NFL Super Bowl Collection - San Francisco 49ers Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Yes, its true, all the highlights and features of this 2 dvd set is from the Super Bowl Collection series and there isn't any new video footage. If you own the Super Bowl XI-XX and the Super Bowl XXI-XXX volumes of the Collection, you may not "need" this set, because the 49ers won Super Bowls (XVI, XIX, XXIII & XXIV) which are contained in those volumes. And, yes, yes, NFL films could have put more into this set with regards to additional footage. That being said, 49ers fans will love this set because it contains those highlights and features that pertain to only the 49ers championship years and, let's face it, it may be a while before the 49ers ever return to those glory days. Due to the present state of the club, 49ers fans will be dreary for a while, but they can always relive the glory of the past in this set. These dvds will stir up a lot of good memories of one of the most charismatic teams to ever dominate the NFL. Besides the NFL years in review, it's all here: the Walsh coaching influence on the NFL, the Montana magic, the phenomenal Jerry Rice, etc. Since the 49ers were the first team to win five Super Bowls, this dvd set contains plenty of footage to capture the excitement and is worth the money. Recommended.

Click Here to see more reviews about: NFL Super Bowl Collection - San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers earned the moniker "Team of the 80s" after claiming four Super Bowl titles during that decade with NFL legend Joe Montana at quarter-back and the incomparable Jerry Rice at receiver. They extended their dominance into the 90s with another Hall of Fame quarter-back in Steve Young, becoming the first and only franchise in NFL history to win five Super Bowls. This DVD features hours of Super Bowl game footage, season highlights, interviews and commentary from the legends that made the 49ers a champion.

Get 45% OFF

Click here for more information about NFL Super Bowl Collection - San Francisco 49ers

Selena (1997) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This 1997 film, well directed by Gregory Nava, was the film that propelled Jennifer Lopez on to stardom. She is nothing short of sensational in this film. She is Selena!
The film recounts the brief life of Selena Quintanilla Perez (Jennifer Lopez), a life that was built around her father's broken dreams. Her father (Edward James Olmos) had himself had a band in his youth called "Los Dinos". Now a married man with children, his dreams have stalled along the wayside. When he realizes, however, that his young daughter has some musical talent, he builds a band around her, "Selena and Los Dinos", and begins living vicariously through her.
Under the watchful eye of her martinet father, years of forced, musical practices and life on the road follow. Loving, possessive, and controlling, he succeeds in almost losing her, when she marries her guitarist without her father's permission. They reconcile, however, and he places Selena on the path to stardom, a tejano sensation on the cusp of becoming a crossover musical star. Unfortunately, her path crosses that of a fan, Yolanda Saldivar, whom Selena befriends, only to have her be the one who cuts her down in her prime.
Jennifer Lopez is sensational as Selena, big booty and all. She charms. She beguiles. She entertains. She is every inch the star. This has been her best role, and her performance is stellar. She should have won an award for her performance, because she most certainly deserved one for her portrayal of Selena. It is unfortunate that her acting career has been downhill ever since.
Edward James Olmos is perfect as Abraham Quintanilla, the father who pushed his daughter to heights that he had dreamed for himself but had been unable to reach. His performance is powerful and rich. He, too, should have had his award calibre performance acknowledged in some way, as it was close to perfect. Mr. Olmos is a wonderful actor who deserves more recognition than he has gotten, thus far.
All in all, this is an interesting, absorbing film with some great music. No wonder Selena was a hit!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Selena (1997)

The nuts and bolts of the irresistibly danceable music called Tejano are pop, rock, polka, R&B and Latin influences. To millions of fans there's another vital ingredient: the dynamic singer Selena. Vibrant and tuneful, Selena is the story of the Grammy Award-winning South Texas singer whose life tragically ended just as she was taking Tejano where it had never gone-into mainstream America. Pulsating with Selena's voice on the soundtrack and made with the participation of her family, the film brims with authenticity. It excitingly recreates the early life of a little girl who dreamed big, hit the road in the band bus named Big Bertha and whose concerts became electrifying events. In the title rose, Jennifer Lopez is herself electrifying. Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda and others also shine in "a poignant, heartwarming movie that deserves a standing ovation" (Jules Peimer, WKDM-Radio/New York).

Click here for more information about Selena (1997)

Capote (2005) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Believe me when I tell you that this is one of the best films of the year. It is a complex and multi-layered work of art. Truman Capote, under assignment from the New Yorker magazine, explores a terrible murder of a family of four in the American heartland. He asks his childhood friend from Monroeville Alabama, Nelle Harper Lee, to act as his assistant and together they will explore the murder and its impact on the community for a magazine article. Phillip Seymour Hoffman delivers the acting performance of the year playing the role of the cognitively unique Capote. Catherine Keener was superb playing the solid strength of Harper Lee.
When the killers are soon caught and Capote sees the half-Native American Perry Smith, an odd chemistry develops and Capote becomes obsessed with Smith. Yet Capote manipulates the two murderers and even pays for their first court appeal in order to obtain more information for the article that has now developed into a book. Clifton Collins is excellent in the role of Perry Smith and Chris Cooper is excellent as the head of the Kansas division of the FBI.
Capote had a rare gift, the ability to make himself totally vulnerable through painful self revelation, so as to obtain entry into soul of his target. He does this with Smith and they begin a careful relationship whereby they reveal themselves to each other like chess players, each making careful calculated moves so as to obtain the maximum amount of information and manipulation of the other party.
Harper Lee confronts Capote asking whether he has fallen in love with Perry Smith, but Capote says that he and Smith are the same person, only Capote ran out the 'front door' and Smith ran out the 'back door".
Capote names his book "In Cold Blood" but keeps this information from Perry Smith. Eventually you begin to realize that cold blood is the mental state that Capote had to assume to manipulate the killers long enough to extract the full story of the murders from them.
As the book nears completion, Capote begins a mental breakdown. He may actually love Perry Smith and thus regrets his death but also he knows the execution must occur to bring closure to the book so it can be published. Thus when Capote wishes Smith to die he is cast into guilt and grief; but when he wishes Smith to live, he is cast into depression over the lack of closure of his masterpiece.
One of the most wise plot devices in this film was to contrast the fall of Capote with the rise of Harper Lee and her wonderful novel "To Kill A Mockingbird". Capote sinks into depression and alcoholism laced with mounting self pity while Harper Lee gains acclaim first for her novel and then for the film starring Gregory Peck. On the night of the gala opening of "To Kill A Mockingbird" Capote attends the festivities in a drunken depressed stupor and is so self absorbed that he can't even offer his supportive best friend, Lee, congratulations on her novel and film.
What do we make of this film? It is incredibly well done and demonstrates that no act of mercy is totally pure, no act of cruelty is totally evil. It was Capote's incredible skills that allowed him to manipulate the killers to gain the story that made him the most famous American living writer; but he sold his soul to buy the story and he never recovered from the wound.
This is mature film-making at its best!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Capote (2005)

In November, 1959, the shocking murder of a smalltown Kansas family captures the imagination of Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman), famed author of Breakfast at Tiffany's. With his childhood friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), writer of the soon-to-be published To Kill a Mockingbird, Capote sets out to investigate, winning over the locals despite his flamboyant appearance and style. When he forms a bond with the killers and their execution date nears, the writing of "In Cold Blood," a book that will change the course of American literature, takes a drastic toll on Capote, changing him in ways he never imagined. Stellar performances from Hoffman and Keener, as well as Academy Award® winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation) are why critics are calling Capote a "must-see movie."

Click here for more information about Capote (2005)

Ray (Widescreen Edition) (2004) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a very good movie that houses an exceptionally great performance by Jamie Fox as music legend Ray Charles. I must confess that as a genre, the biopic is not my favorite, especially of figures as well known as Ray Charles. We usually receive in such films distorted portraits of them, or undeserved adulation. RAY is one of the more balanced biopics I have seen. Ray Charles is presented as a musical genius who had managed to overcome physical disabilities that would have stopped most others, but it doesn't attempt to mute the serious and unflattering personal moral problems he had with drugs and his exploitative treatment of women. Nor is he revealed as a moral saint or loving person. Though pleasant with others for the most part, Ray is shown as a proud, independent, and slightly self-absorbed, a bit selfish in his treatment of women. As a result, Ray Charles emerges in the film as a believable human being, capable of unfortunate decisions, but also extraordinary music and the occasional powerful moral stand, such as when he refuses to perform in a racially segregated crowd in a venue in Georgia. In fact, the film is built around three foci: his early childhood when he witnessed the death of his younger brother and gradually lost his sight; his musical career from 1948 until the mid-1960s; and his heroin addiction. The film ends with his overcoming his heroin addiction, which also-as numerous music critics have noted--corresponds to the end of the peak of his career as a creative musical performer. Charles continued to make albums after getting off heroin, but all of the great songs that we associate with him were written and recorded while on heroin. For the last forty years of his career, his sets consisted almost entirely of songs he made famous in the fifties and early sixties, with covers of songs by other musicians. There has been a long debate as to whether his addiction somehow aided his musical creativity, but even if so, no one would have wished him to continue to endanger his health and life.
Jamie Fox will without any possible doubt receive an Oscar nomination for this performance. This is considerably more than a good impersonation of Charles: it is almost as if Fox channels him. As much as I loved other biopics of music legends like THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY or WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, throughout each I was conscious that Gary Busey was playing Buddy Holly and Angela Bassett playing Tina Turner. I completely forgot that Jamie Fox was playing Ray Charles, and despite being quite familiar with him, imagined that I was actually watching Charles onscreen. Yes, he does a killer impersonation of Charles, but he manages that first on top of that provides an amazing dramatic performance. This is great acting, not merely a great impersonation. The only performance of recent years of an actor portraying a prominent entertainer as superb as this is Robert Downey in CHAPLIN.
I also really loved the look of the film. Since it ended in the mid-1960s, the entire film was essentially a period film. There was a sense of visual veracity from beginning to end. I loved the cars, the clothes (especially the ties! - am I alone in thinking that the 1950s was the great decade for neckties?), the interior decors, the furniture. The scenes in the shanty town where Charles was a child were very effective.
The cast aside from Fox was quite strong, made up mainly of relatively unknown performers. There were many other things to enjoy about the film. Of course, the music is absolutely sensational, consisting either of remasters of original Ray Charles's recordings, or new recordings for which Charles provided the vocals. I also loved the relationship in the film between Charles and Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records. There is nothing of the stereotypical relationship between artist and executives that invests so many of the stories of musicians in the 1950s and 1960s. Ertegun is rightfully remembered as one of the truly great figures in the recording industry, someone who was in it more for the music than for the money, and who treated his artists with a degree of respect that was too frequently absent. The film does a good job of presenting Charles's dilemma: ABC-Monument made him an offer that he simply couldn't refuse, yet at the same time we are all aware that Charles was, in a way, screwing Atlantic over by leaving them for ABC-Monument. All in all, I loved this warts and all approach to the subject matter. There is absolutely no question that Ray Charles was one of the most astonishing performers of the fifties and sixties, and doing all he did despite his blindness is an amazing saga. He truly was a genius, even if he was a somewhat flawed person. But you have to love the way that he managed to overcome his personal shortcomings to become not merely one of the most successful but one of the most beloved musical performers of his age.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Ray (Widescreen Edition) (2004)

RAY - DVD Movie

Click here for more information about Ray (Widescreen Edition) (2004)

Coco Before Chanel (2009) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Coco Before Chanel is aptly titled; it follows Coco Chanel from her time in an orphanage, but it stops where most people become familiar with her story. The film stars the delightful Audrey Tatou as Coco. Perhaps my favorite thing about Coco Before Chanel was it's honesty. I confess to loving the feel-good rags to riches biopics as much as anyone, but it's rare to see a biographical film provide hope with honesty and without sappiness. Most of the film is not feel good. It's hardly depressing, but it is real. Coco didn't have an easy life. She and her sister were orphans, and they fought for opportunities. Coco makes some decisions she may not be proud of, but she doesn't regret them. She doesn't have the dream of becoming a fashion designer from day one, just as few of us truly know what we'll end up doing from the beginning. Her skills, experience and desire for self-sufficiency slowly evolve to lead her to it.
The film is a little slow, but it's similar to the pace of her life. It seems like it's not going anywhere for awhile, and if you didn't know what Chanel is, you might think that. I personally thought the subtitles were a little fast. My French is decent enough to understand some of the dialogue, but I often read the subtitle before the characters had begun to speak their lines. The beautiful lulls of dialogue featured the next subtitle, which threw off the pace a bit for me.
The beauty of the film comes in its last half hour, when it becomes clear the slowness was in fact subtlety leading to a mesmerizing and poetic final half-hour. It's the kind of film one might be tempted to stop watching if she were at home, but ends up loving. It truly is a film that is the sum of it's parts. It works as a whole, but it's not necessarily riveting from the opening frame.
It's a beautifully feminist film; it's an honest look at one woman's struggle and journey for her place in the world. It's not a film with universal appeal, but it is a fantastic, beautiful, and inspiring film. If you like foreign films, historical films, biopics and strong female leads, then I highly recommend this film.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Coco Before Chanel (2009)

Audrey Tautou (The Da Vinci Code, Amélie) shines in this intriguing portrait of the early life of Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, the orphan who would build a fashion empire and be known universally by her nickname, Coco. She journeys from a mundane seamstress job to boisterous cabarets to the opulent French countryside, possessing little more than her unwavering determination, unique style and visionary talent. Also starring Benoît Poelvoorde (In His Hands) and Alessandro Nivola (Junebug). Featuring lush settings and stunning costume design, Coco Before Chanel is the gripping and dramatic story of an icon who defied convention and defined the modern woman.

Get 45% OFF

Click here for more information about Coco Before Chanel (2009)

The Sea Inside Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The rule of thumb is that Life is preferable to Death. But, on your mental scale, what value judgement would tip the balance towards the latter? THE SEA INSIDE is a forceful, emotive and sympathetic examination of assisted suicide. It's not a film for those seeking the usual Saturday afternoon pabulum of Hollywood escapism. And for those that believe that opting out of Life is never an option, it will likely be infuriating.
In a Oscar-worthy performance, Javier Bardem plays Ramón Sampedro, the Spanish poet who became a quadriplegic at age 26 when he dove into shallow waters and broke his cervical spine. In THE SEA INSIDE, it's now almost three decades later, and Sampedro is spending the last two years of his life petitioning the conservative Spanish government for the right to die with dignity via an assisted suicide. The film is an extraordinarily well acted piece by all members of the cast.
The family that cares for Ramón 24/7 includes his older brother José (Celso Bugallo), his brother's wife Manuela (Mabel Rivera), his father Germán (Alberto Jimenéz), and his nephew Javi (Tamar Novas). Besides the dedicated Manuela, who loves Ramón like a son, there are three other extraordinary women in his life: Julia (Belén Rueda, in her acting debut), the lawyer who handles Sampedro's legal case and who has a secret of her own, Gené (Clara Segura), the representative of a national right-to-die organization, and Rosa (Lola Dueñas), the single, working mother of two that just stopped in to say hello to the invalid and ends up adoring him. Indeed, the large number of caring females in Sampedro's stunted life yields perhaps the film's only trace of humor. When jealousies simmer among the gentler sex, Ramón discovers that he has women problems.
In emotional intensity, THE SEA INSIDE transcends that other recent award-winning film about assisted suicide, THE BARBARIAN INVASION (2003). At mid-point, in a sequence of devastating power, the camera becomes a window on Sampedro's fantasy that he can leave his bed. At another time, Ramón's bedridden helplessness is contrasted to the virile, active young man he once was through a series of old photographs examined by Julia. And the visual presentation throughout is mated to a dynamite soundtrack (that I'll definitely purchase!).
This production is Spain's entry into the 2004 Academy Award competition for Best Foreign Film. If it doesn't walk away with that golden statue, then I certainly want to see the film that does.
THE SEA INSIDE makes a strong case for voluntary Death with Dignity for those wishing that escape. It's certainly controversial, as evidenced by the Web sites attacking its stance. If you're looking for an intelligent, thought-provoking, sobering experience - I hesitate to use the word "entertainment" - see it as soon as it's released. It will likely remain in the artsy theaters and not go into wide distribution.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Sea Inside

Academy Award nominee Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls) delivers a powerful and sensitive portrayal of a quadriplegic who fights to win the right to end his life with dignity. Based on a true story. DVD Features:Audio Commentary:Director CommentaryDeleted Scenes:Documentaries:"A trip to The Sea Inside" Making-ofStoryboards:Theatrical Trailer:

Get 42% OFF

Click here for more information about The Sea Inside

Yankee Doodle Dandy (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1942) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Oh what an out-and-out joy is this film!
As you know by now, the amazing James Cagney sings, dances and acts his way through this rousing biopic of George M. Cohan. He's directed by Michael Curtiz, a director who apparently could work in any genre of movie, and produce masterpieces. Pull up his name on imdb and you'll see what I mean.
Anyways, the film traces his life from his infant vaudevillian beginnings to his conquering of Broadway. After seeing this, you'll know why there's a statue of Cohan in Times Square.
The acting, as expected, is top-notch, with the sweet Joan Leslie as his love interest Mary, Walter Huston as his dad; Cagney's sister plays Cagney's sister...but what will bring you to see this movie again and again are the musical interludes.
Cagney is simply spectacular. He is a comet, bouncing around the Broadway stage. His dancing often flirts with straight-out levitation. I swear there are times when his feet fly across the screen...
Then consider the songs..."Yankee Doodle Dandy", "Mary", "Give My Regards to Broadway" and the most patriotic song I've ever heard, "Over There."
That song was written for the troops of WW I, and this film was being made when Pearl Harbor was attacked. The way this one song is used in this film, I guarantee, will stay with you forever. And knowing that this movie was made during that time only enhances your experience...but I didn't know it until afterwards, and it made no difference.
And that leads to the one thing I feel is overlooked in most reviews of this film: the script. It's has a strong story, great lines, terrific set-pieces and delightful twists. It's funny as all-get-out, and heart-wrenching when you least expect it.
The movie is as American as can be...the rags-to-riches rise of the central figure in Broadway history (the Broadway musical being essentially an American creation), the way his family travels to all the new states as they are incorporated...the evolution of New York City...WW I...WW II...it's all here!
And from beginning to end, Cohan (and the filmmakers) wear their "Grand Old Flag" on their proverbial sleeves, proudly and unabashedly. Patriotism is a definite theme througout the film, rising to dizzying heights right before the credits. Patriotism portrayed simply and honestly, without any hard political bent or satirical edge.
The DVD, one of those sweet Warner 2-disc sets, is exemplary...great transfer, nice extras...bravo Warner, again, for treating your classics with respect.
It's inarguable: this is one of the great films of all time. I envy those of you about to see it for the first time, and I assure you it won't be your last!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Yankee Doodle Dandy (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1942)

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY - DVD Movie

Get 57% OFF

Click here for more information about Yankee Doodle Dandy (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1942)