Kiddy Grade: The Complete Series

Enjoyable Enough Sci-Fi Anime But If You Already Have The Previous Box Set No Need To Get This One
While I bought the complete 2006 set a couple of weeks ago one of the disk had a crack in it that became to enlarged for the dvd player to read the disc so I now had a choice, buy a single dvd for about $15.00 dollars or buy this re-release so for myself it was a no brainier choice. After getting the set the one thing I wanted to check out is if there was a noticeable difference in the video and audio quality between this release and the previous earlier ones, and the audio seems to have been indeed cleaned up and sounds better with this set also unlike the earlier release set this one comes in only 5.1 English audio or 2.0 Japanese audio as they have tossed away the 2.0 English audio that was with the earlier set releases. The video quality though is pretty much the same so you won't see any difference in picture though the frame rate is a little better so it looks like the animation runs a little smoother but not by much from the earlier set. The extras are also here as well if...

You Don't Want to Miss Out On This!
I first came across Kiddy Grade on TV. I thought it was really cool. I think that both genders should like watching this series. The graphics are good, the picture clear and the sound is grate. There is a total of 24 episodes, English and Japanese languages and the usual kind of extras. This is a sci-fi anime with very cool fight scenes, drama, suspense a good story line and some pretty neat robots. The story revolves around Éclair and Lumiere who are ES Force members of the Global Union, a shadow force that serves as the primary law enforcement for the Galaxy. Éclair and Lumiere go through quite a few exciting adventures and through out them you'll fall in love with both characters. Éclair begins to remember bits and pieces from her past and during a tedious mission the situation escalates to the point where Éclair can't take anymore and losses it which results in her and her partner being hunted down by their fellow Es members some of whom where friends...

Very Cool
I had been seeing the trailers for this since the early 2000's. It always looked pretty interesting. I finally came across it at an anime shop when I was on vacation. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually have the anime classics DVD set. This viridian collection collection is a better deal. The animation in this series is very good, and so is the voice acting. It's very solid sci-fi/adventure. I really think you will enjoy this series. It's a lot of fun.

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Something Wild (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Criterion Goes Wild--A Needed, But Ultimately Unsatisfying, Upgrade Of A Terrific Comedy/Romance/Thriller
An interesting choice for the Criterion label, I have hoped desperately that Jonathan Demme's 1986 madcap road picture "Something Wild" would get a deserving upgrade from its rather drab earlier DVD presentation. I actually went to a theater and saw this film twice and it is easily one of my favorite Demme pictures. With his eclectic resume, Demme will perhaps always be known best for "The Silence of the Lambs" but his legacy has several terrific screwball comedies (Married to the Mob) and understated masterpieces (Melvin and Howard) prior to him being anointed an Academy Award winner. "Something Wild" fits comfortably into the screwball comedy category--but what makes it so unorthodox and refreshing is that it has both heart and edge. A lot has changed since 1986. Back then, Jeff Daniels was still a leading man as opposed to a character actor. Melanie Griffith was sexy, surprising, and a blossoming talent. And a relatively unknown Ray Liotta was trying to break into a big...

Why has time forgotten this classic?
I thought Demme walked on water after seeing this movie (and its follow-ups, Married to the Mob and Silence of the Lambs). I love the layers of texture to this movie--there's always some set decoration I never noticed before, and the performances he wrings out of his stable of actors is great. This movie defined "alternative" when it was released, and deftly pulled off the seemingly impossible feat of starting out screwball comedy and turning violent halfway thru without losing its voice. All three leads have never done better than they did here (okay, maybe Liotta in Goodfellas). So why is SW subjected to the basement of video VHS? This movie made tons of critics top 10 lists for the Eighties (sadly not much of a challenge, but still...) and yet can't even get a DVD date to prom. Wild...

High Def
I remember seeing this waaaay back when it was in theaters. One of those incredibly under-rated cinematic gems. What I liked most about it was the transition from a seemingly lighthearted Indie-ish goofball romantic comedy, to dead on noir. I caught this recently on a High-Def channel on cable. All I can say is WOW ! It was like I was seeing it for the first time, Déjà vu all over again. This film deserves a Blu-ray release, preferably packed with extra features, commentaries etc.

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ESPN Films 30 for 30 Gift Set Collection, Volume 2

MUST HAVE (VOLUME 2)
THE FOUR-LETTERED NETWORK SCORED BIG WITH THESE COMMISSIONED MOVIES. THEY ARE ALL DOCUMENTARIES, BUT ENTERTAINING AND INTERESTING AT THE SAME TIME.

01
THE TWO ESCOBARS (ANDRES & PABLO ESCOBAR)
02
THE BIRTH OF BIG AIR (ORIGINS OF THE "X GAMES")
03
JORDAN RIDES THE BUS (MICHAEL JORDAN TRIES BASEBALL)
04
LITTLE BIG BEN (KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON, WINS LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES)
05
ONE NIGHT IN VEGAS (MIKE TYSON & TUPAC SHAKUR)
06
UNMATCHED (CHRIS EVERT & MARTINA NAVRATILOVA)
07
THE HOUSE OF STEINBRENNER (NEW YANKEE STADIUM)
08
INTO THE WIND (TERRY FOX WALKS ACROSS CANADA)
09
FOUR DAYS IN OCTOBER (BOSTON RED SOX DEFEAT NEW YORK YANKEES)
10
ONCE BROTHERS (VLADE DIVAC & DRAZEN PETROVIC)
11
TO THE LIMIT (TIM RICHMOND)
12
FERNANDO NATION (FERNANDO VALENZUELA)
13
PRESS PAUSE (MARION JONES)
14
THE BEST THAT NEVER WAS (MARCUS DUPREE)
15
PONY...

Outstanding
Volume 2 is simply phenomenal, a must have for anyone who enjoyed these on ESPN. Volume 2 contains most of my favorites from the 30 for 30 series. "The Two Escobars" and "Once Brothers" are chilling and well done. The film on SMU was also very entertaining, it's amazing how they kept getting caught and just kept on cheating! These should all win Emmy Awards, they are fantastic.

Great series.
Favorite on this set is The Two Escobars. If you buy both sets it's only like 70 dollars for 30 full length (1 or 2 might be closer to an hour) documentaries. Great deal!

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Diabolique (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

The Original International Shocker
Based on the Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac novel CELLE QUI N'ETAIT PLUS, Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1955 DIABOLIQUE is easily among the most influential films of world cinema, leaving its mark on everything from Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO and PSYCHO to William Castle's THE TINGLER--but even so, and while Hitchcock's masterpieces can be said to at least equal the Clouzot original, few if any of the films spawned by DIABOLIQUE ever bested it.

Variously known as DIABOLIQUE, LES DIABOLIQUES, and THE DEVILS, the film presents a complex story. Christina Delasalle (Vera Clouzot, wife of director Henri-Georges Clouzot), is a remarkably beautiful and considerably wealthy woman who has the misfortune to suffer from delicate health, personal timidity, and brutish husband Michel (Paul Meurisse.) The two operate a boys' school that Christina owns, and among the teachers is hard-nosed Nicole Horner (Simone Signoret), who has become Michel's mistress but who finds Michel every bit as...

HEART ATTACK
Director Henri-Georges Clouzot's DIABOLIQUE is one of these movies we, in french speaking countries, have seen at least a dozen times on TV in our teen days. Always with pleasure. In part, because of the terrific cast but mainly because of the whodunit plot.

And now, a lot of years after (ten ?), I bought the DVD right after its release. I don't know exactly why, DIABOLIQUE being not the kind of movie you always put in your 10 best list. Maybe it was due to Vera Clouzot, the director's wife, who appeared only in a few movies with her spanish accent and who, in DIABOLIQUE, with her hair nicely combed, plays a character similar to the heroins of the fairy tales of our childhood. Or is it Simone Signoret who, with Anna Magnani and Bette Davis, is a star whose light hasn't faded with the years passing by. Paul Meurisse perhaps ? Or Charles Vanel, or Michel Serrault, already perfect in a comic role ?

What I know for sure is that I can watch DIABOLIQUE again and again without...

Outstanding Classic Thriller
I don't have too much to say, except to echo the accolades that your other reviewers have given this masterpiece of suspense from France. The few people who found it too tame or dull are perhaps those enamoured of films with characters named "Jason" or "Freddy" !

For anyone who reveals the surprise ending, this would be a crime even more atrocious than the one depicted in the movie, and should be punishable by a re-instated guillotine !

Simone Signoret and Vera Clouzot are unforgettable in the leads, each character playing beautifully off the other. One other comment--this is a 50s film, yet schoolboys are portrayed with brutal accuracy--they swear, act rudely, are preocuupied with sex--these are real children, not those that are found in Disney films.

The DVD is nice--some wear is visible here and there, but does not detract from your experience. Of course, the film is in French, but the subtitles are smooth. The absence of music is another plus. In some Hollywood suspense...

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Supernatural: The Complete Second Season [Blu-ray]

Awesome continuation of a promising series
In the midst of this television season's coverage of "Lost"'s fall from grace and eventual comeback and the big waves made by "Heroes", not to mention the slew of increasingly brazen reality TV saturating the market this gem of a show got lost in the shuffle. Season one was a solid start for the show, full of monster-and-hottie-of-the-week stories that stood alone while very slowly giving us an inkling of a larger plot at work before ending with a glorious cliffhanger. The music was wonderful, the guest stars brilliant, and the homages to classic and modern horror were thick. If you missed it, now's the time to catch up because season two is a winner in every possible way. The first episode is among the greatest season openers I've ever had the pleasure of viewing and it shakes this show to it's very core and sets the tone for the entire year's events. From there, Sam and Dean set out to get revenge for their deceased family members and save as many people as they can along the...

Follow The Creepy Brick Road
Supernatural stormed onto the WB last season and was a rip roarin' thrill ride with amazing writing, mythology, and acting. With this second season, the series moved to it's new home on the CW, and the series continued to evolve and become even better and deeper. Season 2 of the series finds the Winchester Brothers continue to drive into a horrific tale every week, as well as trying to work out their own story arc, and to find that blasted yellow eyed demon. This year, we delve deeper into the characters of Sam and Dean, wonderfully played Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. There are deeper layers to both, and the series' work on character development this year is phenomenal. Both brothers go thru the ringer emotionally, mentally, and physically this year, and the show doesn't cheat or let them or anyone else off the hook. The year starts off with "In My Time Of Dying", a pick up where we left off with last season's cliffhanger. Are the boys okay?. The car?. Dad?. A more subtle, less...

Best show on television
Supernatural is a show about family, loyalty, faith and doubt, and commitment to a cause and to one another, all wrapped in a terrifically acted, beautifully filmed, and gorgeously color-graded monster-of-the-week show. It's the best thing on television since Buffy or Firefly or X-Files, and as much as I adore and respect those shows (I own them all and am glad of it), in my opinion Supernatural is better than any of them. The entire cast does a flawless job, the relationships are both achingly complicated and refreshingly simple, and the writers don't shy away from hard questions or harder answers. Loyalty to your family trumps everything, and you don't have to save the world every week, just the people you can.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

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Insignificance (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

A Feast for the Mind and Eyes
Those who say that "The Man Who Fell To Earth" (1976) was Nicolas Roeg's last great movie either have not seen "Insignificance"(1985) or have vastly underestimated it. All the trademarks of a Roeg film are here; surrealism, spectacular visuals and a uniquely intelligent story.The idea that Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstien had an intimate relationship is explored here with great gusto. Misconceptions about Monroe's intelligence and Einstien's intellectual elitism are shattered here although her baseball player husband(DiMaggio)is what the viewer would expect.The climax is both unpredictable and mind blowing. All in all, Russell and veteran cast are great and Roeg's craftsmanship is uniformly excellent.

A Babe, A Brain, A Baseball Legend And A Blackballing Senator
In this quirky highly original film director Nicolas Roeg posits the theoretical question, what would happen if Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Senator Joe McCarthy were all gathered together in the same hotel room for one evening in 1953?

An eclectic gathering indeed. If it helps you to conceptualize where this film is headed, think of this as an evening of psychotherapy for the rich and famous. Marilyn wants to be loved for her brain, yet continually relies on her sex appeal for attention. Her husband and sports legend Joe DiMaggio wants to express his deep feelings of love for his wife but can't seem to express himself without a pack of baseball cards in his hand. Meanwhile Senator Joe McCarthy is busy scowling and perfusely sweating as he continues a campaign of threats and intimidation against everyone in the room.

Einstein's quiet evening alone has definitely taken an unexpected turn. Between the emotional angst displayed by the vulnerable...

Roeg's Last Great Film
CONTAINS A FEW SPOILERS. While "Two Deaths" (1995) showed a few flashes of the directorial brilliance that seemed to come so easily to Nicholas Roeg between the early seventies and the mid-eighties, I would argue that "Insignificance" was his last great film. Roeg was not a writer, but he managed to put his unique stamp on nearly every film he directed between his mesmerizing solo directing debut, "Walkabout" (he was co-director on "Performance" prior to that), and this allegorical gem, "Insignificance." This film followed by two years Roeg's underrated "Eureka," a film which baffled the suits at MGM/UA, and was not released until a couple years after it was completed. "Insignificance," with a script adapted by Terry Johnson from his stage play, was a more low budget film than "Eureka," and, to paraphrase another interesting director, Whit Stillman, when a lot of dollars are involved your movie is more likely to get sabotaged by "jerks." I can't decide myself if Theresa Russell's...

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The Iron Triangle

Awesome
While obviously not a high budget film, this one delivers with great battle scenes and an awesome story. Definitely needs to be on DVD and i'm very surprised it's not. The film artfully cuts through scenes from both the VC and American points of view and although cheesy and a bit stereotypical in it's representation of the Viet Cong, I have yet to see a Vietnam film that does justice to them and attempts to protray them as honestly this one does. I loved this movie, the final battle scene is so wicked. It's not one of those gung ho, totally unbelivable movies where the hero kill 100 enemy and still lives. This film is gripping and you will be glued to your seat as events slowly unfold. I only wish it was 3 hours long! Things like this really happened in the war and the writers and directors should be commended at doing such a wonderfull job of protraying it. Get it for the sweet battle scenes if nothing else. This film is a true gem in the rough for those really interested in the...

more balanced view of vietnam war
I think this is a must see film for Vietnam War movie buffs as well as anyone who wants to see a somewhat atypical Vietnam movie. It actually manages to be more balanced than your typical vietnam movies like Platoon or Full Metal Jacket etc. all hardcore American macho vs. the Vietnamese pyama wearers. This movie makes the effort to show both sides of the war. The story includes an American POW, a young Viet-Cong recruit with a conscience!?, and even a left over mercenary from the French colonial forces who stayed on after Bien-Phu. The movie has a lot more realistic and historically accurate feel to it and definately worth watching. I highly recommend it. Enjoy.

This film may be the Most Realistic
This film gives a dimension to the Vietnamese that others lack. They are real human beings! It shows they struggled with many issues as their American counterparts did.

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