One Week

Great film, decent Blu
I am not Canadian, nor is my store in Canada, but I still thought this was a great Canadian travel film. This was one of the more realistic cancer films I have seen in a bit, and (I feel) not worthy of the hate club that campaigns against it.

Simply put, it is a film about a man who travels across his country after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. Like other good travel films, we see a sampling of the beautiful country that Canada has to offer, we encounter every-day personalities of people along the way and we learn a few lessons about ourselves and what life might be about. The difference here is that we get a insightful narration by Campbell Scott (most recognized of late with his role in Phoebe in Wonderland), which in itself provided some nice laugh-out-loud moments.

I laughed at unexpected moments, saw some incredible Canadian scenery, and did not feel anything was contrived or cardboard (as most complainants have stipulated). The special features...

Waking up in the Canadian Ethos
Ben Tyler discovers at the beginning of the film that he has a short time to live and despite the urgings of his fiancee and family to enter treatment immediately, he heads out on the road on a motorcycle. He takes photos of himself at man-made and natural landmarks, he meets people along the way who give him insights such as "if you need to ask if you are really in love, you aren't," and "I work the ranch without making enough money because there are other kinds of payments."

The other kinds of payments are hard to put into words. Things like being in contact with the wide open beauty of the land, or surfing, or enjoying the company of others.

It is a complex film that captures the feeling of settling for second best, of believing what people tell you about yourself, and then discovering they were wrong.

As a Canadian I identified strongly with Ben's journey. He has a romantic core, wants to instill some passion in his bored students -- but fails; he...

Well-written, peaceful, enjoyable film.
This was a great movie to stumble onto, thanks to Amazon's free Prime streaming. It's a great, scenic, peaceful, thought-provoking movie with good acting from the main character. And a nice motorcycle, to boot!

I found it well-written, with very little cruft, and without being overly dramatic. There is some great, understated humor - altogether, it strikes me as a very Canadian film :)

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The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 6: 1949-1951

Probably the final set of great Stooges shorts
This set contains:

1949
The Ghost Talks
Who Done It?
Hokus Pokus
Fuelin' Around
Malice in the Palace
Vagabond Loafers
Dunked in the Deep

1950
Punchy Cowpunchers
Hugs and Mugs
Do pey Ducks
Love at First Bite
Self-Made Maids
Three Hams on Rye
Studio Stoops
Slaphappy Sleuths
A Snitch in Time

1951
Three Arabian Nuts
Baby Sitters Jitters
Don't Throw That Knife
Scrambled Brains
Merry Mavericks
The Tooth Will Out
Hula La La
Pest Man Wins

These shorts are from the era when the Stooges were comprised of Larry, Moe, and Shemp. These are the probably the last of the great Stooges shorts. With television encroaching upon the motion picture industry, cost cutting measures were soon underway. One such measure taken at Columbia that had already impacted MGM and other studios was the decrease in scope of the short-subject department in...

The Stooges with Shemp at their height. Guaranteed laughs for comedy fans. This pre-release review only mentions the content.
Sony has been doing The Three Stooges proud in its continuing series of restored and remastered DVD editions. Volume 6 is highly recommended for comedy fans and a must for Stoogeheads. Many of the 1949-51 films benefit from witty scripts and direction, and are exceptionally funny.

The best shorts here were produced by Hugh McCollum and directed by Edward Bernds, who soft-pedaled the gratuitous roughhouse and allowed Shemp, Larry, and Moe to improvise freely. This brings new freshness to the standard slapstick format, and shows how professional and resourceful Howard, Fine, and Howard were. (You'll see many amusing instances when a scene is supposed to be over, but Bernds keeps the camera rolling to see what the Stooges will do.) The films also benefit from Columbia's resident stock company of the late 1940s: the lovely Christine McIntyre and Jean Willes, both equally adept at playing sincere heroines and crafty schemers; the suave Kenneth MacDonald, a definitive villain;...

The Combo of Moe, Larry, and Shemp Might have been the BEST!!!
This volume contains some of my favorite Stooges shorts, especially: The Ghost Talks (with the voice of Phil Arnold as Peeping Tom), Malice in the Palace (with the Emir of Schmo), and Three Arabian Nuts (with the Genius of the Lamp). However, I don't agree that this is the best of the Shemp volumes. For me, that title easily goes to Volume 5, with the hilarity of Brideless Groom, Sing a Song of Six Pants, Squareheads of the Round Table, Fiddler's Three, Shivering Sherlocks, and A Crime on Their Hands. These six shorts are EASILY among the best the Stooges ever made. Curly was beloved and was a comedic genius in his own right; however, the more I watch the Shemp shorts, the more I'm thinking that the best combination of Stooges might have been Moe, Larry, and Shemp.

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One Tree Hill: The Complete Second Season

The Second Season Comes Rollin' In
The second season of One Tree Hill was fantastic. Although not up to par with the first season quality wise, the second season is still ten times better than the other shows on television today. The season starts off a tad bit on the slow side, but no need to worry, because things get heated up real fast.

Nathan (James Lafferty) and Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz) announced in the season one finale that they got married, so now, the second season has them starting to deal with their marriage. Things don't exactly go as smoothly as they had planned. There are temptations along the line, as well as their dreams for the future which start to bring them apart from one another. Haley starts a musical career with Chris Keller (Tyler Hilton), a new guy in Tree Hill, and eventually, she leaves Tree Hill and Nathan to go on a concert tour across the US, leaving Nathan devistated.

The love triangle drama from last season between Lucas (Chad Michael Murray), Peyton (Hilarie...

Season 2 - Best all around.
This season ROCKS. The group throws a wedding for Haley and Nathan. We are introduced to 2 new characters: Anna and Felix. Haley leaves Nathan to go on tour with the Wreckers. The music is AWESOME. "Unopened Letters to the World" was a great episode, and gave some new insight to what the individuals of the group are feeling. Brooke gets voted student-body president. Nathan crashes in a race car, and has to get surgery. "Lifetime Piling Up" was done real well. I'm glad they showed us what life would have been like, or what Nathan thinks it would have been like, if Dan had chosen Karen over Deb. The season finale was shocking! Dan in a fire, Peyton found her mother, and Haley is back? Overall, this season is a MUST for any OTH fan.

The Drama Continues in Tree Hill
The second season of One Tree Hill picks up where all the drama, comedy, and romance of season one left off.

Does Dan survive? Are Nathan and Haley truly married? What will Tree Hill be like, since Keith and Lucas decided to leave? All these questions are answered, and the season then sets up and will have you asking a couple dozen more questions along the way.

Dramatic television series do have the tendency to fall off after the original season, but that was not the case, with season two of One Tree Hill. The twists, turns, and drama remains. Some of Tree Hill's residents have dramatically changed since the beginning of season one, while others have not. Can you tell which ones have changed and which ones are pretending?

There is something about One Tree Hill that is unlike anything else on television. In fact, there are several things unlike the rest of dramatic television today. The greatest shame is that a work of this high quality, with so...

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Lockdown 2009

The Most Dangerous PPV Returns...
Xscape Match: X Division Champion Suicide vs. Jay Lethal vs. Consequences Creed vs. Sheik Adbul Bashir vs. Kioshi - To those that are used to the X division spotfest that have happened in this type of match in the past, you'll be disappointed here as this was just a solid opening match between all four men but definately the weakest Xscape match they've had with the only noteworthy moment happening at the end.

O.D.B. vs. Daffney vs. Sojo Bolt vs. Madison Rayne - Nothing really noteworthy here as this was just an average filler.

I.W.G.P. Jr. Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns vs. L.A.X. vs. No Limit - The first standout match of the night as these four really vibed off each other with L.A.X. (mainly Hernandez) really tossing the Gunz (mainly Sabin) into the cage so many times with either a shoulderblock or Border Toss to the point where you are suprized that he wasn't serious injured afterwards. Again, first standout match of the night

Doomsday...

AWESOME TNA WRESTLING 2009
THIS WAS A BIG DAY IN TNA WRESTLING THE TNA HEAVYWELGHT CHAMPIONSHIP IT WAS MICK FOLEY VS STING IS ONE GOOD MATCH ONE OF THE FUNNY MATCHS IN TNA MATCH WAS SO FUNNY SOMETIMES FOLEY USE S BAD WORDS IN THE MATCH FOLEY BEAT THE HELL OF STING WITH A BBOB-WIRE BACK AS GM HES AS A LOTS POWER HES GOING IN MATCH THIS MATCH WAS FUN TOO WATCH FOLEY WINS. LETHA LOCKDOWN NOW I WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THIS MATCH IT A LIITLE POOR TO MATCH 1 TEAM JARRETT WINS THIS MATCH I HOPEING THAT TEAM ANGLE WOODS WIN THIS MATCH WAS OK I GAVE IT 2 OUT 5 . TNA KNOCKOUTS WOMANS CHAMPIONSHIP THIS IS A 4 OUT 5 MATCHS LOTS FUN HERE. DOOMSDAY CHAMBER OF BLOOD AWESOME MATCH 5 OUT 5. PHILADELPHIA STREET FIGHT TNA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POOR MATCH 1 OUT 5 THAT I HAVE TO SAY OK SOMETIMES FUN PPV OK ZOEY JACKSON OUT the mick foley vs sting is awesome but it short too short the match is fun to watch i like it i gave 3 out of 5 this ppv was fun but boring sametimes it a good and fun ok ppv i buy i have seen better tna ppvs but...

TNA Lockdown 2009 review
The 5 way Xscape match for the X Division title was a high-flying showstealer and the same goes for the 3 way Tornado match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles. The Queen Of The Cage match was a smash-mouth brawl and the same goes for the 3 way Women's title match. The Matt Morgan-Abyss-Doomsday Chamber of Blood match was a bloody,hard-hitting brawl. The Team 3D-Beer Money Inc-Philadelphia Streetfight for the TNA & IWGP World Tag Team titles was a smash-mouth,hard-hitting,out-of-control,brawl and the same goes for The Lethal Lockdown match. The Mick Foley-Sting-World title match was not great but pretty good and even a good reminder of a ECW match back in the 1990's. I give this PPV a 8 out of 10.

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Garfield's Pet Force

The kids like it
This movie is completely innane, but my kids love it. I was a little surprised at its G rating--I would save this movie for older children (the villian says "shut up" which I think is inappropriate for young children and the tension/violence is a little scary for younger children, etc.) Unfortunately, if your kids see this once, they'll want to see it again and again.

What if Garfield was a Supehero
Garfield's Pet Force is based on the paperback books by Garfield's creator Jim Davis and is more action-packed than the previous Garfield outings. Here we get Garfield and Friends teaming up with superheros to stop an evil baddie and her army of zombies from taking over the world.

Garfield's Pet Force is a fun movie for the entire family.

Garfield's Pet Force
Garfield's Pet Force

This is a really funny and eye-popping movie that kids will love. There's never a dull moment, the animation is brilliant, and Garfield actually demonstrates some redeeming qualities -- he saves the universe! There's also a really cool game on the DVD called Professor Wally's Moscrambulator. If you're a fan of Garfield, of superheroes, of comic books, this is a great movie for you.

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Simoun: Complete Collection

Awesome in a thin package
Simoun is a series that I've run across reviews on and either the people love the series or hate it.

I personally love the series and when media blasters/anime works finally put out a box set of the 5 disk series here in the US I snapped it up eagerly.

This story is about war and the affects of war on the innocent people drug into it. It's a story about growing up in the chaos that is war and a story about figuring out what you want to do, or be, and taking the first steps into that direction of your life. I personally love the series completely and it is one of my all time favorites.

Now this boxset format disappointed me a little bit. I love simoun and did buy this set as soon as it was offered but they stuck all 5 disks into a single normal dvd case. I understand that media blasters like everyone else has to cut costs somewhere but there is just something nice about holding a nice box with slimpacks of your favorite series (with the cover art they...

Temple maidens forced to fight a war.
This story is placed on a planet where all people are born and spend their childhood as a girl. At the age of 17, the child chooses their sex by entering a holy stream, and crosses it while thinking about the sex they have chosen. The crossing of the stream becomes a rite of passage between a child and an adult.

A Simoun is an airship, with a pair of Ancient Helical Coils as its base. Spinning a coil provides power, which can be used to fly. The coils also react to the pure soul of a child before she chooses her place as a man or woman in this society, and can alter the space around it, by tracing through certain patterns.

Children of noble decent are chosen to act as priestesses. They perform these acts to bless the land, fight disease, improve crops, and other tasks that will better the community. Priestesses that excel can delay their trip to the stream to enter adulthood. It is a wonderful system, that is, until war breaks out.

The priestesses are...

Unique
This was much different from any anime I've seen; gender, spirituality, relationships, war, politics. The characters are a diverse cast of girls and women of different ages and personalities. I highly recommend it.

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The Actress

Two Great Actors
The movie based on Ruth Gordon's girlhood and yearning to become an actress is exquisitely realized by Jean Simmons' beautiful performance. The great Spencer Tracy plays her crusty father and the underrated Teresa Wright, her mother. Anthony Perkins in a very early role, provides the handsome but lanky love interest. The semi comic-tragic determination to realize her dream, is the core of the movie with father Tracy, an ex-seaman vehemently opposing daughter Simmons at every turn.

This is not a movie that will raise the roof through action or suspense, but rather a very fine character study. Audiences enraptured by the recently deceased Ms. Simmons were mainly enthralled with her stunning beauty, overlooking her remarkable talent as one of our finest actresses. No matter how poor the material she worked with, she managed to rise above the most trite scripts and inadequate characterizations with ease, turning a poor movie into a personal triumph.

First time on...

Spencer Tracy delivers in a BIG way here!
I just love Spencer Tracy. He was certainly one of the best actors of his generation (possibly the best) and his career is no joke; he was fantastic in nearly everything. `The Actress' is no exception. In fact, this may be one of his finest moments. He is heartfelt and paternal, with an obvious lean towards controlling and authoritative, but he is surprisingly light and funny. All of those assets culminate in a charming and completely mesmerizing star turn that etches yet another notch on his glorious belt of big screen accomplishments. Tracy aside, `The Actress' is certainly admirable. It isn't as profound or as outstanding as a whole as it is in parts, but it is engaging and entertaining and contains a few stellar performances outside of Tracy's; in particular Jean Simmons. She really captures the spunk and tenacity needed to sell her character; a young a vivacious `child' who is endeared to the stage and consumed with a lust for the limelight. Simmons really pulls this off...



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