It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Amazon.com

Take the best elements from Seinfeld and Arrested Development and you have It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Combining the social-degenerate-buddy formula (three men, one woman) with the beyond-dysfunctional-family element, Philadelphia creates scenarios that are so hysterical, wrong, appalling, familiar, embarrassing, uncomfortable, and entertaining, the show is addictive like staring at a car wreck when you know you shouldn't, but you just can't look away; it's invigorating like a fresh, loud, wake-up slap on the face. The writing, the quick timing, and the performances are so natural, one wonders if anyone is even acting (but hopes to heaven they are). Danny DeVito joined the cast in the second season, in one of the best roles on TV. DeVito is "Frank," the buddy dad that just wants to be part of the gang, the dad that looks good on paper, but the experience for his kids is more like taking care of a vicious dog that isn't potty-trained. Three of his four talented cohorts (Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenney) not only star in the series, but write it as well. Thanks to their new take on old themes and a willingness to stretch the boundaries of appropriateness and exploit the audiences' inner insecurities, originality is back on TV.--Rachel Moss

Description

Three best friends own a Irish Pub in Phili and get into sticky situations resulting from bad judgment.

Customer Reviews:

ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT TV SHOWS I'VE SEEN IN AGES...........2007-09-14

I can't begin to start yabbering about what the shows about. It rules though. Show for show, this thing is great. I think that everybody should sit down and watch these.
Danny Devito doesn't join until season two, but he hasn't lost a bit of his edgy humor.
This show is one that I know, for making me burst out laughing at inappropraite times, somewhere the day after watching them, because some twisted image pops into my head.
Every character is hillarious. I recall an article a way back that called the show "Seinfeld on crack." It's even better than that, in my opinion.

Five brilliant stars.

Slob comedy crafted with wit and intelligence.......2007-09-09

Anybody can make a comedy about a gang of hard-drinking idiots who get into amusing situations. But it takes genuine perspective and brains to make that kind of humor work on more than one level, to make it pay off with any kind of irony, to make it say something about culture and society and that old cold cruel finger of fate.

Time and again, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" pulls off those mean feats.

Perfect example: Upon learning that his elementary school classmates were possibly molested by their gym teacher, one of the characters is thrown into a crisis of self-esteem, essentially: Why was the coach attracted to the other kids and not him? He was a much cuter kid than they were ... wasn't he???

Much like Ren and Stimpy used to change size and proportion depending on their surroundings, the boys and girl of "Sunny" alternate in their thought processes between brain damaged and strangely elloquent -- but since it's usually in the service of making a cultural or political point, it's a device that works really well.

"Sunny" is easily one of the best sit-coms on the air right now. The masses who continue to mourn the loss of "Arrested Development" would do well to turn their attention to this underseen little gem.

This is a potent blend of high- and lowbrow -- a kind of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" centered around a quartet of boozy brats, or "Friends" with a more realistic amount of toxicity and "pushing 30 desperation."

The dialogue flows like good improvisation and the plotting is always clever and more complicated than you'd expect (in that respect it even one-ups "Curb" whose twists can be viewed from a mile away [though that's admittedly part of "Curb's" charm]). Plus the acting is surprisingly natural and the leads have an atomic-clock degree of comic timing; DeVito, who joined in the second season as the main siblings' ne'er-do-well dad is infinitely better than he might've been and a reminder of what a shrewd comedian he can be; and I, for one, sincerely hope we see a lot more of the great Jimmi Simpson and Nate Mooney, who play the mind-boggling McPoyle twins, in S-3.

Added to which, "Sunny" features one of my favorite television opening credits sequences ever. Even when I watch it on DVD, I never fast forward past it.

Irreverent and funny.......2007-09-09

This series is touted by some critics as being the working man's Seinfeld. I say it's funnier and less formulaic to boot. The characters also live in apartments that they'd be able to afford and every set looks comfortably broken-in.

The fearless writers will tackle any subject matter with hysterically inappropriate humor. I'm certain there would be an outcry from conservative groups to axe this show if it weren't so neatly tucked away on FX. Worth seeing, worth owning, can't wait for more!

Funniest show I've ever seen........2007-09-09

It's crude and about as politically incorrect as you can get. They tackle every controversial issue and turn it into something hilarious. They get into situations with everything from racism, to abortions, to underage drinking, to cancer, to gun control laws, in that order, too. There is even an episode, I'm not kidding, called "The Gang Goes Jihad." I loved every minute of it.

Greatest show ever made. I can't wait for the new season starting Sept 13th on FX.

Funniest show on TV.......2007-09-08

Thought this show didn't really attract me at first, I'm hooked now. It's absolutely hilarious and without a doubt the funniest show on TV right now. Devito is gold.

Average customer rating:

I loved it !
Kenneth Branagh is on an ego trip
'All the world's a stage'
A Review? Simple. It's Beautiful!!

As You Like It
Starring: Brian Blessed , Kevin Kline , Alfred Molina , Jimmy Yuill , and Adrian Lester
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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General | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

ASIN: B000SM6FKE
Release Date: 2007-09-25

Amazon.com

If you think stuffy old Shakespeare could be livened up with some ninjas, Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) has heard your call. Adapter/director Branagh has set the pastoral comedy As You Like It in feudal Japan, where the characters are still British (they live in a community established by Western merchants) but now have reason to dress up in lush Japanese fabrics and engage in sumo wrestling. Due to a feud between two noble brothers, Rosalind (Bryce Dallas Howard, The Village) is banished and ends up disguised as a man in a nearby forest. There she tests the faith of her beloved (and also banished) Orlando (David Oyelowo, MI-5), who can't recognize her because she looks like a Dickensian ragamuffin. Meanwhile, a variety of other star-crossed lovers romp around the forest and zen gardens, sparring about love and melancholy. Branagh, never a subtle director, takes every opportunity to squeeze in slapstick and action (like the aforementioned ninjas), but he also keeps the language clear and the movie is beautiful to look at. The strong cast includes Kevin Kline (who previously frolicked in a movie adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, Frida), Romola Garai (I Capture the Castle, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights), and Adrian Lester (Hustle, Love's Labors Lost). --Bret Fetzer

Description

Emmy award winner Kenneth Branagh, the man who redefined Shakespeare for a whole new generation with Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet, brings the Bard's most delightful comedy to sensational life! Rosalind is a young woman living in the court of her uncle when she falls in love with Orlando, a young gentleman of the kingdom. When Rosalind is banished, she flees into the forest of Arden disguised as a man...only to encounter Orlando who has also been exiled! But can she win his heart, disguised as she is? With a setting inspired by 19th century Japan and a star-studded cast including Kevin Kline (Dave, A Prairie Home Companion), Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3, The Lady In The Water) and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, The Da Vinci Code), AS YOU LIKE IT once again proves that all the world's a stage. Come enjoy!

Customer Reviews:

I loved it !.......2007-09-06

Imaginatively directed, superbly cast, beautifully acted and wonderfully orchestrated production, with Kevin Kline's presentation of the seven ages of man quite the best I have ever seen, including Stratford and Montgomery!

Kenneth Branagh is on an ego trip.......2007-08-23

Kenneth Branagh's Shakespearean productions have always been perilously chaotic and extravagant, but in this one he's finally gone off the deep end, a hodgepodge of politically correct casting (black hero, white heroine) set in Nineteenth Century Japan, which doesn't even make a stab at historical authenticity. The Bard's beautiful language takes a backseat to a trendy concern for oriental exotica that would gag a maggot. Branagh's delirious intoxication with multiculturalism is pure self-indulgence. In the first ten minutes of the movie, there's a Kabuki play, a Ninja-style attack, a kung fu bout and a sumo wrestling match. Has Branagh gone completely nuts? This isn't homage to Shakespeare, it's a desecration. The worst thing about Branagh's contempt for historical verisimilitude is that it makes a mockery of Shakespeare's painstaking calibration of character to time and place. The liberal critics at the NY Times will go gaga over this one!

'All the world's a stage'.......2007-08-22

Kenneth Branagh, aside from being a gifted actor with an enormous range of creative character abilities, has once again brought Shakespeare to life on the screen. His previous excursions into the bard's repertoire have included 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'Henry V', 'Love's Labour's Lost', 'Hamlet', and 'Othello', and now he adds one of the bard's most successful comedies AS YOU LIKE IT to his list of successes. Branagh has the gift of making the visual aspects of Shakespeare's stories enhance the language and in doing so he makes Shakespeare sound like brilliant conversation (which it of course is) instead of stilted and brittle old English.

The 'gimmick' used here by Branagh in adapting Shakespeare's play is placing the action in 19th century Japan, and while other less sensitive directors might have opted to insert parody here, Branagh instead makes the story seem all the more plausible - the two feuding brothers (one dark and one light) whose struggle over their estate opens the play before credits with an ingenious silent drama of black leather feudal costumed men invading a genteel house party of lovely people enjoying a Japanese dancer's performance. The original brother is banished with his clan to the Arden forest and there the magic begins. Love between several couples is played in all its manifestations with disguise, misconceptions, lust, and poetry until the play's rollicking end in a song of Hey Nonny Nonny!

The lovers include the disguised Rosalind (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Orlando (David Oyelowo), Celia (Romola Garai) and Oliver (Adrian Lester), the court fool Touchstone (a brilliant Alfred Molina) and Audrey (Janet McTeer), and Sylvius (Alex Wyndham) and Phoebe (Jade Jefferies). Brian Blessed plays the roles of both feuding brothers with style and authority, and Kevin Kline offers a fully realized Jaques - the character who is given the most memorable soliloquies in the play. The settings and imagery (Tim Harvey) are artistic and beautiful and captured with style by cinematographer Roger Lanser, and as with all of Branagh's production the music score (here by Patrick Doyle) is letter perfect and atmospheric.

But in the end the kudos go to Kenneth Branagh for his consistent courage and conviction that Shakespeare's plays are timeless, and his devotion to bringing them to the contemporary audience is to be applauded. This is a fine film - one to own! Grady Harp, August 07

A Review? Simple. It's Beautiful!!.......2007-08-22

This movie is beautiful! That's right. That's my whole review.
There are stylised Komonos and rich 1890-ish Western costumes. A pallette of amazing reds, maroons and rose colors set against a magical green forest with ancient towering trees and exotic oriental marshes.
The romantic comedy element is all about being in love; being giddy with all consuming love. The Shakespearean words are edited short and crisp and are delivered naturalistically and effortlessly by the likes of Kevin Kline and Brian Blessed. Of the leads, David Oyelowo stands out as a very masculine and handsome leading man and Bryce Dallas Howard (an American) more that holds her own with the mostly British cast.
Perhaps due to Branagh's pruning of the text, I also found listening to, and understanding As You Like It just as effortless as the actor's delivery. I'm not an English teacher nor an Elizabethean scholar and this movie spoke to me, taking me on a wonderful escape. (NOTE: Make sure to watch all the way through the credits!)
It is obvious that Kenneth Branagh puts his whole soul into his movies. Thank you Kenneth!

American Psycho (Uncut Killer Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

It's hip to be square and insane
Naked Bloody Psycho
Christian Bale scared me...
BALE IS PSYCHO!!
Great film

American Psycho (Uncut Killer Collector's Edition)
Starring: Christian Bale , Justin Theroux , Josh Lucas , Bill Sage , and Chloë Sevigny
Director: Mary Harron
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009A40ES
Release Date: 2005-06-21

Product Description

Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) a Wall Street yuppie obsessed with success, status and style is also a serial killer who murders, rapes and mutilates both strangers and acquaintances without reason. A Police detective is on his trail as Bateman s mask of studied, distant cool begins to fall apart.

System Requirements:

Running Time 102 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

The Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho, a dark, violent satire of the "me" culture of Ronald Reagan's 1980s, is certainly one of the most controversial books of the '90s, and that notoriety fueled its bestseller status. This smart, savvy adaptation by Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol) may be able to ride the crest of the notoriety; prior to the film's release, Harron fought a ratings battle (ironically, for depictions of sex rather than violence), but at the time the director stated, "We're rescuing [the book] from its own bad reputation." Harron and co-screenwriter Guinevere Turner (Go Fish) overcome many of the objections of Ellis's novel by keeping the most extreme violence offscreen (sometimes just barely), suggesting the reign of terror of yuppie killer Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) with splashes of blood and personal souvenirs. Bale is razor sharp as the blank corporate drone, a preening tiger in designer suits whose speaking voice is part salesman, part self-help guru, and completely artificial. Carrying himself with the poised confidence of a male model, he spends his days in a numbing world of status-symbol one-upmanship and soul-sapping small talk, but breaks out at night with smirking explosions of homicide, accomplished with the fastidious care of a hopeless obsessive. The film's approach to this mayhem is simultaneously shocking and discreet; even Bateman's outrageous naked charge with a chainsaw is most notable for the impossibly polished and gleaming instrument of death. Harron's film is a hilarious, cheerfully insidious hall of mirrors all pointed inward, slowly cracking as the portrait becomes increasingly grotesque and insane. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

It's hip to be square and insane.......2007-09-17

I've watched it a few times here and there on tv and finally decided to get the DVD. Based on the book by the same name,....this is one of those tongue in cheek / dark comedy films that meets a Norman Bates from Psycho. Well....Norman Bates as a well-to-do New York business exectutive with a high-income salary and a three-piece designer suit...but you get the idea. Christian Bale is perfect in this film....taking the audience on a never-ending downward spiral into the darkest recesses of his soul only to murder those he envies and an occasional hooker or two only to realize that in the end where he questions himself if he actually committed these murders or not.

It's a great thril-ride.....filled with the typical 80's excesses and references, the overall dark fantasy that lurks in some of us to do away with those who just push our buttons, the comedic moments of his narrations and actions as he Bale's character plunges further into madness.

Naked Bloody Psycho.......2007-09-03

Christian Bale is a typical American Rich Snob in the 80s whose only focus is himself. He is the predecessor of the metro sexual, with 4 kinds of body cleanser, perfectly pressed business clothing and a male physique to die-for. He has everthing and begins to lose his mind.

The pinnacle of the movie is Christian Bale, absolutley naked as a jay-bird, muscles throbbing, covered in his victim's blood, wielding a chain-saw, screaming in some psycho-sexual rage as his victim gets away down a stair-well. He screams and throws the running chainsaw over the balcony to finish his victim off.

You don't know whether you are turned on or terrifed.

Everything begins to fall apart as his mind betrays him. By the end, he doesnt know if he really did these things or if it was his sick fantasy.

Another highlight is watching the intolerable character played by Jared Leto being butchered with an ax.

Probably a great movie for its time but definitely has some sick themes, but just seeing Bale naked is worth it. Batman buns....Yummy.

Christian Bale scared me..........2007-08-31

But I guess that was the point. Man, he really gives his all to a character! Love him! Always will!

BALE IS PSYCHO!!.......2007-08-31

this movie gave me the creeps. goes to show you can't judge a book by it's cover. bale is brilliant in this movie. he knows how to get into character, and he can only stay under control for so long. killing is his high. and it just shows you never really know someone.

Great film.......2007-08-27

Christian Bale is perfect for this role. He is genius in this. It couldn't have been better. I cant quite put a genre to this, its one of those 'multi-genre' type of movies, but it can appeal to so many tastes. Its kinda twisted and naughty but great at the same time. A must-see.

Average customer rating:

This DVD is flwed
Glad it's Mad
It's a funny funny funny funny movie
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad... It's a Must... !
Love the laughs, but I agree the format needs improvement

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Starring: Spencer Tracy , Milton Berle , Sid Caesar , Buddy Hackett , and Ethel Merman
Director: Stanley Kramer
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000CBY1C
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Amazon.com

Stanley Kramer's sprawling 1963 comedy about a search for buried treasure by at least a dozen people--all played by well-known entertainers of their day--is the kind of mass comedy that Hollywood hasn't made in many years. (Another example from around the same time is Blake Edwards's The Great Race.) After a number of strangers (including Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, and others) witness a dying stranger (Jimmy Durante) identify the location of hidden money, a conflict-ridden hunt begins, watched over carefully by a suspicious cop (Spencer Tracy). The ensuing two and a half hours of mayhem has its ups and downs--some bits and performers are certainly funnier than others. But Kramer, who is better known for socially conscious, serious cinema (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?), is in a mood for broad comic characterization, and some of his jokes are so intentionally obvious (Durante literally kicks a bucket when he dies), they'd have a place in Airplane! Watch for lots of cameo appearances, including Jerry Lewis (who had called Kramer and asked him why he hadn't been invited to participate). --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

This DVD is flwed.......2007-09-01

Like many of you, this is one of my favorite movies of all times. I bought the DVD a couple of years ago, and although it wasn't a 'perfect' copy, it was suitable for my needs. Missing was the overture, color timing, and a number a 'jittering scenes' probably due to the conversion to DVD process. The extra 'behind the scenes' feature is well worth the price of the DVD, however, if you are looking for perfection- you will not find it here. Last week, 8/25/07, Turner Classic Movies Cable Channel did present the "PERFECT" COPY. Why this copy didn't make it to the DVD, I would like to know. This had the overture, intermission & exit music- along with all of the extra scenes that had been chopped out of the movie years ago. Colors in the opening credits were vibrant and changes as when presented in the theater- and is in Wide Screen. And although this was shown on the Cinerama Screens, it was not filmed in Cinerama- but in Ultra-Panavision (which is a different film technology altogether). I 'DVR"ed this copy and plan to transfer it to a DVD soon. If you love this movies as an event, as much as I, make sure you DVR this movie the next time it's on Turner Classic Movies. This is the 2nd time I've seen it so they probably run it again. Please check out this link for more info- and scrool down to VERSIONS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Mad,_Mad,_Mad,_Mad_World#Versions

Glad it's Mad.......2007-08-10

If it isn't already, this is certainly destined to be a cult film.

Some of my favorite scenes:

Jerry Lewis running over Spencer Tracy's hat. Lewis' facial expressions are a delight.

Phil Silvers waving bye-bye in the rear view mirror to Jonathan Winters
after ditching him in the desert.

Jonathan Winters wrecking the service station.

A heavily hung-over Jim Backus on the pool table as Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett try to revive him.

And of course, beatniks Dick Shawn and the dead-pan Barrie Chase shakin'
it up to the Shirelles' kooky lyrics:

"Got a baby who can give me 31 flavors,
and we like tutti-frutti best,
I call him Ice Cream Joe,
he is the most delicious boy I know,
everytime his tasty lips are kissing mine,
he gives me 31 flavors,
and we like tutti-frutti best,
I just love him so,
he's my confectionary Ice Cream Joe,
everytime I kiss him I feel mighty fine,
I love his 31 flavors,
and we like tutti-frutti best,
pineapple fruit - coconut and banana, some of the fruit,
chocolate too, and tell him right that when we kiss,
he give me 31 flavors,
and we like tutti-frutty best..."

A truly Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad scene. Gotta love it!

It's a funny funny funny funny movie.......2007-08-09

Think of a huge ensemble of the major comics of the day, throw in Spencer Tracy (in his last - a comical - role), situations that defy the imagination and you've got a great comedy. Never a dull moment and you get to see where some of the greats of the genre came from.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad... It's a Must... !.......2007-08-04

Although there are a few excellent Comedies made in the fifties and sixties, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" is unbeatable, unforgettable and a remarkable movie production identifying the many traditional American life and family values besides those not so respectable ones. Behavior, Ambition, Consciousness, Cheat & Trick... they are all there. A very funny story made in a very intelligent way. Does it sound too serious? Couldn't be so easy and amusing, yet fast going with something new and unexpected at every second scene!
Undoubtless my favorite movie ever!

Love the laughs, but I agree the format needs improvement.......2007-08-01

I agree with everyone here, this is one of the funniest movies ever made. I'm with the other guy who said there was originally 192 minutes in the 1963 premiere - and the aspect ratio was 2.76:1. I have never seen a video release that was ever done correctly, with this running length and aspect ratio. MGM, let's do a full-on correct release finally of this great classic, with every frame restored and packed with special features. Maybe even a featurette on Cinerama and the overall history of widescreen movies would be a good addition on Disc 2. Hey fellow fans, how do we get a letter-writing campaign started at MGM? It worked for Superman II!

It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)

Average customer rating:

It is really wonderful.
Nothing less than 5 stars!
Things to consider
Merry Christmas
It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)
Starring: James Stewart , Donna Reed , Lionel Barrymore , Thomas Mitchell , and Henry Travers
Director: Frank Capra
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000HEWEJO
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Amazon.com essential video

Now perhaps the most beloved American film, It's a Wonderful Life was largely forgotten for years, due to a copyright quirk. Only in the late 1970s did it find its audience through repeated TV showings. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density. George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. Frustrated by his life, and haunted by an impending scandal, George prepares to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. A heavenly messenger (Henry Travers) arrives to show him a vision: what the world would have been like if George had never been born. The sequence is a vivid depiction of the American Dream gone bad, and probably the wildest thing Capra ever shot (the director's optimistic vision may have darkened during his experiences making military films in World War II). Capra's triumph is to acknowledge the difficulties and disappointments of life, while affirming--in the teary-eyed final reel--his cherished values of friendship and individual achievement. It's a Wonderful Life was not a big hit on its initial release, and it won no Oscars (Capra and Stewart were nominated); but it continues to weave a special magic. --Robert Horton

Description

George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all - and it's Christmas! As the angels discuss George, we see his life in flashback. As George is about to jump from a bridge, he ends up rescuing his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence then shows George what his town would have looked like if it hadn't been for all of his good deeds over the years. Will Clarence be able to convince George to return to his family and forget suicide?

Customer Reviews:

It is really wonderful........2007-09-06

I have tried to buy this DVD twice before from non-Amazon Internet vendors and failed. Finally I bought it from Amazon. It is really wonderful to watch "It's a wonderful life". I especially enjoyed the special features of the DVD with Capra Sr. and Jr. and Jimmy Stewart recapturing the making and the history of this movie. Can you imagine it wasn't a hit when it was first released? It is a very interesting story, almost as good as the movie itself.

Nothing less than 5 stars!.......2007-08-27

It's a classic movie with a thought provoking message that we all can make a positive impact on the people's lives around us.

Things to consider.......2007-08-26

This is a classic, not just for Christmas. Everyone should reflect on their lives as Jimmy Stewart's character does.

Merry Christmas.......2007-08-12

If you want a great Christmas movie, this is one of the best X-mas movies I have ever seen. The old Miracle on 34th Street and this movie (It's a Wonderful Life) are the two best Christmas movies ever made. I remember watching it as a kind (I'm 28) and loving it even then, watching it over and over again!

It's a Wonderful Life.......2007-07-30

A brilliant movie with excellent values. Very moving and encouraging. Makes a wonderful gift for Christmas or any other time. Continuously voted one of the best movies of all time. Highly recommended.

Peanuts Holiday Collection (A Charlie Brown Christmas/A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown)

Average customer rating:

Buy it!
A Must Have
This is a parents must have.
Great memories, super gift idea!
Problems with the DVD Zone

Peanuts Holiday Collection (A Charlie Brown Christmas/A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown)
Starring: Charlie Brown , and Linus
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 0792169182
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Amazon.com essential video

Two of the all-time cartoon classics It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) and A Charlie Brown Christmas (a Peabody and Emmy winner from 1965) highlight this three-disc, six-episode set. Although the DVDs contain no extras (good grief!) and could have been combined on a single disc (drat!), the collection looks and sounds wonderful on DVD. The content is the same on the VHS and DVD sets, with two episodes per tape or disc. Accompanying Pumpkin is You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, a cute spin on politics that has aged very well since its 1972 release. Christmas sports a lackluster sequel of sorts, It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown (1992) that has Sally dwelling on getting (instead of giving), Charlie Brown facing a spending dilemma, and everyone suffering stage fright before the annual school play. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) also won an Emmy but is not as well known as others; it also suffers from not having the original cast. Snoopy is foremost in helping to put on an impromptu feast (toast and popcorn) as the gang keeps forgetting the true meaning of the holiday. Also on the disc is a better Thanksgiving venue, The Mayflower Voyages (1988), part of the This is America, Charlie Brown series that breathed new life into the franchise. Mostly narrated by Linus, the show traces the Pilgrims' plight and doesn't talk down to youngsters on the hardships they faced. It's a treasure of a gift (for others or yourself), all nicely packaged. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Buy it!.......2007-08-15

Everybody loves Snoopy! If you buy it you'll be patting yourself on the back when you sit down to watch this on the holidays. Almost didn't get it myself but I love having them!

A Must Have.......2007-07-07

Now we don't have to worry about catching the best holiday treats on their scheduled TV nights. We can schedule time to sit as a family and enjoy the same classics we did as kids.

This is a parents must have........2007-05-14

Nostalgia aside, Peanuts is common sense in motion. This is must have for any child.

Great memories, super gift idea!.......2007-04-05

We bought this great holiday collection for our grown daughter. She loves watching these timeless, classic animated movies because they bring back happy childhood memories of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. Our future grandchildren will enjoy these treasures for years to come. Definitely a super gift for kids of any age, 1 to 100.

Problems with the DVD Zone.......2007-04-01

The DVDs are great, but I live in Chile and I had problems with the DVD Zone. It was impossible to watch them in my DVD Player, so I had to watch them in my notebook. I think Amazon should give detailed information about DVD Zones and how to solve the problems.

Average customer rating:

Imaginative story that keeps our child's interest
Neverending Enjoyment
Love this movie, but where's the special treatment
Great movie
They don't make movies like this anymore....

The NeverEnding Story
Starring: Barret Oliver , Gerald McRaney , Drum Garrett , Darryl Cooksey , and Nicholas Gilbert
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adapted from Books | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Family Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Fantasy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Feature Films | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

Mixed | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00005LKHZ
Release Date: 2001-09-04

Amazon.com essential video

Wolfgang Petersen (In the Line of Fire) made his first English-language film with this 1984 fantasy about a boy (Barret Oliver) visualizing the stories of a book he's reading. The imagined tale involves another boy, a warrior (Noah Hathaway), and his efforts to save the empire of Fantasia from a nemesis called the Nothing. Whether or not the scenario sticks in the memory, what does linger are the unique effects, which are not quite like anything else. Plenty of good fairy-tale characters and memorable scenes, and the film even encourages kids to read. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Imaginative story that keeps our child's interest.......2007-08-25

This movie is great for kids who have no problem with imagination and who like to READ. Our four-year old can get bored with some movies since they are not as good as a book (his words!) but this movie keeps his attention just fine. It does have some rather scary parts in it but nothing graphic or poor language and as long as you are watching TOGETHER and explain what is happening, there should be no problem with fright or nightmares. We bought the three-part movie series to our delight.

Neverending Enjoyment.......2007-08-24

The Neverending Story has been a perfect childhood movie since it's induction into the greatest kids' movies of all time. I've watched this movie growing up and continue to share it with the younger friends and family.

Love this movie, but where's the special treatment.......2007-08-17

This was a seminal movie for me in my childhood (along with The Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Goonies and others) and I love it to this day. The only thing I'm disgrunteled about is it's poor treatment on DVD. I want a special edition: with a making of documentary highlighting the whole process from the actual book to the script, character sketches and concepts, set design, creature design and building, and all the goodies real film enthusiasts love to watch. And interviews! I mean, even if there is no older footage of the process of making the film can't the people responsible put something together to honor this film. Atleast a director's commentary or something. I love this film and I will continue to watch it from time to time...I just wish that the DVD editions had just a lil' bit extra for all the fans and enthusiasts of this wonderful fantasy.

Great movie.......2007-07-28

Great movie, one that you can watch over and over for many years. But if you want the full experience, you should read the book by Micheal Ende.

They don't make movies like this anymore...........2007-07-06

Remember that moment at the end of Wizard of Oz when the Good Witch tells Dorothy she's had the power to go home all along? Remember the collective "What the (BLEEP)..." from everyone watching, regardless of their age?

I had a very similar reaction when I reached the end of this movie.

That's not to say I was disappointed. Quite the contrary. It was like a slap in the face of "why didn't I think of that?" Often times the best endings are so obvious you overlook them and this movie is a testament to that fact.

That having been said it's also one of the best fantasy rides you'll ever take in 2 hours. A turtle whose shell is an island. A talking wolf. A luck dragon. Two sets of sphinx like characters, both offering riddles. A horse whose own sadness nearly is is undoing... oh and a rock biter.

These are just a few of the fanciful elements that make this very under-celebrated movie worth high praise!

If you saw it as a child and you now have children, show it to your children. Make it something you share for generations. You'll be glad you did.

They don't make movies like this any more. The more we can teach our children to have imaginations, the more likely they are to dream big dreams... and the more likely they are to turn those dreams into reality.

Average customer rating:

NORMAN VS LEATHERFACE!
NOT Anamorphic Widescreen
A True Classic
an unusual masterpiece
Psycho

Psycho (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Frank Albertson , John Anderson , Martin Balsam , George Eldredge , and Sam Flint
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Slasher Flicks | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 0783225849
Release Date: 1998-05-27

Amazon.com

At last--a great American movie available on video for the first time in its original aspect ratio. For all the slasher pictures that have ripped off Psycho (and particularly its classic set piece, the "shower scene"), nothing has ever matched the impact of the real thing. More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, Psycho is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel; and so is Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, who makes an impulsive decision and becomes a fugitive from the law, hiding out at Norman's roadside inn for one fateful night. Psycho gets the masterpiece treatment it deserves on DVD, with extras including newsreel footage surrounding the making and release of the movie; an archive of production stills; the special trailer in which Hitchcock (acting as one of the original Universal Studio tour guides) himself leads viewers around the Bates place; credit designer Saul Bass's original "shower scene" story boards; posters and advertising materials for the movie's William Castle-like publicity campaign (No One Will Be Seated After the Feature Begins!); and a 90-minute documentary on the making of the film! What more could any movie fan possibly want? --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

NORMAN VS LEATHERFACE!.......2007-08-21

My caption comes from the fact that both "Psycho" and "The Texas Chainsaw Masacre" were loosely based on the same killer Ed Gein. These are completely different films of course, but I find it interesting none the less. I have seen "Pyscho" so many times that it's not something I watch often now. The movie is still brilliant and what made me want to see it recently was the fact that I finally built my home theater. I wasn't born when "Pshcho" was released in theaters and after 20 years of dreaming of having a home theater(long before they seemed possible)my vision has come true! The screen I have been viewing the movies I've reviewed is 150 inches which is a little over 10 feet long by little over 7 feet high. It was almost like watching it for the first time! I saw little things I never noticed thoughout the film and the score never sounded so good. If you have never seen this movie, you have missed one of the most copied films ever! The version I'm reviewing is in the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece collection box set. Four reasons to buy this movie...It's Hitchcock, Perkins gives the performance of his career, it's one of the best horror/thrillers ever made and the DVD transfer is excellent!

NOT Anamorphic Widescreen.......2007-07-19

Need I say more? This 5-star movie on the Universal DVD is shown in "widescreen" format, but framed within a 4:3 viewing ratio. Which means you get black bars on the top and bottom, AND left and right. Which doesn't look like what you expect to see with any other movie on your widescreen TV. Do you get it? So, my conclusion is that Universal Home Video has really screwed up on the Hitchcock films they control. From the botched "restoration" on Rear Window (it's too fuzzy), to the goofy foley effects re-recorded for Vertigo, and now this insult to movie buffs (similar to BBC video's that keep their widescreen content firmly fixed in the 4:3 frame).

Paramount, on the other hand, got it right with their latest issue of "To Catch A Thief" with a clean sharp print, preserving the original VistaVision aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (as anamorphic widescreen).

I don't know why so many of the classic Hitchcock films are getting such bad treatment, with films such as "Notorious" and "Spellbound" remaining currently unavailable (check out the used prices to see how valuable these films really are). What I have seen from Criterion are only partially restored, and not digitized and cleaned up as current restoration efforts can accomplish.

I'm passing on any more Hitchcock DVD's from Universal, unless I have some confidence that the re-issues are done with some real attention to the quality of the release, as Paramount has done with their later releases.

A True Classic.......2007-07-07

It's well worth it NOT to learn anything at all about the plot of this movie before you watch it. Part of the fantastic thrill of watching the tale unwind is learning the ins and outs of what is going on. You probably already know the keynote situation - a knife in a shower scene - but luckily that comes early on, so you don't spend half the movie wondering what it is all about.

Many aspects make this movie spectacular and worthy of the #18 AFI top movie rating. The black and white filming makes every shadow and corner suspect. It's not a movie about gore and blood - in fact many scenes deliberately scare you without showing you what actually is going on. Your imagination supplies the activity. It's more a movie about nerves - about wondering what is going to happen, worrying about consequences.

You can tell how amazing a movie is when, many decades later, a new director works to make a scene-by-scene reproduction of the movie with modern actors, just to help bring the story to a new generation. Viggo Mortensen fans are familiar with this one.

Highly recommended.

an unusual masterpiece.......2007-07-06

By far Hitchcock's most twisted film, psycho twists plot, twists characters, and twists gender as no film ever had done.. Hitchcock was probably the best director at making technical breakthroughs and also in making those breakthroughs enjoyable for the audiece without any threads showing.. This is especially evident in psycho.. but also in other films like Vertigo with its famous vertigo camera effect that would later be copyed by several directors..
Psycho was a great success for Hitchcock and perhaps his last absolute masterpiece (though i would argue that the birds and Marnie were truly great masterpieces - and two of my favorites..) Anthony Perkins was truly made to play Norman bates.. although his career suffered afterwards as he would always be remembered as norman bates and he couldn't get the casting he deserved..
interestingly Hitchcock was extremely popular with the french new wave directors.. and psycho was kind of their bible in film - how to break the rules in effective ways..

Psycho.......2007-06-28

Made at the peak of his career in 1960, "Psycho" was suspense master Hitchcock's last and most famous black-and-white picture--and a film that inaugurated the sub-genre of slasher movie. By the standards of today's gore-fests, it's a fairly restrained murder mystery, but disturbing nonetheless, achieving its chills more by what is withheld than shown. Hitchcock knows just how to heighten our dread of who or what might be at the top of the stairs, or beyond that shower curtain. The terrifying "Psycho" stands above most any psychological thriller made since.

Average customer rating:

Great Movie
Let's try this...
Thumbs up for a great message!
Good Message, Bad Language
Perfect

Pay It Forward
Starring: Kevin Spacey , Helen Hunt , Haley Joel Osment , Jay Mohr , and James Caviezel
Director: Mimi Leder
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00005B4BI
Release Date: 2001-05-15

Amazon.com

Pay It Forward is a multi-level marketing scheme of the heart. Beginning as a seventh-grade class assignment to put into action an idea that could change the world, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) comes up with a plan to do good deeds for three people who then by way of payment each must do good turns for three other people. These nine people also must pay it forward and so on, ad infinitum. If successful, the resulting network of do-gooders ought to comprise the entire world. Trevor's attempts to get the ball rolling include befriending a junkie (James Caviezel) and trying to set up his recovering-alcoholic mother (Helen Hunt) with his burn-victim teacher (Kevin Spacey), who posed the assignment.

While this could have turned into unmitigated schmaltz, the acting elevates this film to mitigated schmaltz. By turns powerful and measured, the performances of Spacey, Hunt, and Osment can't make up for the many missteps in a screenplay that sanitizes the look of the lower-middle class and expects us to believe that homeless alcoholics and junkies speak in the elevated manner of grad students. (Can that really be Angie Dickinson as Hunt's dispossessed mother? Yes, it is!) The germ of the story is a good one, though, and one may wonder how it would have been handled by the likes of Frank Capra, who could balance sentiment with humor. But clearly Capra would never have let the ending of his version to take the nosedive into cliché and pathos that director Mimi Leder has allowed in this film. More than a few viewers will also recognize that Leder has blatantly borrowed her final image from Field of Dreams, where its intended effect was more keenly and honestly felt. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews:

Great Movie.......2007-08-28

This movie is sad yet motivational to be a better person. The quality of the DVD is normal.

Let's try this..........2007-07-19

The filn, while a bit trite, has an excellent premisis that ALL of us should try. Many of us today have very selfesh and greedy personalities. The main character in this film shows a differeng "way."

Thumbs up for a great message!.......2007-07-16

Since other reviewers have done a good job summarizing the story of this film, I want to add the following:

This has got to be one of the sweetest stories I've ever seen told on film. The real driving force behind this story is young actor Haley Joel Osment. While his performance in "The Sixth Sense" was intense, his intensity and pathos delivery is far from lacking in this story as well. The story is about a young boy who comes up with a way to help the world remember the joy that comes in giving to others, especially total strangers. The interaction between Kevin Spacey's character and that of Helen Hunt is a reminder that some of us wear our scares on the outside, while others wear them on the inside. Good character development in this film: Just great for the whole family to watch. The only violent scene is at the end when young Trevor, played by Haley Osment, is stabbed by another school kid and dies a martre for a great cause of love and giving. This is a film well worth watching that talks about the brokeness of the human condition and how all of us can make a difference in this broken world of ours. Better buy a box of tissues for this one if you are prone to cry, because this one will make the tears fall from your eyes; partly out of joy and partly out of saddness as you embrace this well made production.

The only real disappointment was the commentary section on the DVD done by the Director Mimi Leder. The director could have offered far more information, but mostly stayed silent through most of the film while offering some insight into the making of the film. Otherwise it still gets a 5 star rating from me for story content, acting and character development. The cinematography and night lighting work is also very good in this production.

Good Message, Bad Language.......2007-07-08

I had heard that this was a good movie, but was very disappointed by the foul language spattered all through it. There was a very good message hidden under all the vulgarity, though, I hope someone re-makes this movie in a g-rated format so that others can learn the message of sacrificially helping others in their time of need.

Perfect.......2007-05-28

It was shipped in a timely manner & was in excellent shape.

Thanks

Average customer rating:

A worthy depiction
Great
The classic story returns for the next generation
Shakespear at it's best
Good enjoyable interpretation.

Hamlet
Starring: Mel Gibson , Glenn Close , Alan Bates , Paul Scofield , and Ian Holm
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00019072G
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Amazon.com essential video

Franco Zeffirelli's stripped-down, two-hour version of Shakespeare's play stars Mel Gibson as a rather robust version of the ambivalent Danish prince. Gibson is much better in the part than many critics have admitted, his powers of clarity doing much to make this particular Hamlet more accessible than several other filmed versions. The supporting cast is outstanding, including Glenn Close as Gertrude, Alan Bates as Claudius, Ian Holm as Polonius, and Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia. Zeffirelli's vigorous direction employs a lively camera style that nicely alters the viewer's preconceptions about the way Hamlet should look. --Tom Keogh

Description

Treachery. Madness. Murder. The story of Hamlet has been told for 400 years...but it's never been told like this! Mel Gibson (the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon films) takes on his richest part to date, the title role in a dynamic new version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet, Jesus of Nazareth), the location-shot production has a sumptuous look that won Academy Award nominations for Art Direction and Costume Design. Gibson plays the prince of medieval-era Denmark, who senses treachery behind his royal father's death. Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons) plays Hamlet's mother Gertrude, all too dangerously entangled in that treachery. A brilliant supporting cast, including Alan Bates as Claudius, Paul Scofield as the ghost of Hamlet's father, Ian Holm as Polonius and Helena Bonham-Carter as Ophelia, adds its powerful presence to this immortal tale of high adventure and evil deeds. Big, bold and heroic, this is a vivid and virile Hamlet for the modern age and all time.

Customer Reviews:

A worthy depiction.......2007-07-26

Throughout cinematic history many gifted people have made many splendid versions of what is one of Shakespear's most spirited and acclaimed stories of all time. They have come and gone, but this is one that should remain for all times never to be forgotten. Definitely my favorite, it seems so much more alive than other versions and lets face it, with an actor so live as Mel Gibson at the helm, its bound to be.

Gibson slips immaculately, if not effortlessly into the shoes of this hard-to-fill character previously portrayed by so many other fine actors. But in doing so, he brings something new to the theatrical table set forth here by Franco Zeffirelli (The Taming of the Shrew). It is practicalism. Gibson does not selfishly attempt to play Hamlet in his own way as some have, but instead prefers to keep things deeply theatrical and classic as well as practical for all those watching. In the 'actor's journey' included in the special features leaf, we witness Gibson's painstaking and dedicated efforts to keep the character accurately real through constant research and repetition of the lines. We get to see a master at work. Mel Gibson sacrifices nothing and yet adds everything to the renowned character, and does it with a truly wonderful supporting cast.

Glenn Close is Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, while Alan Bates portrayes Hamlet's Uncle Claudius. Both are superb in their skills and fill their respective roles wonderfully, but the two roles that really captured my attention were Ian Holm as the meddlesome Polonius, and Helena Bonham-Carter as our frail and lovely Ophelia. As a viewer I have always been partial to Holm in any role. To me he seems to be one of the lesser known geniuses of his craft, and that evaluation is in no way lessened by his work here (for those of you unfamiliar with his name you might remember him from his most recent role as 'Bilbo' in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy). He's been around for ages and seems to be at the peak of his acting abilities in this work, moving effortlessly over the unceasing and complicated structure of Shakespear's lines and phrases. As for Helena Bonham-Carter, no one could have b