinky's conflict over alone-ness and connection. The production also shares Greene's concern for the divide between various systems of morality and gives at least a nod to Greene's exploration of the role of faith, and particularly Catholicism, in a fallen world. In other words, this is a great show that reminds me of one of my favorite books. As in "Brighton Rock," the story comes to an easily forseen conclusion, but it still...

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Transformers: The Complete Series

What You Should Know Before You Buy!
Transformers: The Complete Series is a new 15-DVD collection featuring all 98 remastered original Transformers episodes (and respective special features) from the following:

Transformers: The Complete First Season (25th Anniversary Edition)
Transformers: Season Two, Volume One (25th Anniversary Edition)
Transformers: Season Two, Volume Two (25th Anniversary Edition)
Transformers: Seasons Three & Four (25th Anniversary Edition)

Touted as an "unlimited" general retail release to replace the limited Transformers: The Complete Series (25th Anniversary Matrix of Leadership Edition), this 15-disc...

The Original Transformers Generation One Series!
I can't say enough about this cartoon! If you remember the original Transformers : Generation One cartoon from the 1980s, This is must have animated DVD set! The Transformers The complete series dvd set (1984-1987) is the original version. This is not the Michael Bay/Steven Spielberg live-action movies. Peter Cullen is the voice of Optimus Prime and Ironhide. Frank Welker is the original voice of Megatron and many other Decepticons. This set includes all 98 episodes of the original Transformers series. Bonus features include:
Rare Public Service Announcements
Archival Toy Commercials
Art Galleries
Retrospective Features
From the Secret Files of Teletran 2
PSAs
Toy Commericals
Art Galleries and many more features
A++++++Buy the Transformers the complete series DVD set Today!

Autobots Transform And Roll Out
This is a awesome show probably one of the best i've seen in a long time. it's not called a classic for nothing. if you have not seen this show then i recommend you do. the best episodes in this show are the following

Season 1

1. More Than Meets The Eye Part 1
2. More Than Meets The Eye Part 2
3. More than Meets The Eye Part 3
4. Transport To Oblivion
5. Roll for It
6. Divide and Conquer
7. Fire In The Sky
8. S.O.S. Dinobots
9. Fire On The Mountain
10. War Of The Dinobots
11. The Ultimate Doom Part 1: Brianwash
12. The Ultimate Doom Part 2: Search
13. The Ultimate Doom Part 3: Revival
14. Countdown To Extinction
15. A Plague Of Insecitcons
16. Heavy Metal War

Season 2 vol 1

1. Autobot Spike
2. The Immobilizer
3. Dinobot Island Part 1
4. Dinobot Island Part 2
5. Traitor
6. Enter The Nightbird
7. Changing Gears
8. A Prime Problem...

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Charlie Rose - An appreciation of Richard Holbrooke (December 14, 2010)

Charlie Rose's Excellent tribute to Richard Holbrooke
Charlie Rose's tribute to Richard Holbrooke, aired 12/14/2010, a day after his passing, was far and away the most thoughtful, balanced appraisal of Holbrooke's long career of public service. Drawing on insights of close colleagues (among them Les Gelb of Council on Foreign Relations and Strobe Talbot, and utilizing archival footage from 20+ years of interviews with Charlie Rose, what emerges is a portrait of a driven, dedicated statesman with not only the vision to find solutions to intractable global problems, but the determination to implement them. His tactics as a "bulldozer" were not sugar-coated, but put in the context of whatever it took to get things done. They also acknowledged Holbrooke's role as mentor to subsequent generations of aspiring public servants. Highly recommended.





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The Ultimate Photographer 3 DVD Set"

An absolute necessity...
This is the final set in a series of three, and a necessity for the serious photographer. I highly recommend getting the first two and working your way up, as I have done. This is when all that training starts to come together, and you start to "feel" your photography. His style of teaching just makes it come together, you find yourself looking at things like a photographer and are made aware of your environment in a different way. I will continue to refer back to the DVD's, and in just a short time my images have taken a 180 degree turn.

The Best Teacher Around
The Ultimate Photographer is the latest addition to an excellent series of educational videos by an exceptional teacher and photographer, Emanuele (Manny) Pontoriero. While I have encountered a number of excellent photographers over the years in seminars and courses, I have never experienced a better teacher or educational approach. Manny has a rare talent of presenting concepts in a way that makes you realize that although you may have heard it or read it before, you reall didn't get it. His explanations are reinforced with well chosen examples and illustrations that help you remember the concept and make it a natural instinct to apply it. A very effective teaching technique he uses is the "Manny Cam". He videos through his 35mm while he composes the shot. You can see exactly what he is seeing as he adjusts for composition, lighting, cropping, etc.and explains the changes he is making to improve the photo or to change the mood or feeling it produces.

I recently...

Your Guide To Being A Real Pro
This is by far the best "How To" DVD set for the serious Photographer; the professional, semi-pro and advanced amateur alike. Manny has a clear and precise teaching style and his teaching is backed by live photo shoots where you can see him in action as he applies the techniques presented.

The Ultimate Photographer is divided into 3 main sections: Composition, Using Flash and Lighting. The main focus is lighting, and lighting is at the core of great photography. He covers the use of flash (on and off camera) for lighting, as well as, studio lighting. Manny explains the how and why of each lighting scenario in nice easy to understand details. There are couple of spots where he uses advance lighting terms prior to them being explained, make a note of the terms, hang in there, and he will clear it all up by the end of "The Ultimate Photographer". However, there are some basic photography concepts, rules and techniques he assumes the viewer has. If your formal photography...

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Charlie Rose - Jean Pigozzi / Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire (December 23, 2010)

Interview with Duchess of Devonshire
Excellent interview with a woman whose 90-year life spans so many interesting times. Her book, WAIT FOR ME! is worth reading, as are her several books about Chatsworth and the Cavendish family.





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iPhone Essentials DVD Volume-1

Very Cool DVD
This DVD is very cool and easy to follow.

"I don't have a lot of time or patience,but this DVD really worked for me".

Great tool to help you learn...
iPhones seemed complicated to me. I felt aprehensive about the switch from my current smart phone to the iPhone because I thought it would take me forever to learn how to navigate it... then I found this DVD. What a simple way to learn! It cut the learning curve in half!

My mother loved it!
My mother just switched to an iPhone 3GS and had no idea on how to use the extra features on this phone, besides making a call. I got her this DVD and she was able to pick what she wanted to learn. Now she's showing me stuff that I had no clue on how to do with my iPhone

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Sitacise For Truckers, Bus drivers & Car Drivers

best weight loss
This was the best, easiest and most effective program that you can use to get fit as a trucker or bus driver. Really even a car driver. It makes so much sense to turn your normal idle time into getting fit time. It almost so easy that you don't think it will work, but just follow the easy to do movements and wow, what results.





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How To Make a Documentary

Great information... dropped the ball on dvd production
I produce instructional DVDs for a living. However, it doesn't matter how much you know, or think you know, there's always something new that you can learn. I love this DVD. I covers all the bases of documentary film making, and then some. The only thing that annoys me is the fact that after every chapter the disc returns to the chapter menu and you have to select the next chapter manually. I don't know if the author did this on purpose to force the audience to stay awake but I hate it!!! Almost any other DVD on the planet will play from beginning to end with just pressing the PLAY button once.

If it weren't for this bugging little fact the program would have been perfect. Maybe Mr. Noffsinger could correct it in a future revision.

Orlando Mergal
[...]

Fantastic Filmmaking and Teaching Tool
As someone who's met Guy Noffsinger before, I was anxious to get my hands on HOW TO MAKE A DOCUMENTARY and have enjoyed watching and learning from this GREAT DVD. Guy's passion and knowledge for non-fiction filmmaking are generously shared here and I cannot recommend it enough to everyone! I honestly believe that it's a great tool for not only beginners and but also seasoned filmmakers who need a refresher or a little something extra to bring them to that "Ah-ha!" moment. Any filmmakers who also happen to teach filmmaking to students can make themselves look like rock stars and show this to their classes as well.

A Must-Have for anyone that wants to make a film!
This is a step by step, chapter based, guide to making any type of film. It doesn't matter if it's a feature film, a music video, a documentary, or industrial training film. If you've ever considered picking up a camera to tell any type of story, this is the blueprint! I love it!!

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Nobody's Human

Fantastic!!!
This DVD is a great production that has 4 extremely talented musicians all in one studio making the album. You can really see the knowledge and passion for jazz these guys all have. Screw ups, jokes, development of a first time song, and several well mixed tracks. This is well worth watching!





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The Last Fix: an Addict's Passage from Hell to Hope

A must see
"An intensely human, immensely moving documentary. It is a visually compelling, eloquently stated argument for rehabilitation rather than retribution for drug addicts. It's a must-see experience."
Lee Davis, Critic- Press News Group

HEART PLUS ART
There have been many films about drug addiction, what makes The Last Fix exceptional is that the filmmakers gained the trust of the recovering addicts to such a degree. This shows that time was spent getting to know them and the drug court model and philosophy. In other words the filmmakers didn't parachute in, turn on the camera and then leave so they also gained the trust of the drug court team members . And they showed the East End Regional Treatment Court in the context of the national Drug court movement and weaved in the footage of NADCP , the drug corts' national convention artfully.
This film is a combination of the art of documentary filmmaking ( great editing) and heart. Heart and art makes 5 stars.

the last fix
i find this to be an excellent resource if you are a therapist or in the helping professions. I would highly recommend.

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Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Great Outdoors(DVD/Digital Copy + Mickey Mote)

Cute DVD set!
My boys love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and this new DVD set "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Great Outdoors" is perfect to get them ready for summer. It includes five episodes (one of which has never been on tv) that all involve playing outside! The set includes the regular DVD, a Digital DVD to put the episodes on you computer or portable device (iPod etc...), and the Mickey Mote. The Mickey Mote is a kid-sized red Mickey Mouse shaped remote with four colored buttons. Setting it up is easy as you just aim your regular DVD remote at the Mickey Mote and push the buttons to correspond. You can then watch the episodes in regular mode or Discovery Mode where your child can interact to answer questions.

I tried setting up the Mickey Mote with my two DVD players but couldn't get all the buttons to work, so we ended up using our regular DVD remote (you use the Up, Down, Left, and Right buttons only.) My son would answer the questions and I'd push the button he told me. It is...

My girls love it
My girls, 2 and 4, love Mickey Mouse clubhouse so naturally they love this disc. The icing on the cake was that my 4 year old is super into camping right now, and this disc includes all outdoor episodes including a camping themed one. My only "issue" is that I cannot seem to get to the main menu quickly, I have to skip several previews/ads to get to it.

entertained 4 children for the whole half house episode.
I myself was a mousekateer when i was small and faithfully watched the Mickey Mouse Club and i wanted to share the gift of Mickey- This was a gift to my niece for my great nephew and the children my niece watches his cousins- there is my great nephew who is 9 months old, along with 3 other older toddler cousins two are three years old and a one year old, she said all 4 children stayed engrossed in the first episode of Mickey mouse the whole 25 minutes that doesnt happen alot so she loves mickey mouse clubhouse too! and how all children just LOVED it and cant wait for more episodes she said especially her son who at 9 months old normally his attention wanders within just a short while- not with Mickey mouse clubhouse- she said he stays engrossed and loves Mickey mouse and friends and thier adventures- he waves his hands and is totally having so much fun! now thats the power of the Mouse! i watched a clip of the MM clubhouse too and i like how Mickey speaks to the "audience" and...

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Screw It, I'll Play Make Believe (Institutional Use)

Best LARP documentary I've seen
I've watched a number of documentaries and fictional movies based on LARP, and this one stands out from the others. What sets it apart in my opinion is that the people profiled are not depicted as socially inept outcasts, but regular folks who enjoy the sport/activity/art. I've never LARP'd, but this movie made it look pretty cool.





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Teen Mom 2: Season 1

Good but where's the ending?
I love having the show on DVD, especially since I can't watch it on TV but the part I don't like is they cut off the finale. I saw a previous reviewer said something similar and I thought maybe it was a one time thing. Nope! They completely cut the finale. You never see the endings to any of the stories, especially Corey and Leah's wedding. It goes straight to "On the reunion special" previews. Totally Lame. Other than that it didn't have any problems.

My insights into these girls lives.
Wow. I saw this on Netflix and can't believe that no one has reviewed this yet. Generally speaking, the girls in Teen Mom 2 seem to be less mature and have even more drama going on in their lives than the ladies in Teen Mom 1. It wasn't as entertaining as Teen Mom 1 because of all the drama.

For Leah, I thought that she manipulated Corey into getting back together with her. She tried to use her daughter's disability to get him back. She would've been better off letting him decide for himself if he wanted to marry her without making him feel guilty about it.

For Jenelle, I think that her mom, Barbara, should accept that she isn't ready to be Jace's mom. She should give Jenelle a three month time frame to find another place to live and then kick her out for good. And not allow her to visit Jace unless she has supervision. Jenelle will eventually grow up, but she won't if Barbara doesn't get tough on her.

For Chelsea, it is great that she has...

The DVD is not complete! Cuts off the best moment on Teen Mom 2!
Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 have a huge problem with their DVDs. Whenever an episode runs more than the standard one hour (about 40 minutes without commercials) the DVDs cut that episode short. The Teen Mom 2 Season 1 DVDs cut the episode where Leah and Corey marry, cutting out the entire wedding, which for many was the highlight of this season, if not all of Teen Mom 2! This continues to happen with Teen Mom/Teen Mom 2 DVDs. The final season of Teen Mom was recently released on DVD and the final episode of Teen Mom "Wake Up", which was an extra long episode, was cut. Only the first 40 or so minutes is shown on the DVD set, despite it being a 90 minute episode. MTV/Teen Mom really need to fix this issue with the DVDs. Majorly disappointed!

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Charlie Rose - David Brooks (March 7, 2011)

David Brooks: Real Solutions for Education Maladies in 21st Century
David Brooks is a distinguished New York Times' journalist extensively known for his rigorous and trustworthy political and economic analysis. But in this interview, Charlie Rose brings about the best of Brooks' profound expertise in one of the most critical subject of our days, worldwide: EDUCATION.

Here, educators who are pursuing "the New Education Vision" will find that Brooks goes galaxies ahead of the obsolete educational systems we have today. So much so in the assessment of essential human needs as a necessary condition to be improve education, as in what needs to be done to succesfuly achieve the central Mission of education: educate students to learn and succeed in life. In economic terms David Brooks provides a highly humane analysis. He, very simply but inequivocally, highlights what needs to be done to optimize returns to investments in education.

Every educator will benefit from Brook's analysis. Every person responsible for the design of...





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Radical Truth: Knowledge & Revolution

An eye opening and prescient DVD set
This is the best David Icke video yet released. I have been a fan of his for a while now but watching him reduce his ideas to a mere four hours in truly illuminating. The video is divided into two parts "Knowledge" and "Revolution" as the title suggests. For the first two hours Icke, with all of his wit and wisdom intact, regales us with a blow by blow account of our secret rulers and what they are doing to the human race. This part is often painful as Icke exposes many of the mainstream shills whose machinations divert us from the truth. Normally the information presented would make one want to run for cover but instead Icke masterfully changes the subject over the next two hours.

The second part which is concerned with "Revolution" or how to stop these criminals is the best part of the presentation. In this segment Icke shows us that a violent rebellion will never work and that instead we have to solve the problems in a spiritual way. Love indeed conquers all and...

See the truth
OMG! After watching it myself, I showed this DVD to my parents. I thought that they would get upset and turn off the TV LOL but instead I watched them for the full four hours completely entranced by David Icke and his incredible message. You can't imagine the thrill of seeing them wake up for the first time and see the world as it really is. From here on I'm not going to get into any more arguments with people about the elites and who starts the wars and stuff like that. All I have to do now is give them this DVD and they will see the truth. Thanks David Icke! Thanks Sacred Mysteries!

It's about the MESSAGE not the messenger
Excellent DVD that should be treated as educational, not entertaining. David Icke is a phenomenal speaker and anyone who is open, ready and willing to live a new way of life, outside of bondage and the current system that is not serving the greater good would greatly benefit from this DVD.

I encourage anyone who is interested in this DVD to listen to the message and see if what is said resonates with them, for it has some amazing material. It should not be about whether we like Icke or not, or agree with everything he says. The point is that here is a man courageous to go out there, not care about popularity and share a message of inspiring each to a life of freedom which is our birthright. Unfortunately we forgot this.

Super inspirational and motivational in my opinion!!!!

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Four Days in September

An intelligent and moving historical drama
Brazil, 1969. The country is under the control of an oppressive military regime. A group of idealistic students join an underground revolutionary group in protest. Out of this climate of paranoia and violence, a bold plan is conceived: a plot to kidnap the U.S. ambassador to Brazil. This true story forms the basis for the excellent film "Four Days in September," directed by Bruno Barreto.

I have seen many historical films, and this is one of the best. There are no cardboard heroes or villains in this film; there are lots of moral shades of gray. Are these students terrorists or freedom fighters? Is the ambassador an innocent victim, or an ally of oppressive forces?

Leopoldo Serran's intelligent script is based on Fernando Gabeira's book "O Que E Isso, Companhiero?" The dialogue offers thought-provoking insights into the minds of the individuals involved in these events. The cast gives universally superb performances; particularly impressive is veteran U.S...

A great movie in spite of some minor inaccuracies
This movie faced a lot of criticism in Brazil for the liberties it took with history. Some criticism dates back to the publication of Fernando Gabeira's book, mainly the fact that Gabeira's importance in the kidnapping is overplayed. Other survivors from the operation claim he did not write the note to the press, as the movie shows. Also, a girl did try to get information from the Ambassador's security man, but she did not spend the night with him (and those who like to spot errors may notice the fact that he calls her by her code name, René, even though she introduced herself by a different name). And one just has to read other books about those days in Brazil to realize most torturers were sick animals, not guilt-ridden human beings like the guy in the movie.

In spite of all these flaws, the movie still works admirably as a snapshot of an era. I understand it was rather easy to sell this movie to the international market because Alan Arkin is in it and the event it is based...

Watch this movie: 60's in Brazil must not be forgotten
I think this movie was fantastic, but, first of all, in order to understand it, one must watch it trying to understand the socio-political reality of that time in Brazil. I was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1970 and lived there until 1995 and as a Brazilian Citizen who went through a part of the historical period shown in that movie, I must say I thought it was sad such a thing happened and even sadder the fact "Four Days in September" portrays a true story. However, I must also say that I am very happy that the Dictatorship Period, which started to be extremely harsh in Brazil during the 60's, has not been thrown into an old trunk of things to be forgotten. It is fantastic that we Brazilians are striving to keep those memories alive until all the shadows of that period be completely gone. Also, I must confess I thought it to be even greater that the originality of one young man, "Fernando Gabeira", and the courage and audacy of a few other young...

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Total Belly Transformation: Whole Body Tone + Deeper Core Strength

Fabulous Core Workout. A+
Wow! Sadie Nardini's prowess as a teacher just grows and grows. I love this DVD! Her very detailed instructions and visualizations come into both my left and right brain through her use of physiological detail and sharp metaphorical imagery. After just 3 meetings on my mat with this DVD, I am learning how to send different kinds of instruction to my core, using deeper muscles than have become my habit.
This series of abdominal/core flows are deep, sweet and tough. I have done the DVD 3 times and each time I worked it into a longer yoga experience with another DVD, doing Sun Salutations and standing poses, then doing Sadie's Core DVD, then onto the mat for a few more front body stretches, hip openers, twists and shavasana. Because this DVD is easily done as either one continuous series of flows or 3 individual sections, it is very easy to insert into the middle of a longer practice when I want to focus more on core work. If I were to do it alone, I would still do some Sun...

Fun & challenging, not for beginners.
I've been practicing Bikram yoga for over a year and wanted a dvd I can do at home when I cannot make it to the hot studio. I tried this last night for the first time. First thing I noticed is that the entire dvd is actually 45 minutes long as opposed to the 30 it says. There is a 15 minute warm up, a 15 minute standing series and a 15 minute floor series (you can pick and choose or do them all). I am more than ok with that.
I wouldn't call myself a beginner Yogi but some of these poses were too advanced for me to come close to completing on the firsr try. That being said: I am, again, more than ok with that. I will follow along as best I can and now I have an additonal goal of learning to complete all the poses.
I love this DVD. It's a nice change of pace from Bikram and if you follow her instructions about the way to hold your stomach and your lower spine, you can really feel your belly burn. I noticed it a lot in the muscles right below the belly which is exciting for me...

Very different!
I made the mistake of deciding to try this video for the first time on my first day back to exercise after a week sick with the flu. I had mistakenly thought that since it was only 30 minutes (and, actually, as some reviewers have already pointed out, it can be longer if you opt to select all three of the segments), that it would be easy. Not true! It was quite a challenge - in a good way. I love videos that give me something to work towards (like the side crow pose in this one!). This video is very different from her other Sedona video, as well - no repeats here. In fact, between the two Sedona videos, this one is definitely my favorite. I found this to be a very unique yoga workout with several moves I have not seen elsewhere - it is almost like pilates in the sense that it is very targeted towards the core. (In fact, several of the moves are very reminiscent of pilates moves.) I definitely plan to add this video to my workout rotation frequently, and I hope that Sadie will...

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Bem-Te-Vi, Bem-te-vi - Capoeira: Initiation To Acrobatics

Excellent video!
I think that this is an excellent video. I have be training capoeria for about 3 years. This video has helped me with hand and food placement, making more advance movements in capoeria much easier and less of a strain on the body. Thanks to the makers of this dvd.

Don't get if you don't know the first thing about Capoeira
I actually rented this from my local library before I decided if I wanted to buy it or not. Thank God I did. The language/ interpreter was extremely difficult to understand EVEN in English. It was interesting to watch but I couldn't stand more than five minutes of it with the interpreter and no subtitles to help understand what is being said.

Honestly, if you don't know the first thing about this type of martial arts, you shouldn't get this DVD. It would be great for someone who has been doing this for several years and know the art well but it's definitely NOT for beginners. On the back of the DVD box it even says "great for beginners", don't be fooled. If you want to watch how this martial art is done, this DVD is great but for learning it, it's a big fat NO.

Okay
Only get this tape if you have the patience to hear someone speak in portugese under someone translationg in english. The quality is great...........If you dont train in Capoeira I dont recommend this because you will not understand the movements and may hurt yourself! .....Also you could find better toturials on youtube honestly.........Good Luck

Satisfied Customer!

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SITACISE Sit, Get Fit & Save America Video Fitness Book

Sitacise Sit, Get Fit & Save America Video Fitness Book!
Great for Baby Boomers, kids, those who want to get a good workout anywhere without killing themselves. Can be done anywhere, even while your at work, school or playing video games! Great! Great! Great! Never miss a workout again!





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The Twilight Zone: Season 4 [Blu-ray]

Episode guide
The 4th season consists of 1 hour episodes. They include:

#1 In His Image

A science enthusiast creates a perfect mechanical man, one who compensates for his own shortcomings. Starring George Grizzard, Gail Kobe, Katherine Squire, Wallace Rooney.

#2 The Thirty-Fathom Grave

A man is haunted by the sounds from a submarine that sank 20 years ago. Stars Mike Kellin, Simon Oakland, David Sheiner, John Considine, Bill Bixby.

#3 Valley of the Shadow

A reporter discovers the secret of a small village but can he escape it? Stars Ed Nelson, Natalie Trundy, David Opatoshu, James Doohan.

#4 He's Alive

A young hatemonger is inspired by the ghost of Adolf Hitler. Stars Dennis Hopper, Ludwig Donath, Curt Conway, Paul Mazursky.

#5 Mute

A young couple experiment with telepathy. Stars Ann Jillian, Frank Overton, Barbara Baxley.

#6 Death Ship

An astronaut refuses to admit...

Reference level Blu-Ray - The real deal.
edited May 17, 2011

All Season 4 Episodes were 1 HOUR LONG, thus there is 18 total hours of aired episodes. Which is literally the same amount of hours as 36 half hour episodes. That is why price is the same as the other seasons - THE SEASON 4 SET WILL CONTAIN AT MINIMUM THE SAME AMOUNT OF BLU-RAY DISCS AS SEASON 3, IT MAY EVEN HAVE 1 MORE DISC DUE TO IT BEING MORE HOURS THAN SEASON 3!

KUDOS to the folks at Image for NOT using evil DNR which would have destroyed Mr. Serling's original intent. To those that do not know, grain is an literally part of the physical composition of silver nitrate. Director's chose film stock based on how much grain they wanted their artistic vision to have. Grain=Detail not the opposite. To remove grain no matter how carefully always removes fine detail. So much detail is in this Blu-ray set you can even see the ripples and sheen of Rod Serling's herringbone suits in some of the intro's. That and the tiny lines on actors faces is...

Better Than the Critics Assert
I realize the traditional point of view is that the fourth

season of Twilight Zone was the beginning of the decline of

the series. I won't argue with that point of view, but I do

take issue with those who would regard the fourth season as

poor quality or even trashy writing.

Although it was a network gimmick, it is a good thing that

Twilight Zone expanded to one hour. It represented the best

kind of artistic challenge to Serling and his excellent team

of writers. There are episodes here that simply could not be

done in the half-hour format. They require too much character

development and subtle nuances of detail. I'm talking about

"In His Image," "Jess-Belle," "Miniature," and "The Incredible

World of Horace Ford," among others. These episodes belong

with the best Twilight Zone ever produced.

While Season Four certainly...

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European Spiritual Masters

European Masters
This DVD is part 2 of the series 'Blueprints for Awakening', with the first being 'Indian Masters.' While the first is beautiful and illuminating, these European Masters really spoke directly to me, and I think probably to many people! They are all involved in this incredible awakening, and many have a strong tie to Ramana Maharshi. They all answer the same questions put to the Indian Masters, 'Who am I' 'What is enlightenment?', but they obviously use their western minds to express the inexpressible.

What results is a wonderfully clear, and often very absolute view of spirituality and enlightenment. This was especially embodied for me with Tony Parsons, who openly states that in fact no one gets enlightened, it's totally impossible for the mind to deal with it! And yet it is completely available for us to see, given that Tony was and is a completely normal bloke, but you see in his eyes that he lives in a space that defies explanation or limits. Most of the masters point...

European Masters
"European Spiritual Masters" is a very interesting addition to the Indian Masters film. The wisdom of the European Masters is expressed in a very clear, intelligent way. Basically Indian Masters and Western Masters are talking about the same thing, but the Western Masters transformed the ancient teaching into a language which is much easier to understand for "Westerners". Let's say the Western Masters don't seem so exotic, but they're as sharp as a razor. Their words will shake your mind and leave a peaceful silence.

Mindshaking Wisdom
"European Spiritual Masters" is a very interesting addition to the Indian Masters film. The wisdom of the European Masters is expressed in a very clear, intelligent way. Basically Indian Masters and Western Masters are talking about the same, but the Western Masters transformed the ancient teaching into a language and syntax, which is much more easy to understand for "Westerners". Let's say the Western Masters don't seem so exotic, but sharp as a razor. Their words will shake your mind and leave a peaceful silence.

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I Got the Hook-Up

This Movie was Great
This movie is funny. Buy it no

this is the tightest movie ever by p
it's hella cool one event after another just like friday good plot t

I LOVE MASTER P WITH ALL MY HEART SO THE MOVIE WAS GREAT
MASTER P IS GERAT MY NAME IS BRITTANY HUNT I LIVE IN HOUSTON TEXAS MASTER P IS A SPECIAL PERSON IN MY LIFE

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Santos, Paulo Sergio - Alliance Brazilian Jiu-jitsu: Basic Techniques

alliance paulo sergio DVD
Well made DVD , has a voice over in all major languages. The Basic techniques are good to supplement what is learned in the dojo as a beginer. You might learn two or three new moves other than that its basic as the title states. Some of the moves might leave you exposed to arm attacks so be careful, overall give it a reasonable rating 3 of 5 stars.





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The Best of Global Lens: China

A Surprisingly Strong Compilation Of Chinese Drama
I love the idea of DVD compilations, but I almost never purchase them. Most contain mainstream film and (1) if there are films I like, they are generally coupled with awful choices or (2) they have films I've already bought, but in better format presentations. But I think the idea of bringing international fare together, such as in this collection, at a reasonable price is a great way for viewers to sample various movies. This quintessentially Chinese collection is absolutely designed for people who are familiar with the introspective, contemplative, and leisurely paced character studies favored in Chinese drama. Each has merits to recommend it--but there are a couple of truly memorable films in this set. That said, you can make up your own mind whether this collection is for you. Here are the films:

Dam Street (3 1/2 stars): There is a really compelling story at the heart of "Dam Street." In some hands, the film could have been turned into a melodramatic weepie about...

Wonderful collection and series
I have viewed all the films from this particular series from China...They were all very well written, directed and performed. I enjoy foreign films or independent films a lot more than the "main stream" films from Hollywood...Iwill purchase more from this "The best of the Global Lens" series..Coodos..



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Sophia Loren: Award Collection (Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow / Marriage Italian Style / Sunflower / Vittorio D)

Fabulous Collection!
This four-disc set from Kino Lorber should really be called THE SOPHIA LOREN/MARCELLO MASTROIANNI/VITTORIO DE SICA Award Collection, because the three films in the package feature the work of all three talents.

You might say that Loren and Mastroianni were to the Italian cinema what Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn were to American films, and director De Sica was their George Cukor. When these artists worked together, "movie magic" happened.

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW (1963) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This bright comedy is, in fact, a trilogy, in which Loren and Mastroianni play three different roles.

In the first story, they're a poor couple, who make their living by selling black market cigarettes on the streets of Naples. Sophia is also due to go to prison on a minor fraud charge, but under Italian law, that can't happen if she's pregnant or nursing, so she and Marcello decide to keep her in that...

Sophia at her best!
Sophia Loren's movie career has spanned seven decades, beginning with "Il Voto" (1950), where she was billed as Sophia Scicolone. She made a number of Italian films under that name as well as Sophia Lazzaro before adopting the name Sophia Loren. Her best-remembered performances display an earthiness and independence that appear to be extensions of her own personality. As time went on, she developed a more glamorous, film goddess persona. She will turn 77 in September, and still is the ultimate movie star.

The four-disc DVD set, "The Sophia Loren Award Collection," contains three features, directed by Vittorio De Sica, that showcase the actress at her best. "Sunflower" (1970) stars Loren as Giovanna, a strong-willed Italian woman on a desperate search to find her husband, Antonio (Marcello Mastroianni), who has gone missing on the World War II battlefields of Russia. Making the grueling overland journey years after the end of the war, she tracks Antonio down and...

Outstanding Loren-Mastroianni film collection
These are three wonderful Italian language films (all with white English subtitles, not the annoying yellow) co-starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni at the height of their careers. Two are the side-splitting comedies "Marriage Italian Style" and "Yesterday Today & Tomorrow", one the drama "Sunflower", plus you get a bonus DVD with extensive famous celebrity and family interviews of this collection's director Vittorio DeSica. While all the films are highly entertaining, my all-time favorite Loren-Mastroianni film is "Marriage Italian Style," where they play a passionate couple in a long-standing relationship, with its emotional highs and lows over many years, and filmed with great humanity by DeSica. I recently purchased "Marriage" which is sold individually by manufacturer New Star Video and wish to alert buyers that though the latter claims to be in Italian with subtitles, in fact it is entirely English dubbed (voiceover in English, but not the original actors voices),...

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Men in Love

Out in Africa !
Watching this film,kept telling me that.This is in africa,nigeria in fact.The story can be anywhere in the good old U.S of A." Black community".Picture quality was ok, excepted there is this ignoring icon that kept flashing at the bottom of the screen.The title may be a little off...Jealousy and lust or change it too Women in Love.





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Lully: Armide

High-Energy, Elegant Mix of Traditional and Modern
The first time I viewed this production on European television I was blown away. I have seen each of William Christie's renditions of Rameau's operas staged (well... on DVD) and each set has been a treasure, not simply for Christie's fresh, suave interpretations of oft-neglected gems of French opera, but for the visual treats the directors and designers provide to the viewer.

There is just something about French baroque opera that benefits from regietheater. I was eager to see Christie and his artistic team take on an opera from the father of French opera, Jean-Baptiste Lully. He presents in this DVD set Lully's last complete tragedie-lyrique, Armide. As an opera, the story of the sorceress Armida and the crusader Rinaldo has been done almost to death. Composers from Handel (Rinaldo), Salieri (Armida) and Glueck (who used the same libretto as did Lully) set it to music. To produce such a hackneyed story for modern audiences requires not only a fresh look at the music...

What Tradition?
Productions of any opera by Wagner, Puccini, Strauss, even by Alban Berg necessarily take account of a living performance tradition, based on a continuum of interpretations stretching back to the premieres at which the composer himself would have been in attendance. There is no such living tradition pertinent to baroque opera. The thread was cut! "Baroque opera" as we know it is an invention of our own era, and an expression of our own aesthetics. The paradox, however, is that the majority of recent baroque opera stagings have been aesthetically bi-polar; the musicians have consistently and fervently striven for "historically informed performance practices", using original instruments and authentic baroque vocal technique. Meanwhile, the stage directors, dance choreographers, costumers and set designers have self-consciously striven to captivate audiences with a diametrically opposite modernism: witty anachronism, surreal stagecraft, jazzy dance, effects borrowed from Cirque du...

Sheer Delight!
I am overwhelmed with enthusiasm for this production! It is sheer delight! I'm always leery of modern productions of the old masters (just look at the messes that have been made of Handel's beautiful operas). In the present case the director Robert Carsen has managed to produce a tasteful, fully artistic production that compliments the musical brilliance of William Christie's superb orchestra. Tasteful is the key; having Armide in brilliant scarlet and the rest of the cast in a silver grey was a stroke of genius. The ballets were fine and fit well with the action. Many of the same people were in the production of Rameau's Les Paladins where the music was superb but the action and dance were like Monty Python on steroids. Here the music was complimented by the actions on stage. The singing of all the many roles was well done. In particular the Armide of Stephanie d'Oustrac was particularly exciting. Her rendering of "Enfin, il est en ma puissance" was the high point of the opera; it is...

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Two Step Moves & Patterns Volume 3 (Shawn Trautman's Dance Collection))

Adding Exciting New Turns and 'Switches'
My favorite part of the Two-Step Moves & Patterns dvds is the Introduction - because that's when you see for the very first time what dance moves are gonna be taught, at full speed, just like you'd see the moves you like for the first time in the country dance halls; it's that type of moment when it hits you just how cool those moves are that you wanna learn!

Starting from the closed position, Shawn & Nicole teach side-by-side (sweetheart) switches, and btw these switches are very helpful for navigating around drunk people on the dance floor. Along the way, Shawn & Nicole show you other modifications and adjustments for when people are in your way on the dance floor.

Shawn also talks about different kinds of leads (guys pay attention to this); plus rotating side-by-side switches from the cape (sweetheart) position, a.k.a. 'the run around'; and ending with an open release (free turn). For fun, Shawn adds a couple turns for the ladies into the pattern right...

Volume 3 of Two-Step Moves & Patterns
In Volume 3 of Two-Step Moves and Patterns, changing sides (Switches) with your partner becomes as easy as walking down the line of dance.
Lots of nice turns including a double for the lady that progresses into a third turn where she and her partner combine for a final turn, very impressive. This accentuates the partners' connection. This is one of my favorite turns.
My partner really likes the way Shawn explains the hand positions in detail so that each move is executed perfectly.
We are ready for the next Volume. I love the way they all work together.

Two-Stwp Intermediate DVD Number 3
I have just finished going through the third DVD of this intermediate two-step dance DVD set. This one presents several patterns for the cape position, one of the basic positions in the two-step dance. My favorite is the rotating switch positions pattern. A very sharp looking pattern, but easy to learn. Like the previous DVDs in this set, there are chapters after the pattern lessons for review and practice and a bonus chapter with variations on the pattern lessons presented earlier. I would continue to highly recommend this new DVD set to anyone wanting to improve their Two-Step knowledge.

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Flashpoint: Three Season Pack

i don't get it.
don't get it twisted... i love this show and will purchase the seasons. my question is why is the 3 season pack more expensive than buying the 3 season individually? 30.99+21.99+25.99 only = 81.97 but this Flashpoint: Three Season Pack is 94.49 for a difference of 12.52 for buying them together. i think it's a scam...

I absolutely LOVE this show!
Okay first off, I am going to settle something once and for all: ALL EPISODES FROM ALL THE SEASONS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS!!!! The only thing that happened was they organized the seasons differently from Canada but it it full in its entirety. Now This show is phenomenal! It has great story lines with intense action sequences and a whole lot more! I give this 5 stars hands down! I can't wait for season 5!

Seasons based on CBS Broadcast schedule
The quality of these DVD's is excellent, both video and sound, and some nice special features are also included. Several reviewers have mentioned that the "seasons" as packaged are "incomplete". Is that true? Yes and no.

These DVD sets are produced by the CBS network's "Home Video" division, so the "seasons" here match CBS's broadcast schedule, not CTV's original production schedule. Each season's box lists the episodes on the inside covers with short summaries of each story and the "Original Air Date" which refers to CBS's original broadcast date in the USA, not CTV's original broadcast dates in Canada.

There are 62 episodes produced over the show's first four seasons: 13 each in Seasons 1 and 3, and 18 each in Seasons 2 and 4. The "Season 1" set actually contains all 13 episodes produced for that season, but the "Season 2" set only contains 9 episodes, perhaps because CBS actually broadcast the final 4 episodes from the first season at the beginning of...

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The Chorus (Les Choristes)

Poignant. Poetic. Sweet. Inspiring.
Prisons are filled with people without hope; perhaps especially prisons which house young boys. Devoid of the normal pleasures of life in which boys delight, these ruffians lead desperate, bland, colorless lives of few joys, little change, and little love. Into this drab, dreary, and harsh enviornment arrives our lovable dreamer, Prefect Clement Mathieu.

A frustrated musician/composer, Mathieu has an idea: organize this rag-tag group of troublemakers into a boys choir. Like a wildflower in the field, this group springs into beautiful song and harmonies. It also upsets a few people along the way. No good deed goes unpunished, as Mark Twain said, and this one is no exception.

Mathieu is different than the other prefects and administrator/teachers, he loves the boys and in that lies the difference.

The Chorus is a sweet, gentle, moving film. Everything about it is exceptionaly well done. Remarkable acting, writing, filming, and storytelling make this a...

Music and hope ...
"Fond de l'Etang", France, 1949. Data with no meaning for you right now, but that has a lot to do with this movie. What does that data mean?. Well, it is the place and time that set the background for this wonderful story.

The country is France, and the date 1949, some years after the end of the Second World War. "Fond de l'Etang" is a strict school for troubled children, mostly orphans who have lost their parents in the war. They live more or less unhappy lives, wanting to play outside but forbidden to do so. They express themselves only through rebellious acts, to which the harsh director of the school responds on the basis of the principle "action-reaction". Unfortunately, that principle doesn't solve things...

One day, the arrival of a new preceptor disturbs the school's routine. He is Clement Mathieu (Gérard Jugnot), a frustrated musician that has arrived to this school only after having failed at a variety of jobs, and who isn't overly excited at the...

The Chorus - An Appreciative Gesture Towards Our Educators!
Many people with failed careers often turn to education as a refuge where they still can be a part of what they love the most. These refugees usually do not have any idea of what they are about to do to themselves, as they are about to face young people who believe they know everything or lack the enthusiasm that they possess. Often it turns out to be a wake-up call that the previous job was not that bad after all, despite previous failures. Some of these refugees turn out to be excellent educators while others fail again. In Les Choristes, known as the Chorus here in United States, the audience is introduced to one of these refugees that is about to embark on a rough voyage, as he has taken a job as supervisor in a boarding school for troubled children.

Christophe Barratier who directs Les Choristes has previously produced excellent films such as Himalaya (1999) and Winged Migration (2001). The story that Barratier tells opens in New York where a man is half in...

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Fruits Basket Complete Series: Collector's Edition

Look no further for the sweetest, most charming anime of all
The story of Ms. Honda and the strange family that adopts her is my number one anime of all, and I have now seen about a hundred of the things. From the sweet opening song through the sweet closing song, it's pure joy.

This isn't to mean it's saccharine. Lots of conflicts occur. You'll laugh a lot, and you might cry a bit. The operative word is "charming". If you are not charmed by this series, you have no heart at all. Hitler would laugh and cry with their adventures.

The odd conceit is that the family has thirteen members who turn into the animals of the Chinese zodiac (you know, year of the rat, and stuff, with the cat added to the normal 12). They adopt a plucky girl who has been orphaned.

Honest, if you don't find this worth the money, send me a letter, and I'll make it up to you. This is easily the most charming anime ever created.

How does the Collector's Edition rate?
Fruits Basket is one of my favorite anime series, rivaled only by Full Metal Alchemist and Trigun - though it shares little in common with those titles aside from quality. While Fruits Basket is technically Shojo, as President of my University's Anime Club I can provide testament to it's broad appeal even to Shonen fans. It offers a wonderful mix of comedy, drama, and even action.

I could ramble on about it's merits but I'm guessing that, like me, what you really want to know is how this Collector's Edition ranks against earlier releases of Fruits Basket. The answer, in my opinion, is that this Collector's Edition is surprisingly better save for one annoyance.

o--Presentation--o
In my opinion, the box art and DVD menus are far superior to previous releases of Fruits Basket. There's a lot more original artwork here, particularly decorating the interior of the cases, and it's clear that a lot of effort was put into making this Collector's Edition stand out...

Fruits Basket will touch your heart!
This is the most heart-warming and touching anime series I've ever seen. It's shoujo, meaning it's geared towards girls but anyone would enjoy watching this. There are no gun or sword battles, transforming robots, or flying demons but even my teenage son loves it because of all the funny and outrageous characters (our favorites are Shigure, Kyo, Momiji & Ayame).

You meet and get to know the cursed Sohma family through the eyes of orphaned high-school student Tohru Honda. Everyone has a story to tell, some quite heart-wrenching. I was touched by all their stories. Heck, I even felt sorry for Akito!

Although I prefer to watch anime in their original Japanese, I think that Funimation did a SUPERLATIVE job of dubbing and translating these series. In my opinion all the American voice actors were excellent! I really liked Laura Bailey as Tohru but my hat goes off to John Burgmeier who was just AWESOME as Shigure!

Only 26 episodes long, it ends a little too...

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Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Part 2 [Blu-ray]

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Part 2 [Blu-ray]
Bought both part 1 and part 2. Awesome anime with a great story line and characters. Absolutely recommend this anime. You won't be disappointed.

An amazing work that deserves to be recognized as a classic
I already reviewed the first set so I'll just repeat what I said there. This is one of my favorite series of all time. It's based on a series of novels instead of the usual manga that inspire anime these days. You can definitely tell as there is a good deal more character development and story complexity than you'll find in standard fare. The fantasy world is well developed to the point where there are distinct cultures in the various countries explored throughout the series. I highly recommend this one.

superb
Excellent storyline. For people who are tired of super heroes and appreciate a very ordinary one, this is for you.

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Witchfinder General [Blu-ray]

My Pivotal Film Experience.
Every lover of film has had a pivotal film experience, the movie that made such an impact on them that they have never forgotten it. For me WITCHFINDER GENERAL is that film. I first saw it in 1969 as THE CONQUERER WORM (AIP's American release title designed to cash in on the Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe series although the movie has nothing to do with Poe). I was 17 years old, just about to complete my junior year of high school in Greenville SC, and was a big fan of the Roger Corman/Vincent Price Poe series. I had seen very few films that would not qualify as G rated. The ratings system had just been introduced the year before and this film was rated M (for mature audiences, later GP then PG). It was a complete shock to the system in every way. It was the first time I had seen nudity/lovemaking before and the violence was painful and ugly. Vincent Price was cold and hard without a trace of his usual mannerisms and therefore not sympathetic in the least. To top it all off there was...

A satisfying but sadly marginalised cult horror classic
The Conqueror Worm is a textbook example of a movie's potential prospects as an acknowledged classic being wrecked by the stupidity of critics and the cynical manipulations of a distributor underestimating the intelligence of American viewers. Distributed by AIP in America as "The Conqueror Worm" and purportedly "based on the writing of Edgar Allan Poe", the film got buried by disinterested US critics who incorrectly passed it off as simply another addition to the increasingly tiresome Poe fare being churned out by AIP, Roger Corman and others. The casting of Vincent Price, of course, only strengthened this unfortunate and lazy critical impulse. For this, the distributor is as much to blame as the critics, by consciously pursuing a marketing strategy which implied precisely what critics chose to believe. And by tampering with the film itself to contrive to provide a Poe connection (by adding prologue and epilogue commentary by Vincent Price quoting...

The original is better
"The Conqueror Worm" is the American title of "Witchfinder General," which was sold -- deceitfully -- by American International as part of the Edgar Allan Poe cycle (a dubbed-in recitation of Poe's poem "The Conqueror Worm" by Vincent Price is its only connection). While "Conqueror Worm" contains all of the picture elements of the available British version (though the version released to theatres in 1968 was even more graphic in the torture scenes), the superlative music score by Paul Ferris did not make the transition and was replaced by an initially pleasing, but quickly repetitive and inadequate synthesizer theme (in some scenes the music simply runs out, then starts over again like its on a loop). Even so, this grim historical thriller features one of Vincent Price's all time best performances as Matthew Hopkins, a powerful man with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Price was not so much directed by Michael Reeves as goaded by him (Reeves really wanted Donald Pleasence for the...

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Three-Disc Ultimate Edition)

No Extended Cut
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. As you know, Warner Brothers has officially announced the Ultimate Editions of years 5 and 6. The product descriptions are quite wordy. There's a lot of talk about how fans should be excited about these new releases. But there are two words missing from the descriptions of both these products: Extended Cut.

What sold me and so many other fans was the extended cuts. And so I began collecting the Ultimate Editions. And what excited me even more was the idea of more extended cuts to come, especially for The Order of the Phoenix.

Then Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblit of fire Ultimate Editions came out, and of course, there were no extended cuts. And Warner Bros. spun us a tale of directors and their creative preferences. And so, we all said "fair enough" (although I, for one, never quite bought that explanation). Still, I had hopes for Order of the phonex and Half blood prince. Director David Yates is on record talking about having to...

The longest Harry Potter book gets whittled down to the shortest Harry Potter film
I think that when you take the longest Harry Potter book and turn it into the shortest Harry Potter film, that a large number of complaints by fans as to what has been cut will be inevitable after they watch "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Not that this means that the legions of fans will be bitterly disappointed by the film version, but rather that there will be regrets over not getting to see favorite scenes on the screen. For example, Quidditch is completely out of the film, denying Ron of his best moments in the sun (start singing "Weasley is our king"). So do not be surprised when your mind keeps shifting to what has been cut and distracting you from time to time while watching this summer's latest blockbuster.

When last we left our hero, Harry fell victim to a trap to bring back Lord Voldermort, which cost Cedric Diggory his life. The Ministry of Magic wants things hushed up, but Dumbledore tells the students at Hogwarts that Diggory was murdered and...

No extended cut - why bother
If you already have Order of the Phoenix in the two disc set as originally released, then why buy this edition. Oh, yeah, there's the third disc. Not a good enough reason. I'm a musician, so I bought the Ultimate edition of Goblet of Fire to get words from the composers, but neither Hooper nor Desplat have lived up to the level of music set by Williams and Doyle in the first four movies.

What made the first two Ultimate Editions wonderful was the presence of the "Extended cut". I bought them specifically for that. As witnessed on ABC Family, the added footed from the "Deleted Scenes" doesn't add much, but it makes scenes have a firmer pace. In the theatrical cut, particularly in Order of the Phoenix, the pace was juttery, totally lacking in the flow it needed. It may not have been just the script that reeked. I'm thinking David Yates was just getting used to directing a big movie. Just because it's in the middle of the series doesn't mean fans don't realize how...

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Lully: Armide [Blu-ray]

Enchanting
I find that William Christie, with whatever director he is working with, always manages to strike a fine balance between fidelity to the spirit of Baroque opera and making meaningful use of modern theatrical techniques that don't so much revise the work as put it into a context that makes it more accessible to a wider audience. That's certainly the case when working with the opera director Robert Carsen (Les Boréades), and the narrowing of the gap between the past and the present is taken quite literally in this production of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Armide (1686), the prologue filmed on location at Versailles, with ballet sequences much like the ones traditionally seen in the intervals of the televised New Year's Day Concerts from Vienna. There on the bed of the King of France amidst the praise given to Louis XIV, Paul Agnew falls asleep and, like in a dream, goes back to a stylised past where the story of...

Five stars, but...
Five stars for the music, Les Arts Florissants and Stéphanie d'Oustrac but, if it could be done retrospectively, I would fire the choreographer (Jean-Claude Gallota). The choreography reminded me of Tai-Chi classes except that, in Armide, all participants seemed to be "under the influence". And, as I heard and saw it, their movements did not seem to "cling" to the music. Get Atys if you have not done so already, and see the difference!



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Demon King Daimao Complete Collection

Felt kind short and rushed!
I agree with most of the reviews here. The anime started out great. The story line was great. They had a bunch of great characters and development of them was nicely done. Then, half way through it, they picked up and rush too much information in way too fast. I seriously don't know how to explain it in words. It's like they literally didn't want to do leave the fans hanging so they finish it, but only put in all the main plots of the story in, but you would had to read the books before hand to know what's really going on because it's was on fast forward times 8!

I mainly want to say, this anime should had been two seasons, but I guess they saw there wasn't going to be another season after, and so, they had to pick and choose what to tell us to finish it. Again, this wasn't a good or bad idea. It's good for people that already know the story and bad for people that don't know it at all.

Honestly at the very end, I didn't know what was going on? It seemed like...

Good series, hopefully the BD's will be good
Well I've seen the entire series from dvd/television re-encodes so I can't exactly comment on the video quality of the blu-rays, should be superior to both though.

Overall I thought the series starts off well enough, quite a few laughs throughout the first 4-5 episodes. Also the pacing is good during this time, moving the plot along but not forcing it all out. However, something so good will never last...

After this point it seemed as if the staff realized that "OH S**T, we only have 12 episodes!" and so tried to run through a lot of plot very quickly. resulting in an almost 'jumpy' feel toward the end, and it also seemed that they didn't have as much animation budget as they wanted (or it was all used up on breasts, not that I'm complaining).

very nice OP music and the soundtrack has some really decent songs in it. the ED is tolerable but the animation for it seemed out of place (maybe a result of animation budget deficit, who knows)...

A Fanboy's Dream, A Demon King's Nightmare
Demon King Daimao, (also known as Ichiban Ushiro No Dai Mao) follows the high school life of Akuto Sai, in a world in which magic not only exists, it's a normal way of life. Quiet, kind-hearted and unassuming, he hopes to become a member of the highest order of the church. However, to his horror, he finds out that he is destined to become the next Demon King. As a result, he has beautiful girls wanting to marry him or kill him. Sometimes, it's both.

The series is a short one at 12 episodes, but the storyline is quite enjoyable. Fanservice is pretty standard for a harem series, comedy peaks a lot, and the ending does leave you wanting for more. One of the biggest surprises about this release is the fact that is has an English dub. Considering Sentai Filmworks penchant for subbed-only formats, this is quite a change.

For anime fans of harem series, this is a must to own.

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Psychoville Series 1 & 2 [Blu-ray]

Weirdly ingenious
I accidentally found this series and love it. It is funny, quirky, and completely addicting. I hope they plan on making another season. Each character (albeit played by only a handful of actors) some how charm one while watching, especially David, Mr. Lomax and Tea Tree. I just love this series.

Jelly or Jolly?
If you are a fan of The League of Gentlemen then you will love Psychoville! Great character development, incredibly funny and creepy as hell.

"1,2,1,2,3 go....clap your hands"
If you love dark comedy, strange British humor and overall just bizarre shows - this is perfect.

Being in the USA and seeing some other reviewers having issues playing discs (due to region issues), I was a bit hesitant to make this purchase and pushed it off several times out of concern that I wouldn't be able to play it. I was surprised to find that my player did just fine.

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Mahler: Keeping Score [Blu-ray]

To a lot of us, it makes a big difference!
First, here's what you'll find in this set:

1. a full performance of Mahler's Symphony 1 by Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

2. a roughly two-hour program on the life and music of Gustav Mahler.

One disc is a full performance by MTT and the SFSO of Mahler's first symphony. Michael precedes it with a brief but helpful introduction that prepares the audience for the symphony. It's a good performance, with the first movement leading up to the "cuckoo theme" done much more softly than is common.

MTT obviously enjoys conducting Mahler's music, frequently looking like a child, delightfully surprised at each new phrase (even though he knows exactly what's coming!) We should all bring such a childlike delight to the magical music of Mahler.

The other disc:

How can the life of one of the world's greatest composers and conductors be told in about two hours? You're right--it isn't easy,...

Great story of Mahler's life and music
This double Blu-ray disc edition is a beautiful story of Mahler's life and music. It features many actual locations of his life from his hometown to his grave, both as seen today and in archival footage. In between, we have excerpts from his music expertly played by the SF Symphony and wonderfully explicated by Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas. Disc two is a playing of the First Symphony. Audio and video are both stunning. I had the same problem as the first reviewer when the disc froze up when playing it on an OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player with SACD, DVD-Audio, and VRS Technology, but it was resolved with a firmware upgrade from the Oppo website.

Brilliant
I frequently watch documentaries about music of all genres, and I can say that this is one of the best I have ever seen (and heard).

Michael Tilson Thomas has an obvious passion for Mahler's music, and his excitement is felt by the viewer, but what impressed me most was that even though you get the traditional chronological survey of Mahler's life and career, at appopriate times they juxtopose music from varoious periods to really give the "big picture" and show how everything is related. One great example was at the end of the program when they show how a theme from the beginning of Mahler's first song keeps returning, including at the end of the his final symphony. There is also a survey of the unique features of the scherzo movements iof many ot the symphonies, and these are shown in sequence. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, it is great to be shown all the unusual instruments that Mahler had used, including a demo of the hammer blows from the Sixth Symphony.

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Pride: The Gay & Lesbian Comedy Slam

Loud, Proud, And Funny--A Solid And Professional Line-Up Keeps The Laughs Rolling
In my life, I've seen more Pride related comedy shows than I'd care to admit to. They tend to be hit or miss affairs with certain comics shining with originality while others play to expected genre humor. In the past, the degree of hilarity rose exponentially in direct proportion to the amount of alcohol I had consumed. For this LOL Comedy Showcase (this is about the sixth theme show in this particular series that I've caught), I was noticeably sober! But I'm pleased to admit that this is a more polished and professional set of comedians than usual--and each held their own. Not everything slayed, but this was a fitfully funny hour of comedy that would stand up to a repeated viewing. The only drawback is the slightly dated humor. Filmed at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, this show was shot in December of 2009--so there is plenty of talk about some of the bigger moments of that time period. Not sure why it took a year and a half to make its DVD debut.

Bruce...





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The Magdalene Sisters

Suffice It To Say, The Church and State Had Too Much Power.
"The Magdalene Sisters" is a fact-based account of three young Irish women who were imprisoned in a Magdalene Laundry in Dublin in 1964. The original purpose of the ten Magdalene Laundries that were established in Ireland in the 19th century was to reform prostitutes. Women were imprisoned by the State and Church and expected to do penance for their sins through hard work and prayer. By 1930, instead of being populated by former prostitutes, Ireland's Magdalene Laundries were occupied primarily by unwed mothers whose families had rejected them. An estimated 30,000 Irish women were detained in the Laundries during the 20th century, until the last one closed in 1996, and were used as a slave labor force, working from dawn until dusk to turn a profit for the Order that administered the Laundries.

"The Magdalene Sisters" tells the stories of Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff), who is sent away from her home after being raped at a family wedding, Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone), whose caretakers...

WORDS ALONE CANNOT DESCRIBE THIS TRAGEDY!!!!!
I just finished watching this movie and I am extremely disturbed. The story is filled with so much hate and so much blatant bigotry that my hands are actually shaking as I sit here and type this. No movie has ever touched me as "The Magdalene Sisters" did.

First, let me just say that all the men in this movie are disgusting, repugnant COWARDS!! The men can do no wrong while the ladies have to sacrifice for no apparent reason. That is terribly unjust.

The Magdalene House is a jail-like home. It's run by pedophile priests that enjoy taking advantage of handicapped ladies and sadistic nuns that get personal pleasure out of abusing the ladies that live there.

The movie revolves around 3 young ladies that were sent to a Magdalene House; each for different reasons. One of the young ladies was raped, another was too pretty, and another had a child out of wedlock. What exactly was their crime that caused them to be locked up for years and years you might be asking? After all, they...

Another True and Shocking Story Of The Holy Catholic Church!
For much of the 20th century in Ireland, the Roman Catholic Church operated a string of laundries, the Magdalene Asylums, where very young women accused of "moral crimes" were sent
to work and repent of their evil ways in a cathartic vision of cleansing the soul while cleaning the laundry. These so-called "moral crimes" were broadly defined as becoming pregnant, getting
raped or even flirting with boys or being overly attractive and thus committing the sin of vanity.

In the asylum's history, over 30,000 women were incarcerated, endured the Catholic Churches discipline systems and many died there. Often sexually abused and assaulted by priests, sexually humiliated, assaulted, shamed and beaten within an inch of their lives by their masochistic caretakers, the nuns - those "sweet sisters of mercy".

As a shocker, The last of these horrendous Catholic laundries closed in 1996.
Scottish actor-writer-director Peter Mullan sets the story in 1964, the high-water mark...

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Avalon

Not the Original Directors Vision!
Here we go again. MIRAMAX basterdizes another movie. MIRAMAX tends to buy the rights to these great movies & then changes them. I've seen the original AVALON so I can comment on what's been changed. First, the original washed out color of the film is replaced with an deep orange. This really ruins some of the original scenes.At least some colors in the original movie came out. MIRAMAX has ruined the directors vision. If you have this DVD see the extras on the cinamatography & SFX. At least there you'll see the original color that was intended by director Mamoru Oshii.The 2nd thing that's been added is the additoinal dialogue. The main chracter explains the game after her 1st victory. This has been added by MIRAMAX. And lastly at the end or character explains it all or tries to.All this was added to the movie. The directors intention is to make you guess & ponder this wonderful story. But MIRAMAX has decided for you. About the only thing I'll give them credit is the great...

An Interesting Film Worth Seeing
I am writing this only to help counteract some of the idiocy in other reviews. This movie is not for everyone: no movie is. It is a beautifully shot, wonderfully sculpted, slow-paced, and thought-provoking movie. It does not hand the answers to you on a plate, and that may bother some people, particularly those lazy viewers who rely on Hollywood films to tell them what to think with no room for imagination.

It is not a rip-off of The Matrix. If anything, it's derivative of Oshii's earlier films and thought, which heavily influenced The Matrix. I also loved Ghost in the Shell for many of the same reasons that I liked Avalon. It has some of the pacing of Taste of Cherry. It allows a person to settle in, relax, and absorb all of the deliciousness of the style of the movie and to get inside Ash, the heroine.

The special features are worth seeing. The director is very clear in his interview what his thoughts and intent are in the film. This film is a piece of art,...

Please do not accuse without research!
I am shocked to see the review which says that Oshiisan has copied the concept of Avalon from Matrix .The whole concept of plugging in, right down to the plug points on the neck of the characters, has been ripped off in Matrix from Oshiisans Ghost in the shell,he does not have to steal what is his,second please, Trinity is a human clone of major Kusanagi of Ghost right down to the way she fights, and the lobby shootout is clearly inspired by the
shootout in the last shootout in Ghost "bits of concrete flying everywhere" etc, and even the poses when characters land after making a leap are copied from ghost "on one knee".Avalon is for people who like Japanese Anime which over the years has inspired the likes of Matrix.And this is something the Wachowski's themselves admit.And a good movie can be in any language for one to appreciate ,I couldnt care if it was russian or polish.I think
people should refrain from tearing down something which they dont know...

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