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Imaginatively rendered but slightly chilly, this 1951 Disney adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic is also appropriately surreal. Alice (voiced by Kathryn Beaumont) has all the anticipated experiences: shrinking and growing, meeting the White Rabbit, having tea with the Mad Hatter, etc. Characterization is very strong, and the Disney team worked hard to bring screen personality to Carroll's eccentric creations. For a Disney film, however, it seems more the self-satisfied sum of its inventiveness than a truly engaging experience. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (148)

One of the best animated movies of all time
The story of the animated film is similar to that of the first book, but contains parts of the second book. Dozy Alice is so silly she follows trouble by chasing a talking rabbit down hs hole. At the bottom, she drinks an unknown substance which helps her get through a talking door into Wonderland. Here she meets the Dodo, TweedleDum and TweedleDee (who tell her the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter), the Talking flowers (watch out for the snobby Iris!), the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat. She even has un-birthday tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. However, Alice gets caught up in a game of croquet with the Queen of Hearts, and later a trial. The whole thing becomes such a nightmare, Alice realises she's had a dream while she dozed off.

Firstly, I don't know why loads of people think this film is cheesy. I know Alice isn't for everyone, but when you look at the other films made based on Children's classics by Disney (eg- Jungle Book, Hunchback of Notre Dame), you'll see it's more faithful than those films to the original. However if you have read the books and haven't seen this film, some characters are missing (eg- Duchess, Mock Turtle, Knave of Hearts, White Knight). This may just think that Disney has ruined this classic forever. They haven't. It's the best adaption I've ever seen.

Although I actually have the PAL version, I suppose the movie is just the same over in North America. The best bits are the Walrus and the Carpenter, the garden of singing flowers and flamingo croquet. And the Mad Tea Party is still the funniest part of a Disney classic. So buy this movie. Wether it's a video tape or DVD.

(I also live near Carroll's birth place!)

Disney's 13th Animated Masterpiece!
Following the success of Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland is snother Disney gem, this colorful,classic animated feature tells the adventures of young Alice in a rather odd way since it doesn't really follow the book by Lewis Carroll, but still, makes a wonderful and entertaining film. Although it was not well-liked when it was first released, it is considered today another one of Disney's greatest masterpieces. The colorful characters will make you laugh from beginning to end. It is hard to say who is the wicked villain in this film, since they all play a role in making Alice's day in wonderland not very pleasent, starting from the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Chessire Cat and the Queen of Hearts, who just wants to see someone's head roll.

This new Masterpiece Edition DVD set brings Alice in Wonderland to a more deserved release than that previous Gold Collection, which brought very little bonus features. The masterpiece edition does bring many more bonuses, and one of my favorites is that "Virtual Wonderland Party", in which children can enjoy a little while in a fantastic tea pary. Really great! This DVD also has the greatest cover art, I love it. 5 stars!

Follow the white rabbit Neo - no sorry, I mean Alice
I just spent a couple of hours looking at this wonderful movie and the extra features. The aptly named Masterpiece Edition is worth every penny, and like The Matrix, should be included in any movie collection, whether you have a child to hide behind or not.

Beautifully adapted and animated from Lewis Carroll's highly imaginative, high-trippin' classic, the imagery and illustrated puns amaze and amuse, especially the little things like the rocking-horse fly, the bread-and-butter flies, the vultures, the pencil and hammer birds, the momeraths, and the bird in the tree (Queenie Leonard) yelling "Ser-pennnnnt !"

The animators drew each frame based on the portrayals by the actors voicing the parts, and the stand-outs are Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter, Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts, Bill Thompson as the White Rabbit, and the very flexible and versatile J. Pat O'Malley as Tweedle Dum, Tweedle Dee, the Walrus AND the Carpenter, in one of the best scenes in the movie.

With fourteen songs, this is the most musical Disney around, but unfortunately, the songs are not very easy to sing along to, making me sound like William Hung every time I try to impress people with my thorough knowledge of the lyrics.

There are lots of interesting tidbits in the extras, such as the discarded Cheshire Cat song, and the fact that one of the songs was later re-worded for Peter Pan. There are other links between Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, but you'll have to watch the extras to find out just what, cause I'm not telling.

For those who don't want to watch the previews at the beginning of the DVD, just press "Menu" and get plugged directly into Wonderland.

Amanda Richards, July 18, 2004

Disney-ized
One of my fav children's books gets Disney-ized. I find that this version is simply AMAZING! Yes, there are LOTS of drugged out images (ie..the caterpillar is smoking an opium pipe, she eats mushrooms to get bigger or smaller etc) but its a magical story and its told VERY well by the Disney guys. Not to be missed, grab it before its out of print.

It stinks!
This movie is nothing like the original book, skip it and watch the Hallmark version instead. ... Read more

Reviews (156)

An Excellent Adaption of One of Broadway's Best
One of the classics of the American musical theater, "My Fair Lady" is brought to us with amazing grace and sensitivity by legendary dirctor George Cukor. This musical has it all: a classic score by Lerner and Loewe (including "I Could have Danced All Night," "The Rain in Spain," and "Get me to the Church on Time"), an interesting story, and great characters. Rex Harrison proves to be nothing less then supurb as Henry Higgens, the speach teacher who vows to "never let a woman in my life," but finds himself falling for flower girl Eliza Dolittle. The supporting cast is in top form, with special mention going to the hysterical Stanley Halloway as Alfred P. Dolittle, the charming Wilfred Hyde-White as Pickering, and Jeremy Brett as Freddie. My on real complaint is Audrey Hepburn, who plays Eliza. While she is far from bad, Miss Hepburn has no voice, and I can't stand it when they use another actress to dub the voice of a star. Why can't they just hire a singer in the first place? The part should have gone to Julie Andrews (who originated it on Broadway). All in all, agreat film for the whole family. Check it out!

For the most part, excellent.
First, the wonderful score. Frederic Loewe's glorious music is perfectly complimented by Alan Jay Lerner's lyrics, as on the Broadway and London stages, and almost every song is memorable and great. Second, the gloriously witty script, filled with great lines, many taken directly from Shaw, on whose play "Pygmalion" this was based, and sharp commentary on Britain's class system. Third, the all-around wonderful performances, from Rex Harrison's arch, arrogant, gleeful Henry Higgins to Audrey Hepburn's charming but unrefined flower girl who becomes a sophisticated (and stunning-looking) lady, to Stanley Holloway's lovable amoral father of Hepburn, to Wilfred Hyde-White's Colonel Pickering, to Gladys Cooper's Mrs. Higgins, just as acerbic as her son. Fourth, the much-lauded stunning look of the film, with gorgeously stylized costumes by Cecil Beaton and fine sets by Beaton. All the ingredients are there for a great film, and under George Cukor's direction, that's pretty much what you get.

And yet, the film is noticably flawed. Hepburn, while charming and, of course, stunningly dressed, does not give a bad performance by any means; it's just that she's not overwhemingly sympathetic. And her voice double, Marni Nixon, has a lovely voice, but doesn't really put any emotion into her songs, forcing that ever-present question to re-emerge: Would Julie Andrews, the Broadway and London Eliza, have been a better choice? Also, Nixon and Hepburn really do not sound alike, which is slightly annoying. (Nevertheless, most of Nixon's songs, especially "I Could Have Danced All Night," do come off well, and if Andrews had been cast, there'd be no "Mary Poppins") "On The Street Where You Live," which I consider the best and most beautiful song in the score, is given a rather flat reading by Bill Shirley, the voice double for actor Jeremy Brett; it is the only song in the movie that is truly forgettable, but that is Shirley's fault entirely, NOT Lerner or Loewe's. Too bad. And yes, the movie is a bit long. But overall, it's a vastly entertaining, enjoyable, romantic, and great experience, just not without flaw. But, oh, well.

How do you do? And which DVD version to buy ...
MFL is a marvellous film about a professor who turns a common flower girl into a lady. It is full of sing-a-long songs and funny moments. It is basically a classic for all the right reasons! Plenty of re-watch factor makes it a film to own.

In 1994, the film was restored and thank the lord they did! The film's negative was almost lost forever. In fact, the film hade had become yellow-tinged and full of scratches, blotches and all the rest! It would have been a very sad day for the movie industry if a flim like this had been lost.

The original DVD that featured this new restoration was released in the late 90's. This DVD included a 9 minute featurette, actor profiles, audio commentary, and Audrey Hepburn singing in 2 scenes.

This original 1-disc DVD has since been updated to a special 2-Disc Edition. Which one to get? I have both so I feel qualified to answer this. The new DVD includes all the features found on the original DVD, except the actor profiles. The new DVD once again includes the restored print but is apparently a new transfer from the restored print. However, according to a report that I have read, the new transfer is not perfect and has aliasing problems throughout. However, the average watcher won't pick up on this detail. If this is an issue to you, purchase the original edition DVD where the transfer has been given two thumbs up! One has to wonder why they bothered transferring a second time.

The advantage of the special 2-Disc Edition DVD is that it includes a 58 minute 1994 documentary hosted by Jeremy Brett (Audrey's love interest in the film). Jeremy is no longer with us, so it's nice to have this as a piece of nostalgia. ON top of this, there are many more features on this disc that aren't included on the original DVD such as footage from the film's premiere, production dinner, as well as discussions with Rex and Audrey.

The choice is easy. If you're a fan of the film and don't care for all the extras, buy the original DVD. You at least get the best transfer. If you do care about having all the extras, buy both!

It's Loverly
The music from "My Fair Lady" makes it easily one of my favorite musicals with "I could have danced all night", "Wouldn't it be Loverly?", "The Street Where you Live", and Stanley Holloway's rousing showstoppers "With a Little Bit of Bloomin' Luck" and "Get me to the Church on Time".

It's well chronicled how much gnashing of teeth surrounded the Hollywood decision to leave out the then-unknown Julie Andrews, who was the new toast of the stage as Eliza Doolittle, and instead cast the more bankable Audrey Hepburn. Hollywood rewarded Ms. Andrews with "Mary Poppins" and an Oscar, and although I'd love to have seen Julie Andrews in this role, 4 decades later I can't complain about Audrey Hepburn.

Rex Harrison's reprises Henry Higgins from the stage, and I frankly can't think of another actor who would bring the same English Arrogance and tongue-in-cheekiness to the role. The interactions between Harrison, Hepburn and Wilfred Hyde-White as Colonel Pickering, especially in the early part of the film, are witty, entertaining, and move the narrative right along without pausing for exposition. The Higgins character is a cad, very full of himself, and he makes the mistake of treating those he feels are socially inferior poorly. The Colonel Pickering character acts as a surrogate for the audience, observing the educated but pompous Professor Higgins and allowing us to feel not TOO badly that poor Eliza has come under the influences of Higgins.

Stanley Holloway recreates Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza's father, from the stage, and although his character has as many moral deficiencies as Professor Higgins (at one point he shows up at Higgins doorstep hoping to extort money from Professor Higgins for "shacking up" with Eliza) and is much less educated and with a much lower social standing, he is nonetheless a "good ol' bloke" and his moments in the film are among the most memorable, especially the previously mentioned show-stopping musical numbers.

The final act feels a little soap-opera-ish between Jeremy Brett as Freddy fawning over Eliza and Professor Higgins beginning to appreciate her fine qualities at the same time. This portion produces two of the finer musical moments as Freddy sings "On The Street Where You Live" and Higgins croons "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face".

Since George Bernard Shaw died in 1950 it's purely speculative to wonder what he'd have thought about the production of his Pygmalion story. I'm guessing he'd have liked it. If you like musicals, I'm guessing you will too. Enjoy.

2-disc or not two discs
WARNING: All the five stars refer to the movie itself, and does not address the issue of whether paying for the second disc is a rip-off. Five stars for the single disc version was richly deserved. I had half expected the 2 disc version to have DTS since they shifted virtually all the extra features from disc 1 to disc two. The only thing left on disc 1 was the movie, same commentary, same subtitles and audio track. For some inexplicable reason, the single disc version was among the Amazon top 100 discs in 2002 for some time, although it has been
out since the mid-1990s. Amazon's editor was correct when he said the main attraction of the 2nd disc was the 58 minute Documentary hosted by Jeremy Brett. That is about all, folks, and it was a pretty boring documentary. A concise version of this documentary would be "The Fairest Fair Lady" which is already in the single disc version.
You already have the AUDREY HEPBURN VOCALS in the single disc version. The rest of the stuff in disc 2 is usually given away FREE, like in Gladiator, Last Samurai, Master and Commander, where one viewing of the stills is more than enough.
Now, the sellers of disc 2 have actually REMOVED the CAST AND CREW section from the one disc version. This Cast and Crew with filmographies and biographies contain a huge chunk of valuable information including the fact that Audrey's given name was Edda, not Audrey. Do not throw away your one disc version. If you bought the 2 disc version, you might want to buy the single- disc version to find out where Audrey Hepburn was born, won the Oscar and got nominated. What were the other actors like Wilfred Hyde-White doing other than My Fair Lady.
I tell you what I like about the 2 Disc version:
1. the interviews with Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison at the 1963 production Kickoff Dinner, with a couple of jokes from Mr Warner.
2. George Cukor directing Baroness Rothschild: a Henry Higgins coaching Eliza Doolitle parody. The audio track ran for only a few minutes, and I had a new found respect for Directors. Even a Baroness needs lessons in elocution. When I watch the movie again, I will imagine George Cukor speaking using the actors and actresses as his instrument. So that is how Cukor's actresses got their Oscars.
3. The Los Angeles Premiere in B&W is a few minutes of interesting distraction.

The rest of Disc 2 is really scraping the floor of the store-room. For those who already own the single disc edition, and do not have disposable income to burn, get the 2 disc edition of the TEN COMMANDMENTS instead. For the price of 5 commandments (about half the price of the 2 disc My Fair Lady), you will get more than double the info, making it look like "the TWENTY COMMANDMENTS". That is where a second disc is not a money making exercise: thou shalt not steal from gullible dvd buyers.

Rex Harrison Golden Globe Acceptance is a clip from the Andy William's show, where he apologised for not being at the real event, so he accepted it on AW's show. Shame.

Academy Awards Cermony Highlights: just one minute or less of Mr Warner accepting the oscar for best picture.

So two stars for the additional info on disc two. I would buy anything remotely related to my favourite musical, but if I were to search my heart for value added, I would say two extra stars is very very generous. Now, if ever they come out with a DTS version, we will have to throw the whole TWENTY COMMANDMENTS at this bunch of crooks.
Do you really need Martin Scorsese and Andrew Lloyd Weber's comments to supplement your own? ... Read more

Amazon.com

This dramatization of the tangled history of Apple Computer and Microsoft, based on a book by Paul Frieberger, hits enough of the right notes to make its failures all the more frustrating.The script follows the entwined paths of Apple's Steve Jobs and Microsoft's Bill Gates with a pointed sense of the cultural divide between the hip, self-absorbed Apple cofounder and the brilliant alpha geek behind Microsoft's eventual software empire, contrasting the Mac's countercultural underpinnings with the PC's more strait-laced origins.But Pirates of Silicon Valley seemingly can't decide whether it wants to be a serious-minded history of these key figures in the personal computer revolution or a trashy wallow in the more ignoble foibles of its principals. As a result, it falls short of exacting history while never achieving the guilty pleasure it might have.

If Gates has become synonymous with corporate conquest at its most striking, Pirates' interest lies more with Jobs, given a nervous energy and flashes of adolescent selfishness by Noah Wyle, who benefits from a reasonable physical resemblance to the Apple chief. Eyewear and a comb-over do nearly as well for Anthony Michael Hall, who also grafts some of Bill Gates's better-known mannerisms onto his performance and renders Gates as a smart if socially maladroit entrepreneur who, like Jobs, provides the ambition and business savvy to exploit his partner's computing talents. There are a few fanciful touches (Ballmer and Wozniak become Greek choruses, addressing the viewer as they comment on the principals), but the story plays out in straightforward fashion.It's tantalizing to consider how the Apple/PC melodrama might have fared with an edgier, more openly satirical script. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (61)

Making Computer History Into a Movie...
It's a quite interesting movie. It plays out real history of the PC including historical events such as the creation of the Altair 8800 computer by MITS (first modern PC), how Mircrosoft and Apple started out, the creation of the GUI and Mouse by Xerox, the creations of Apple's Lisa, Apple II, and Mac Computers, and the history behind MS-DOS and Windows Operating Systems. The movie is really well written and the cast is great. It is a good movie to learn how computers came about. This movie is great for all people, but if you like computers the movie really fills in the gaps between the beginning of PC's and current times. It features major people in computer history such as Bill Gates, Steven Jobs, and Stephen Wozniak. The movie is centered on the race between Apple and Microsoft in the computer world. It shows how they each fought to be the dominate computer company. The movie stays close to actual history and shows how the computer industry matures through the years. This is a MUST BUY for any computer lover.

not completely accurate, but still informative/entertaining

If you're looking for a documentary that accurately explains the beginnings of the personal computer industry, then "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" is not it. You'd be better served watching the excellent 1995 PBS documentary "Triumph of the Nerds" instead.

If however, you're looking for an entertaining movie that gets most of the major details right, then you're in luck. The script is pretty bad (it's obvious that this was a TNT-original, made-for-TV movie), but Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael Hall do such a superb job, each *nailing* their roles of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, respectively, that it's worth watching.

This movie is based on the excellent book "Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer". However, that book was published in 1984, and this movie covers events slightly farther in the future. Many of the details are combined, left out, or sometimes fabricated (a.k.a. "creative license"), and I'm told that some of the additional information not in the book came from the director Martyn Burke himself watching "Triumph of the Nerds" (and having his actors watch it, too, to help them get in character).

Still, I'm a high school computer science teacher, and I have my students watch this every year to give them the big picture before following it up with "Triumph of the Nerds" to accurately place the details.

Overall, this is a decent movie, and the whole cast does a laudable job portraying their characters. The story is an interesting one, and despite the generally poor script and often seemingly needless inaccuracies, "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" is a glimpse behind the scenes at the events and personalities that built the computer industry as we know it today.

Interesting Story
But....you know what...Both Gates and Jobs are thieves..Infact who isn't in this day and age. Look at what happened at ERON....A-DUH ..Typical Corporate America.

Movie version of Robert Cringely's "Triumph of the Nerds"
Very entertaining movie for people who are interested in how PC revolution begins. Showing the big pirates like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs how to build their empires by stealing other's ideas, like the "Mouse" which in fact played a critical factor in this PC revolution. The plot is very similar to the classic well-known Cringely's Triumph of the Nerds. Yet, it adds a alot of movie elements to make it quite interesting and fun to watch, especially the character of cool 'Steve Jobs'. It's a good video for personal collection if you want to enjoy the PC revolution era.

For a television movie.. pretty good
Anthony Michael really nailed his character and impressed me for the first time in a while--reminded me of just exactly WHY he was member of the BRAT PACK. Noah was as solid as always. Follows the paths of the creators of Macintosh and IBM--and their personal battles with one another.

This surprised me. I figured it for one step away from a Lifetime movie of the week, but Noah and Anthony Michael really deliver in their performances. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Great movie
Really interesting movie about the papacy, inner Vatican turmoil, philosophical aspects of Christianity, and maintaining your principles in a morally complex, often violent world. That might sound off-putting, but it's anchored by exceptionally strong, moving performances by the late Anthony Quinn, Leo Mckern, Oskar Werner, and others. Kind of old-school Hollywood, with bittersweet rewards--it's pleasing in the manner of 'Inn of the Sixth Happiness' or 'Ben Hur.' It looks and acts like a movie made in the late 60's, but that's a definite plus in my view. Leonard Maltin's review is unnecessarily harsh--he must have been having a bad day. Or sore at the pope or something. Don't let it deter you from enjoying a very colorful, well-acted, thoughtful and old-fashioned movie.

The Authenic Christian Revolution of a Russian Pope
This 1968 film, based on Morris West's novel, has Anthony Quinn as Kiril Lakota, released after twenty years in a Siberian work camp to become a Cardinal and then Pope at a time when the Soviet Union and a starving People's Republic of China are about to go to war. The idea that the first non-Italian pope in centuries would be from a Communist country certainly seems prophetic today. Lakota is released by the Soviet Premier (Laurence Olivier), who is taking a chance that a sympathetic Vatican might tip the balance towards peace. Lakota emerges from imprisonment as something of a saint, admired by the Elder Pope (John Gielgud) for having refused to deny the faith even when seven priests were brought before him and shot.

Although the obvious comparison is to John Paul II, Quinn's pontiff is actually more like John Paul I, who was considered a "pastoral" Pope, capable of relating to the people more on the level of a parish priest. When he is elected and has to change into his papal robes, he introduces himself to his new valet saying simply,"I am Kiril Lakota." The politically charged atmosphere is a bit melodramatic, but the strength of this film is in its portrait of the inner workings of the Vatican where both politics and personalities come into play. My favorite scene is when the college of Cardinals are deadlocked, repeated votes having been "insufficient for election," and one of the elder statesmen of the church stands up to declare his belief that God has sent them the man intended to be the next Pope. With growing horror, Lakota watches as the momentum builds for his stunning election (Now if somebody could just explain to me, when reporter David Janssen announces "They have elected a Russian Pope" is the word "Russia" an adjective or a noun in that sentence? This has been driving me crazy for other 30 years).

Of the two subplots the romantic estrangement of Dan Janssen, the reporter covering the Vatican and his doctor wife, Barbara Jefford, is trivial soap opera nonsense, although it does lead to a nice scene where the Pope sneaks out of the Vatican disguised as an ordinary priest. The doctor sends him to the pharmacy for medicine and is stunned when he returns and is able to do prayers in Hebrew over the dying man. The other, with Oskar Werner as Father David Telemond, is much more provocative and provides an interesting counter-point to the main story line. Telemond has written several books, none of them published, dealing with what he calls the "Cosmic Christ." A Pontifical Commission is investigating his writings as being heretical. Certainly there is a sense in which this film, in the wake of the Vatican II Council, was trying to confront the Catholic Church with certain issues. Ultimately "The Shoes of the Fisherman" is a much more subversive film than "The Last Temptation of Christ."

Quinn's dignified performance holds "The Shoes of the Fisherman" together, aided by Leo McKern and Vittorio De Sica as a pair of Cardinals seated high in the Church hierarchy. This is not a great film by any means, but it is certainly thoughtful even without the provocative final scene in which the new pope proposes to actually implement "the authentic Christian revolution: work for all, bread for all, dignity for all men." Certainly it treats it characters and its subject matter with great seriousness. Michael Anderson's direction is hampered by the film's 157 minute length, but it is still worth the viewing.

Quinn and Werner make this a winner
This epic film has a few bumpy moments, but overall, it's vastly entertaining, with its fascinating cast, interesting premise, excellent cinematography and art direction.
Anthony Quinn is fabulous as the Russian Pope. It's a powerful portrayal, and not the type of role one would normally associate with him. Oskar Werner, in a part based on Teilhard de Chardin, is absolutely superb.

Other notable performances come from Laurence Olivier (as the Soviet Premier), John Gielgud (former Pope), Leo McKern and Vittorio de Sica (Cardinals), and Arnoldo Foa (the Pope's valet).
The part of a journalist (David Janssen), is used as a narrator, to move the plot along, and explain certain Vatican procedures, like how a new Pope is elected. I only wish less time had been spent on his petty romantic problems...the film feels more like an "Airport" movie while these scenes are taking place.

This is a sprawling 60's Hollywood treatment of Morris West's best seller, and I think it succeeds. It's thought-provoking, good for several viewings, and Quinn and Werner are riveting.

A Movie Every Religious Person Should See
This movie was great and I am not a Catholic, I am a Protestant minister. Even though this was just a novel and pure fiction, I learned more about the inner workings of the Catholic Church than I had ever learned from my years of reading about all the "Bad Things" in the history of the Catholic Church. Protestant history, and no other religion's history is "pure white" either. I'm talking about such things and the Inquisition burnings at the stake, and other hedious torture methods that only a feind from hell could think of.

See this movie, meditate on it, and realize the horrendous impack all religions have on Planet Earth for both good and bad. It has been said that if you know only one religion, you really don't know much about any religion--- I agree!

See the struggle in the Church to know God, to understand God's will, to choose its leaders, to be loyal to its leaders, to reach conclusion about all moral, ethical, and social questions. All religions go thru this same process to one degree or another, even your local church. Compare your Minister and the problems in your Church to the the problems of the Pope and the Catholic Church. They are not really all that different. We all have a duty and a tremendous responsibility resting on our shoulders.. We must try to understand each other, love one another, forgive one another, pray for each other, and work together in every way possible......

.....If we will do this then we can help Planet Earth and its people take a "Quantum Leap" up and forward in spiritual consciousness and awareness - where The Word(or Love) becomes Flesh in us - which will usher in a New Day, a New Level of the Kingdom Of God On Earth, that is beyond words to describe. Planet Earth People, are you with me, will you join me in this glorious effort? We all have a Divine Mission and Destiny to fulfill while on Planet Earth. Ken Pamplin, 4504 N.W. 11th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73127

Favorite Movie
This film is inspirational. The scene where the new Pope is proclaimed, against his wishes, he only wants a humble servent life is excellant. To watch Anthony Quinn's expression change when he hears that the Cardinals are talking of him is a classic. lso, his roaming the streets of Rome in a black cassock shows is humanity, wanting to get to know his flock. I think is conseling David Jansen's wife is important. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Bored, bored, bored. That's how young Keith feels about being strandedatthe time-worn Mountain View Inn with his parents. Then he meets Ralph, anequally stir-crazy mouse who quickly befriends Keith and begs to rideKeith's toy motorcycle. Soon Ralph masters the tiny two-wheeler and"rrroom-zzzooms" through the hotel hallways, dodging four-leggedpredators, adults, and the occasional vacuum; he even risks his furryskin to help Keith recover from a high fever. Based on Beverly Cleary'sfamous children's novel of the same name, this 42-minutevideo combines live-action talent (including Ray Walston as thewise bellhop) and award-winning stop-motion animation. While the datedlook of the TV movie may not appeal to kids who prefer the heart-pumpingaction of computer-generated favorites such as Small Soldiers, its tameplot and relatively slow pace makeThe Mouse and the Motorcycle a healthy choice for families with 3-to 7-year-olds. Followed by an even popular sequel, Runaway Ralph. --Liane Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A Cute Tale
A cute tale about a young boy staying overnight at a motel with his parents, when he meets a furry little friend who resides inside the wall of his motel room. The boy and mouse help one another out in nice ways, making the stay enjoyable for both boy and mouse. Only the mouse and his family are animated in this film. Very good actors perform in the film, some of which are familar faces. My 8-year-old son enjoyed the movie, but my 10-year-old daughter was somewhat bored. The only qualm I had was I thought the voice of the mouse sounded somewhat overly "cutesy", borderline corny. The boy's voice was more mature than the mouse's. Overall, a nice family show for viewing with younger children.

Funny!
The Mouse & The Motorcycle is funny, but I did hear of the book, why I wonder if there are mice that can ride motorcycles, since Stuart Little could ride a toy car.

The Mouse From a Book now in a TV Movie
Hey kids! This 1986 television special, which was based on a best-selling novel, and also had two following movies: Ralph S. Mouse(1987) and Runaway Ralph(1988), also based on novels, is a great film. The animation is kind of cheap, but it is funny in most of it, and is a great family story. Talk your parents into getting it along with the other 2. You'll luv 'em!

The Mouse and the Motorcycle
I like when the mouse goes on the toy ambulance. Also, I like when the mouse rides the motorcycle. That's why I love this movie!

Adorable for Young and Old Alike!
First time I saw this film on a local public television station I sat enthralled. What clever and enjoyable entertainment! The little mouse is precious and the adventures he finds his way into and out of will keep both youngsters and "older" kids laughing throughout.

This is a great tape to pop in when the kids are restless and you need to quickly distract them! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Always a classic
I loved this movie when I was a kid. Now my daughter loves it. This movie everybody needs to have in their collection.

the Ultimate family musical
I loved this movie when I was younger and now it's the kind of movie that you can view over and over and never get tired of it.
I have the song purple people eater on CD, my son and the kids in my day care love the song they sing it on our Karaoke all the time.
so I've been looking for the movie and will not stop till I find it. This is one family movie they will never forget.

THIS FILM IS WICKED!!!!!!!!!
I watched this film as a child and haven't been able to find it anywhere! I recommend this film to all kids because it is absolutely brilliant and definately one of the best films around!!!! SO GET IT!!!!!!!!

Purple People Eater Fans
The Purple People Eater is one of the best movies of the century. I loved it as a child and our video got ruined I have never been able to find it until now and I am sad that it is out of stock. I would reccomend this movie to any parent for their children. It is a classic in my book and wish it was more popular. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

OUR FAVOURITE WAIF
This was the first movie actually crafted just for Shirley and the kids should find it a fun diversion, even today. It's in this movie in which Temple sings her famed version of ON THE GOOD SHIP LOLLIPOP - while on an airplane! The supporting cast includes the little seen silent screen actress Lois Wilson who plays Shirley's mother (employed as a maid) and the talented Irishman, James Dunn - he won an Oscar for the happy alcoholic singing waiter in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN - does well as Shirley's kind uncle. Cheeky Jane Withers (Remember Josephine, the plumber who endorsed Comet cleanser in the sixties?) plays Joy, and she's fun in contrast to Shirley's goody-goody personna- she's wild, mischievous, noisy, jealous, messy, angry and not particularly cute; she was eventually ranked second in popularity to Temple as a thirties female child star. Recommended for the little ones because these Temple films are inoffensive (with very few exceptions) and are expertly computer colourized!

Jane and Shirley light up the screen!
Shirley Temple and Jane Withers are a dynamic duo together as Shirley plays a orphaned child that everybody wishes to adopt and Jane plays a selfish brat who has no compassion for Shirley or anybody else. This movie is simply hysterical with the rude Joy (Jane Withers)and the funny and political Uncle Ned. I have never laughed as much as I did in any other Shirley Temple film! Shirley sings her trade mark song "On the Good Ship Lollipop" and will dazzle you with her charm. The plot of the story is easy for young children to follow and consists of tear jerkers, hysterical moments, and dramatic scenes. I have to say this movie wouldn't receive 5 stars without Jane Withers!

"Sweet Landings"....
This review refers to the 20th Century Fox DVD edition of "Bright Eyes".....

I've always been a sucker for little Shirley Temple singing "On The Good Ship Lollipop" and couldn't resist picking up this DVD.From 1934, this story takes you back to a time of innocence that just can't be done again in today's world. Shirley will tug at your heartstrings and you're happy to let her do it!

This story was tailor made for Temple's charms. Already having lost her father, "the best aviator there ever was", she is now the apple of they eyes of all the flyers at the airport.Espcially one,'Loop' Merritt(James Dunn), her father's best friend who loves her dearly.Shirley lives in the home of a wealthy but nasty couple where her mother is a maid. When tragedy strikes again, and Shirley's mom meets with an unfortunate accident, the fight begins over who will adopt this adorable orphan.

In the short span of 83 minutes, it's a story that has laughter, tears, adventure and lots of love. If you love Shirley..this is a must have. But it's not just the Shirley show...the rest of the cast is terrific. James Dunn, Jane Darwell,and Lois Smith will all touch you, but the two that nearly steal the show are Charles Sellon as Uncle Ned, an old curmudgeon who becomes a real softy around Shirley, and little Jane Withers...the brattiest brat there ever was. All this little tyke wants for Christmas is a machine gun!

I was very pleased with this DVD by 20th Cent Fox. Yes it was a bit on the grainey side, but the film, now 70 years old, showed no scratches, lines or cracks.I hope I look that good at 70! I nearly had a panic attack though when I read the back of the box and it said that this version was colorized, but don't worry, when you pop it in the player, the first thing that comes up is a choice of the original B/W or the colorized version..so you can watch both and see which you prefer. You also get the choice of viewing it in the newly enhanced stereo or mono.There are also subtitles in English(captions), and Spanish.

It's a nice one to watch during the holidays as a good part of the story takes place during Christmas.If you are a fan..introduce a new generation to Shirley. This a great one to start with.

Sweet Landings.....Laurie

One of her better movies.
The movie has the seen that the TV networks always have qued up with her singing: On the good ship lollypop.

One of the cutest films!!!
Shirley is VERY cute in this film. She plays a very unselfish and cute little girl who likes to help out and visit the airport. She basicially does not have to act in this film because the way her chartacter acts is how Shirley acts herself . (Notice that her name is Shirley in this film.)
It deserves a three star though because I didn't see much dancing in this film except for The Good Ship Lollipop, and when you watch Jane Withers and Shirley together you can feel guilty when you act selfish. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Littlefoot and the gang meet a shy newcomer, Ali, but the pleasantries stop there. There's a dire environmental theme to this third sequel in the series, in which the world's weather changes beyond the Great Valley, and what had been dry land is now a "land of mists." The shift brings new creatures who push out older inhabitants, and Littlefoot sees these radical changes for himself when he has to venture into the area to find a medicinal flower for his sick grandfather. While the animation is slow and contained the way direct-to-video cartoon releases often are, the story is sound and the now-familiar characters are memorable. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (11)

The best Land Before Time of them all
Journey into the Mists captivated both my children (3 and 5 years old), my wife and me. It is a story of courage, acceptance of others (hence the song "It takes all kinds"), and family ties. This movie is based upon the original Land Before Time video and is yet another sequel in this very popular series.

In this story, Little Foot meets another small long neck named Allie. Allie is afraid of other dinosaurs because she has only been among other long necks. As part of a band of migrating long necks, she and her family come into the Great Valley while fleeing their former home, which has become a misty swamp that they now derisively call "The Land of Mists." After their arrival, Grandpa Longneck faill mysteriously ill and the migratory long necks identify his malady and proscribe a cure - a plant that only grows in the Land of Mists. Little Foot wants to go to find the mysterious plant, and he needs Allie's help. Allie refuses, however, to go unless Little Foot's friends do not come along.

Herein lies the most positive part of this tale - Allie must get over her fear of other dinosaurs if she is to be of help to Little Foot and the others. She has to learn that accept and work with those who are different from herself.

The story resolves, and the children learn valuable lessons. This story also includes a couple of very funny villians who are constantly telling each how worthless they are. These two cracked us up, but their constant bantering and bickering might be a little over the top for very small children. My two laughed and laughed for hours on end. We found that it was important to explain that this behavior is inappropriate and this is why it is funny. This was easily done, since the story shows that these two end up working against each other most of the time and not with each other.

I highly recommend this video. There are some tender moments in this video and some great songs. I would however caution parents with very small children, since there are two villians who are not very nice to anyone. My three and five year old really liked it, but for children younger than that, I would exercise caution.

Obnoxious, mean characters ruin this episode
I have really like the first 3 episodes in this series, and my young kids have, too. Our viewing has coincided with an interest in dinosaurs by my 4 year-old son. So, he's learned a lot about dinosaurs from them. And the movies are wholesome and promote friendship and good behavior.

THIS EPISODE WAS A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT BECAUSE OF THE MEAN-SPIRITED BANTERING OF THE TWO VILLAINS. The prehistoric crocodile and pterasaur (dinosaur bird) are constantly telling each other how much they "hate" each other. There is a song they sing back and forth about how "I need you like a hold in the head" and that type of thing. And their voices are terribly annoying.

I was immediately uncomfortable, but then I heard my son starting to say this stuff to his sister...

HEY, I KNOW THE KIDS ARE GOING TO PICK UP MEAN LANGUAGE SOMEWHERE, BUT WHY ENCOURAGE IT?

MY ADVICE: LAND BEFORE TIME I-III DO NOT SUFFER FROM THIS LOW LANGUAGE.

Not my favorite, but good overall...
In this film, Littlefoot's grandpa gets sick with a fever. The only cure is for him to eat a golden nightflower. But there's a problem; it grows in "The Land of Mists", a place off limits to all dinos. Of course, dear old grandpa can't die can he? So Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, and their new friend Ali, set off to find the golden flower. Which they do (while dodging a few obstacles along the way). Nightflower found? Check. Grandpa lives? Check. Overall, it's a cute, fun little movie that the kids will probably enjoy. Ignore those two bad guys though...

Journey Through the Mists
My 2 yr old absolutely loves The Land Before Time series but this is one we could have done without. The bad guys are really bad and Ducky's voice is different and more irritating. We usually love Ducky's little voice but not on this one. Normally my son loves the songs and sings along with them but on this one he just fusses for me to skip past the singing.

My kids loved it!
We had a great time watching this one. My kids are always asking to see it again. I appreciate the positive messages too! ... Read more

Reviews (119)

An great comedy thriller classic.
When an ambitious Small Time Crook (Two Time Oscar-Winner:Robert Redford) steals $10,000 with his old age partner from an dangerous criminal (Robert Shaw), later on that day, The Crook discover his crime partner has been murder by the crime lord. Then The Crook meets his dead friend ex-partner a Veteran Con-Man (Three Time Oscar-Winner:Paul Newman), who seek revenge on the crime lord.

Entertaining comedy is directed by George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Slap Shot) and Written by David S. Ward (The Program). Winner of Seven Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Score and Best Original Screenplay. The Film recieve Three Oscar Nominations, Including:Best Actor:-Robert Redford, Best Cinematography and Best Sound. The Sting has the Greatest Double Crossing in a Movie History, Complete with an Surprise Ending. Great Fun. Better to Wait for the Special Edition DVD in a Widescreen Version, which it will be 30 Years, Next Year. Grade:A.

The Quintessential Caper Flick
"The Sting" is an extremely well written story by David Ward ("Major League", "Sleepless in Seattle") and David Maurer about some smalltime grifters who attempt to swindle a mob boss. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 1974 and won seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. It reunited director George Roy Hill, Robert Redford and Paul Newman four years after their blockbuster, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Strangely, although Butch and Sundance made it to number 50 on AFI's top 100 of the century, this film did not make that list. This is even more surprising since "Butch" did not win the Oscar for Best Picture in 1970 ("Midnight Cowboy" won it that year).

While I think "Butch" is funnier and more exciting, this film is more intriguing with interesting character studies and some unpredictable plot twists. Hill does a superb job of weaving the elements of the caper together and giving it a depression era feeling. The humor is more ironic than hilarious, but it fits the story well. The period props, locations, and sets are excellent, and the costumes are perfect. The costumes were done by the legendary Edith Head, who designed costumes for over 400 films in her 50-year career. She won an Oscar for best Costume Design for this film, which was one of eight she won in that category in a career marked by an astounding 34 Oscar nominations. The music by Scott Joplin and Marvin Hamlisch is also fabulous, bestowing an early twentieth century flavor on the film, and giving Hamlisch one of three Oscars he won that year (the other two were for "The Way We Were" also starring Redford).

Where "Butch" was probably a little more Newman's film, this film clearly belonged to Redford. Redford, who was nominated for best actor for the role, is marvelous in the lead, giving his character a charming, lighthearted personality to go along with his scheming intellect. Newman plays almost a supporting role as the veteran conman Henry Gondorff, who assembles the team for the caper and oversees its execution. Despite the smaller part, Newman gives an electrifying performance with his conniving tough guy portrayal. Robert Shaw ("From Russia With Love", "A Man For All Seasons", "Jaws") is also terrific as mob boss Doyle Lonnegan. Charles Durning ("The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"), Ray Walston (TV's "My Favorite Martian") and Eileen Brennan ("Private Benjamin") round out a splendid supporting cast with fantastic character portrayals.

This film is entertaining and fun with a tight plot and wonderful period renderings. I rated it a 10/10. If you have never seen it, you are in for a treat.

THIS ONE REALLY STINGS!
"The Sting" is a classic throwback to Hollywood's golden age: a fish out of water tale about a couple of con artists (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) who seemingly meet their match in a cheating mobster (Robert Shaw). As the police close in from one end and the Mafia from the other, the stakes become higher, the comedy more hilarious and the ultimate con, more rewarding. The supporting cast is a potpourri of stellar characters including Dana Elcar, Eileen Brennan, Ray Walston, Charles Durning, and Harold Gould. Marvin Hamlisch provides a sophisticated score buttressed by Scott Joplin's ragtime jazz.

It is disheartening to see an Oscar wining Best Picture get so shabby a treatment on DVD. For starters, the film is presented in a full frame, pan and scan version only. The shortcomings of this format are that you are not seeing the film in a version director, George Roy Hill would have approved of. But apart from Universal's glaringly obvious oversight, the print quality of "The Sting" suffers from a poorly balanced color spectrum, age related artifacts, edge enhancement, shimmering of fine details and pixelization. Flesh tones are often weak and pasty. Blacks are rarely solid or deep. Fine grain can be excessive in spots. The audio is poorly mixed, sounding strident and tinny. There are no extra features.

Redford and Newman at it again
I just rented this DVD and watched the whole thing, but I've seen this movie several times before.

Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) is a con artist who unknowingly swindles a lackey of crime boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). After Hooker's partner in the crime is killed, Hooker vows revenge against Lonnegan and seeks Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), one of the best cons in the game to help in the big Sting. Hooker would love to do more than just hit Lonnegan for a lot of money, but "doesn't know enough about killin' to kill him."

It's not easy separating a crime boss from his money, especially when he owns half the politicians and police. They have to take him without him even knowing he was taken. What follows is an exciting deception, carried out with professionalism and ingenuity.

I don't think the chemistry between Newman and Redford is quite as good as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but it's still pretty darn good. Lines like this:

Redford (first seeing his arch-enemy): "He's not as tough as he thinks."
Newman: "Neither are we"

The story is classic. You don't exactly know who's who, and you wonder how they're going to pull it off in the end. Scott Joplin's ragtime music, although somewhat anachronistic, is effective at keeping the movie somewhat lighthearted. There are a couple of instances of swearing and a stripper with pasties on, which gives it a PG rating.

The reason for four stars is the fact that the DVD has NO EXTRAS, and the only option is the full screen version, no widescreen. A movie as good as this deserves better, which is unfortunate.

Overall, this is a great movie with great cinematography (transition wipe effects and some tracking shots) and phenomenal acting. Enjoy.

Widescreen?
I love the film, but why is this not available in Widescreen on DVD? There's been a Widescreen VHS, and I've seen it in Widescreen on Turner Classic Movies. I know it was shot in Widescreen, so how about it, Universal? ... Read more

Amazon.com

One of the most endearing and intelligent romantic comedies of the '90s, the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love is filled with such good will, sunny romance, snappy one-liners, and devilish cleverness that it's absolutely irresistible. With tongue placed firmly in cheek, at its outset the film tracks young Will Shakespeare's overwrought battle with writer's block and the efforts of theater owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush, in rare form) to stage Will's latest comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. Jokey comedy, though, soon takes a backseat to ravishing romance when the beautiful Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) disguises herself as a young man to wangle herself an audition in the all-male cast, and wins both the part of Romeo and, after much misunderstanding, the playwright's heart. Soon enough, Will's pirate comedy becomes the beautiful, tragic Romeo and Juliet, reflecting the agony and ecstasy of Will and Viola's romance--he's married and she's set to marry the slimy Lord Wessex (Colin Firth) in the near future.

The way that Oscar-winning screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard enfold their story within the parameters of Romeo and Juliet (and even Twelfth Night) is nothing short of brilliant--it would take a Shakespearean scholar to dissect the innumerable parallels, oft-quoted lines, plot developments, and thematic borrowings. And most amazingly, Norman and Stoppard haven't forgotten to entertain their audience in addition to riding a Shakespearean roller coaster, with director John Madden (Mrs. Brown) reigning in his huge ensemble with rollicking energy. Along the way there are small gems to be found, including Judi Dench's eight-minute, Oscar-winning turn as a truly regal Queen Elizabeth, but the key element of Shakespeare in Love's success rests on the milky-white shoulders of its two stars. Fiennes, inexplicably overlooked at Oscar time, is a dashing, heartfelt Will, and as for Best Actress winner Paltrow, well, nothing she'd done before could have prepared viewers for how amazing she is here. Breathtakingly beautiful, fiercely intelligent, strong-willed, and lovestruck--it's a performance worthy of Shakespeare in more ways than one. By the film's end, you'll be thoroughly won over--and brushing up your Shakespeare with newfound ardor. --Mark Englehart ... Read more

Reviews (456)

Not of an age, but for all time. And better on DVD
Purists who turn up their noses at Shakespeare in Love don't know what they're talking about - or rather, don't know what they're missing. This was, after all, written by Tom Stoppard, author of some of the very best plays of modern times (Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - the latter filmed with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth). He's done a splendid job of balancing accessibility with genuine wit. The screenplay is littered with allusions to the bard's works, and gives some great - albeit hypothetical - insights into how and why he wrote.

Beyond that, in true Shakespearean style, we are offered the "play within the play" - in this case Romeo and Juliet. Excellent editing gives us just enough to convey the mood of an Elizabethan performance, leaving us wanting more. This film does a great job of broadening the appeal of the most popular writer.

And don't miss the topical in-jokes - the "cabby" rowing the boat, and especially Glenda Jackson saying she knows what it's like to do a man's job (she plays "M" in the Bond movies). Bill S. would have approved. High praise indeed.

Top-Ten Romance, and One of the Most Clever Screenplays!
"Shakespeare in Love" is a triumph, pure and simple. With screenwriters Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman at the top of their game and feeding immortal lines to a top-notch cast, "Shakespeare in Love" could not fail to succeed.

The film opens with young Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) struggling with writer's block . . . he is clearly not yet the magnificent WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (insert trumpets here), the world's most famous writer. Indeed, the top playwright of the age is Kit Marlowe (Rupert Everett), as Shakespeare is reminded several times. And young Will is also hopelessly infatuated with Rosaline, a woman completely unworthy of his affections.

After some psychotherapy that anticipates Freud, Will is no better. Still, heavily in debt, Will attempts to stage his next opus, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter." Working with Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush, who would have stolen a lesser film with his perfect performance), who's also heavily in debt, Will seems headed for disaster.

That is, until he sees his muse, young Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow, never better). Smitten, young Will begins to write the romantic poetry that becomes "Romeo and Juliet." Viola, who recognizes Will's genius, meets Will through some classic Shakespearean disguises and mistaken identities. Of course, Viola is betrothed to a true slug, Lord Wessex (a plump Colin Firth), who plans to take her to Virginia in seek his fortune across the sea -- essentially sending her into exile.

Despite the roadblocks, Will and Viola are soon hopelessly in love. Viola, daring to breach the silly rule that only men can play parts on stage, has taken the role of Romeo by day. By night, Will and Viola write Will's most romantic play together.

"SIL" keeps the wheels turning mighty fast, and one of the joys of watching this movie over and over is catching a quick joke that you didn't get the first time around.

It's also a pleasure to watch this stellar cast go through its paces. While Judi Dench won her Oscar for her surprisingly brief performance as Queen Elizabeth, other actors turn in equally entertaining performances. Tom Wilkinson, Simon Callow, Martin Clunes, and Imelda Staunton each bring amazing proficiency to the supporting cast, and even the much-maligned appearance of Ben Affleck elevates the movie -- he is perfectly cast as a self-absorbed theater star (first line -- "What is the play, and what is my part?"). Affleck's comeuppance, when he realizes that he, as Mercutio, doesn't have the title role, is handled wonderfully well.

This is simply a movie that doesn't miss a trick. The film is shot beautifully, the extravagent costuming gets at the ridiculous conformity that we associate with jolly old England (and makes the torrid romance of Will and Viola that much more intimate), and the music is uplifting.

The film's final shot, as Viola walks along the beach and we realize that we've just seen the birth of arguably Shakespeare's greatest heroine, Viola of "Twelfth Night," is a masterpiece of powerful understatement.

This movie is simply a must for the film library!

A GOOFY YET DELICIOUSLY SEDUCTIVE ROMANTIC COMEDY!
The DVD casing claimed in big bold letters "Best Screenplay" Academy Award winner. I can surely see why! Must have been some deviously creative team that crafted this crisp comic period-piece.

The film is really two love stories: one a bawdy romance between two smitten humans, and the other an ode to the art of theatre. The writers'/director's love for showmanship is loud and evident throughout the brilliant screenplay, and if you're a fan of wordplay in any way, well then this is a surefire delight.

Both Paltrow and Fienners turn in lusciously romantic performances in their respective roles -- she pulls off the formidable order of gender-switching without a hitch, and he has just the right pitches and patterns for a young, struggling Shakespeare. Geoffrey Rush is magnetic as usual.

Don't be fooled by the Elizabethan accoutrements, this film and its arsenal of laconic quips could easily shoot several contemporary romances to dust. Buy this one in fact, don't just rent, it quite comfortably stands the test of more than one viewing..

Rush in an unforgettable role
Although Geoffrey Rush is not the star of the film, he delivers a memorable performance, as usual. Fiennes does, also. The costuming is very beautiful, and the humour is delightful. Highly reccommended.

Emotionally Fraudulent and Morally Offensive NON-Love Story
Before I start out, I should say that I am NOT one of those people who think they have to deride "Shakespeare in Love" because it's a "chick flick" and therefore unworthy(?!) of Oscars. Nor do I feel the need to condemn it for winning Best Picture over "Saving Private Ryan," as so many have done. I certainly do have a beef in that regard -- and it's that my own favorite film of 1998, "The Truman Show," wasn't even nominated for Best Picture! But none of these things have anything to do with my loathing for "Shakespeare in Love." My beef is solely with the offensive nature of the film itself. It's advertised as a love story, but is emotionally and morally empty when it comes to any notion of love.

You could see the writers straining to convince us that those two awesomely idiotic characters, Will and Viola, were really deserving to be the inspiration for "Romeo and Juliet." The film wanted to show that "the truth and nature of love" so magnificently expressed in Shakespeare's play resulted from this casual (and to my mind very unromantic) affair between a lying weasel of a married man, and an apparently dimwitted girl who can't be bothered to decide whether she wants to marry him or not, though she's being forced into marriage with a man she hates.

Starting out by having a man needing to fall in love for a mercenary reason -- so he can finish his play -- and then conveniently having him decide that the first pretty girl who comes along is the love of his life, doesn't strike me as a convincing way to start a love story. Did writers Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard really stop to think this out? From the beginning we know he's using this girl, and they never find a convincing way to show us that this ever changes.

The worst line in the film, to my mind, comes right after their first soft-core sex scene. Viola murmurs: "I never would have believed that there could be something better than a play -- even your play!" Will: "Huh?" Well, there goes any possible higher emotional or spiritual aspect to their relationship.

This is the deepest flaw in the movie (which was otherwise well acted, gorgeously shot and beautifully costumed). I could not enjoy it or buy into it in the slightest because the fundamental conception of the filmmakers was based on modern notions of love that don't go beyond the purely physical. Descriptions of love in Western literature have at least on occasion gone much deeper than that. The Will in "Shakespeare in Love" not only couldn't have written "Romeo and Juliet"'s dramatic sonnet "If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine. . ." he wouldn't even have been able to understand it.

Not to mention the glamorization of a man's adultery, and the strenuous attempts to avoid all the real-life emotional ramifications of such an action, in favor of a feel-good justification of it, in spite of the obvious harm to the young virginal woman who was used by a cad. But it's excused and made to seem no real harm, by having her anger abated by thinking Will is dead, then readily going back to him when she discovers he's alive (a cheap dramatic trick if I ever saw one). Above all, no matter what a real Elizabethan girl's attitude miught have been, Viola is made to adopt the "modern" attitude (love is just a "stolen season").

I think there actually could have been a believable story in the idea of Shakespeare falling in love while writing "Romeo and Juliet." Why not start with the historical fact that Shakespeare didn't even make up the plot of the play at all, much less make it up out of his own love life? In fact, "Romeo and Juliet" was an Italian novella that had gone the rounds of Europe, had been turned into a French play, an English poem and at least one preceding English play. What if Shakespeare finds himself adapting this love story, not believing in love, then actually falls in love in a way that resembles the plot of "Romeo and Juliet"? I think it would have been nice if he had fallen in love with a virgin like Viola, realized in all conscience he couldn't take advantage of her, and wrote his play out of his frustrated love, which he turns into art. I think it would have been more convincing. But of course then it wouldn't have been a Miramax film . . . ... Read more

Reviews (499)

What else is left to say?
This is the greatest American film ever made, as entertaining as it is revolutionary.

When it was made, Orson Welles tackled a seemingly simple topic, a reflection back on a dead man's search for love and happiness in his life, and made a film that's epic in scope, gorgeous in its visual execution, brilliantly written, incredibly acted.

All in all, it's inspiring to filmmakers looking for a great debut film from a new director. "Citizen Kane" also works for regular moviegoers just looking for a good drama.

Using interviews with all his closest friends and colleagues, Welles uses flashback to create a portrait of the life of millionaire media magnate Charles Foster Kane. Kane was, in conflicting accounts of those who knew him, a man of great character and potential or a wealthy, cold, manipulative scoundrel.

What, if anything, can be learned about the man from his last word? What does "Rosebud" mean?

The answer makes for good mystery, and it leads the viewer to ask key questions about what defines our lives and gives them meaning.

This film is fantastic, one that should be watched once a year to help you keep perspective on life.

One of the Best.
Even after sixty years, CITIZEN KANE remains as one of the greatest movies of all time. Though it is true that some are bored by the movie because it's "just a boring black-and-white movie with no action", those who hold that opinion are in the minority. KANE is often held as the pinnacle of filmmaking by movie buffs not just because of the advances the movie made in film production, but also because it set the standard that all filmmakers wish to reach: the total director's vision; a movie made with total control and no studio intervention. With that said, what does KANE hold for the average film-goer? The movie has an excellent script (it won an Oscar), great acting, and a haunting score. The story, though loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst, is an old one: powerful man starts out promising and full of ideals, becomes consumed by greed and looses his vision, and ends up loosing it all (anyone read MacBeth or ALL THE KING'S MEN?). Overall, a deeply penetrating and thinking movie that film buffs usually love and that most everyone else will at least enjoy if they don't mind a strong drama filmed in black and white.

AFI got this one right
Can you imagine what the perception of RKO was at the time they made this decision? Let's see, how about we give complete control of a major film to a twenty five year old radio voice with zero film experience (whose claim to fame was scaring the life out of the public with a fake story about aliens landing on earth) and even better, let him staff the movie with actors who have little to no screen experience. On top of that, we'll let it become one of the most controversial pictures of its time because it mirrors the life of one of the biggest names in America today. Why, it may never be able to be released because of the lawsuits-- Great idea!

I have just described Citizen Kane. All of the above is true, which makes the fact that it is possibly the greatest film in American Film History even more amazing. Everything is perfect. The script (which Welles co-wrote), the actors (all relative unknowns except Welles and Joseph Cotton), the special effects (listen to Roger Ebert's Commentary on this special edition for details) and finally, the makeup-- You won't believe how great a job they do making 25 year old Welles look 60.

As for the story, it's done in a most interesting fashion. Charles Foster Kane (Welles) dies at the very beginning of the movie and utters his famous last word "Rosebud". A reporter is given the task of finding out just what that one word meant. So he goes and interviews all the people who knew Kane to try to learn the meaning of the word. In the process, we are shown Kane through the eyes of those who knew him. We never see Kane through his own eyes, always what his former associates saw.

This is interesting, because Kane is a tragic figure as seen by just about everyone. He is unhappy and lonely. We as an audience eventually learn the meaning of Rosebud. I have read reviews that complain that the movie is about this one thing (I won't reveal what it is). But long before we learn the identity of Rosebud, the film has made its point. What is the point? My opinion is that the film shows us basically the worthlessness and despair of materialism. Loving "stuff" or money will ultimately lead to unhappiness.

By the way, this movie almost was never seen. The man I spoke of at the beginning of the review is William Randolph Hearst, former newspaper magnate. He saw too much of himself in the film and sued to squash it. Fortunately he lost. The second disc in the set is a two hour documentary on this topic. It is also excellent and well worth a viewing.

One last thing. Although this movie has been ranked on the AFI list as number one American movie of all time, it did NOT win Best Picture in 1941. That film? "How Green was my Valley"

Review of Review
The best review of Citizen Kane - perhaps of any film - I've ever read is the one titled "Narrative and Eye Disconnect" posted by "A viewer from Richmond, VA USA" on March 21, 2004. I recommend searching through Amazon's reviews to find it, then watching Citizen Kane and re-reading that review. Even though the reviewer gives Kane just one star, s/he writes with great insight into the movie and cinema in general, and has enhanced my appreciation of Citizen Kane exponentially. Thank you, "Viewer from Richmond," whoever you are!

Works on the basic levels as well as artistically
So many of the films that critics unanimously pick as the greatest of all time are overrated, confusing, ponderous, overly symbolic art pieces that leave viewers scratching their heads. The collective reaction is, "What in the hell was the director smoking?" Arty camera work and tons of symbolism and metaphors can never take the place of good acting, solid direction and, most importantly, a good script.

Much has been made of Citizen Kane's technical brilliance -- Welles' use of overlapping conversations, Gregg Toland's deep focus photography, set design that incorporates ceilings, etc. However, none of this would really mean anything if the film didn't have a great story and screenplay. Citizen Kane may be a triumph in filmmaking technique, but it is also a deeply engrossing story with characters we can relate to and sympathize with. Welles' Kane is a selfish, unhappy, overly controlling dictator who has everything and yet still manages to make himself more and more unhappy. Most of us know the feeling of not appreciating someone or something good in our lives until he/she/it is gone. We see the promise and idealism in Kane's early life, like him and believe, as Joseph Cotten's Jed Leland does, that Kane is a great man who can do so much good in society. As Kane's life progresses, however, he becomes more and more bitter, alienates everyone who cares about him and dies alone, longing for the simplicity of his early life before he became wealthy. When Kane, as an old man, loses control when his second wife Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore) leaves him, we can't help but feel for him -- even though most or all of his unhappiness is his fault. That the audience feels such empathy for such a flawed character is Citizen Kane's greatest triumph and is the true basis for Kane's reputation as one of the greatest films of all time. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The irresistible pull of chocolate is the catch for this lesson from the dandy kids series The Magic School Bus. The kids give a cocoa tree to their intrepid teacher Ms. Frizzle (voiced by Lily Tomlin) for an Earth Day present. When the tree yields only one bean, it's off to the rain forest to discover why. The life of a cocoa plant, including how pods, mud puddles, and bugs play a part in its development should have the little ones curious (and a bit shocked) about how the basic ingredient in chocolate comes to be. All this plus side trips to visit iguanas and other animals of the rain forest. (Ages 6 to 12) --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Chocolate And The Rainforest
Enjoyable, well produced and very respectful. It's interesting to examine the interdependence of everything in the rainforest's ecosystem. The presentation is very age-appropriate and encourages kids to think for themselves and solve the mystery. The children loved it and were attentive. They talked about how their mom makes hot chocolate and liked learning about where it comes from. "Cocoa beans turn into pods and then it makes chocolate, right?" "I liked how everyone solved the mystery together." Best for ages 2 to 5.

Excellent
All of the Magic School Bus videos are great. My 6 year old says that the best part is when the Magic School Bus goes through the mud. They worst part is when the "investigator" gets angry. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

This is the TV movie that put Steven Spielberg on the map, shortly before he made The Sugarland Express. Working from a script by Richard Matheson, the film stars Dennis Weaver as a mild-mannered traveling salesman who unintentionally angers the driver of a semi truck. Suddenly, the truck is not only riding his tail but trying to run him off the road. No matter what he does (pulling over, stopping at a diner, calling the cops), he can't get rid of it. Spielberg makes the wise decision of never showing the driver, even as he cranks the voltage on the film's suspense elements. As a result, the truck itself takes on an air of satanic menace--even a personality of sorts--as it seems to hunt its human prey. Spielberg made a lot out of a little, suggesting just how skilled a storyteller he would become. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (110)

High-octane suspense
Traveling businessman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) encounters an enormous, rusty, slow-moving tanker truck on a lonely stretch of desert highway, and passes it. The never-seen truck driver, who is obviously "a few gallons short of a full tank," responds by turning his truck into a terrifying murder weapon, trying to run Mann's tiny Plymouth Valiant off the road. That's the entire plot of "Duel." In the hands of a young director named Steven Spielberg, it's all the plot that's needed.

Spielberg got the green light to direct this made-for-TV movie because producer George Eckstein had seen and been impressed by Spielberg's directorial debut, the pilot episode of "Columbo." Working on a shoestring budget, Spielberg delivered a tale of suspense that puts many a big-budget Hollywood action thriller to shame. Equal credit has to go to Weaver, who superbly conveys David Mann's emotions to the viewer: His initial frustration when the truck passes him and slows to a crawl, his satisfaction when he thinks he's gotten the upper hand, hi