Ghost Hunters: Season 4, Part 2 (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ghost Hunters is a was a good show, but it is saddled with loud horrible music. The music [insert loud keyboard sound here] drowns out anything the viewer might hear. The music also incorporates odd sounds so if you COULD hear something, you can't tell if it's the ghost sounds or the music [insert loud "bang" here]. I personally do not need the music[fade the music here]. In fact, I get frustrated, not scared because of the music [insert more insidental music here]. One thing that "Most Haunted" and "Paranormal State" do is use the music in the history portions of thier shows and keep it to a minimum to none on the actual ghost part so you can hear with the crew what is going on. With "Ghost Hunters" the music tends to make the viewer feel as if they are really not to be included on the hunt that you, the viewer are an outsider looking in on the clique as they hunt and you will find out when they are good and ready to let you in on the haunting. That's a cheat to the fan, really. On the epidoe called "Spirits On The Water" everytime a caption appears, there is loud whoosh of music, at times so loud that it drowns out the dialogue. There are also loud knocks every few seconds designed to put out on the edge of your seat, but actually are so loud you can't tell what happened on the show. And suddenly, in odd places, there is a loud keyboard "shock" sound which actually cheapens this show. This whole show seems so hokey now.I also get frustrated with the editing. It cuts off sounds, jumps about and sometimes makes the show flow very uneven. makes the feel of the show "rushed". Like the early morning shows on tv when they have a guest, get the guest to start talking, then hurry them through the segment because we're about out of time! They tend to be very repetitive in some things. For example, in the "Bottled Spirits" episode, within the first 4 1/2 minutes they repeat 5 times that cases with children take high priority. That's great, but why tell us 5 times in a row? Why not say it once and use the rest of the time on ghost footage or history? It reminds me of "Barney" because on that kid's show, they repeat stuff over and over for education. Hopefully little kids aren't watching ghost shows when they should be watching "Barney".
One good thing is Jason and Grant take a more active roll in this season rather than sitting back in the van and letting the others do the work. Gone is Jason's superior attitude that he carried in the earlier seasons. He seems more down to earth and the crew doesn't seem so tense and worried about him losing his temper like they did in the past. They all seem to work well together now.
This show also tends to set up scenes as one thing, go to break, then come back and the scene turns out differently. There's alot of hype for things that almost always, when it comes back from commercial break, are usually false or explained away in a few seconds, or really have no significance to anything at all.
I had stopped watching for awile due to the music and attitude of the show. But now I started watching again. I do like it, but I see it getting stale. The formula is pretty much the same as in seasons past. They repeat what some terms are endlessly such as what an EMF is and EVP. They talk between the vans with walkie talkies...why? I don't know...and it's usually stuff they already established back at the round table or already discussed. And they almost always bump knuckles in the end. This show really needs to break up the repetition in explanations, flow, everything. You can predict each episode how it will go...Jason willl say this...Grant will do this....Steve will explaine this...week in and week out...and in reality...that is not how the paranormal works.
Also, this season, almost all the dialogue seems "staged" and rehearsed. It would be a much more enjoyable show if it weren't so "puffed up" and the music toned down or pretty much eliminated. This show used to be enjoyable, but due to the over editing, the loud music, the staged scenes, it's not so good anymore. There's no "meat" to it, so repeated watchings are just dull.
This also contains the embarrassing live event that had the internet a buzz claiming that TAPS was faking it. You be the judge but the coat pull has me suspicious, too. Also, I noticed far more of the "Did you see that!" type stuff and not actually showing the viewer. Why? Because the camera is on the stars of the show!

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"Ghost Hunters" has become one of TV's most popular shows, and in Season Four: Part 2, Jason, Grant, and the rest of the TAPS team are back investigating claims of the paranormal from coast to coast!Join them as they travel from a sanitarium which has placed 911 calls to the police -- but there is no phone in the building! -- to the most haunted ship in the U.S. Navy. Then go to a tavern in a TAPS member's own hometown where customers are heard enjoying a game of pool but the hall is closed and empty, and a home where a small child hears voices and has unexplainable scratches on his body.TAPS even goes to the plantation seen in "Interview with a Vampire" where 35 tourists all witnessed the same paranormal activity at the same instant!These are just the tip of the apparition in the most thrilling installment of the "Ghost Hunters" series to date!

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Live Nude Girls (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)You have to smile at the idea of all of those viewers, predominantly of the male persuasion, who took one look at the title of this DVD, and may be a second look at Olivia D'Abo, Dana Delaney, and Kim Cattrall on the cover, and decided to rent it only to end up being bitterly disappointed. You have to give credit to writer-director Julianna Lavin because she reneges on all three parts of her title. Working back to front, except for some flashbacks the characters are women in their early thirties and not girls, the nudity is more emotional than physical (and for the latter you have to look really quick and then wait for the end of the movie when there is a lot of water), and when there is nudity it tends to occur in fantasy rather than reality. So there are going to be people totally devoid of any understand of the concept or irony who are not going to like this movie and the fact that what substantive nude scenes exist are erotic as defined from the feminine perspective will just be seen as adding insult to injury by the same.
Those who should enjoy "Live Nude Girls" will be woman of the same ages as the characters. Jill (Delaney) is the gossip of the group, Jamie (Cattrall) is a B-movie actress who may or may not be getting married, Marcy (Cynthia Stevenson) is being blackmailed by her soap opera star boyfriend (Glenn Quinn), and Rachel (Laila Robins) is basically stuck being Jill's uptight sister. They have gathered at the house of Georgina (Lora Zane), who is bisexual and currently living with Chris (d'Abo), for what would be described as a slumber party as long as everybody involved understands sleeping will probably not be involved. What will be involved is talking, mostly about sex, which necessarily involves talking about relationships and get to talking about fantasies as well. There is not a specific plot against which these conversations are held. Jamie's fiancé is at his bachelor's party and she expects the worst, Marcy has reason to worry about Randy showing up, Jane has something she does not want to tell Rachel, and Georgina and Chris are having problems, but what serves as the climax for this movie is the sun coming up the next morning.
There is more humor to be found in this 1995 movie than profound insights. I liked the gender-reversal conversation that Marcy has with Randy, especially since a man would never dare have such a grin on his face while saying the exact same things, but for the most part it is the act of self-disclosure and not what is actually disclosed that matters the most here. Men are usually the subject of the film's barbs, which proves that boys will be boys when it comes to immediately picturing women naked and that men will as likely behave like boys as well given the opportunity at a bachelor's party. I was going to say that the weak part of the film is how it keeps the character of Chris on the periphery, which allows Georgina to indulge in flights of fantasy, but since ultimately I find the point of "Live Nude Girls" to be that talking and talking about everything is important, I have to admit the point is underscored in the negative by Chris's self-exclusion from the gab fest (and certainly reinforced by what she does during the finale in the pool). If Lavin gets her viewers to not only admit they should have their own slumber party, but actually end up having one, then she will have done well by making this film.

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Georgina throws a sleepover party for her friend Jamie, a moderately successful actress, on the night of Jamie's fiance's bachelor party. Jill, Jamie, Marcy, Rachel, and Georgina have been friends since childhood, and as the evening progresses, they talk about a variety of topics: Georgina's heterosexual fantasies and her uncertainties about Chris, her live-in lover; Jamie's doubts and insecurities about marriage; and all of their attitudes toward sex and sexual fantasies.

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James Bond Blu-ray Collection Three-Pack, Vol. 3 (Moonraker/ The World is Not Enough / Goldfinger) Review

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(More customer reviews)I hope that everyone who had problems playing the first 2 Bond collections had them addressed by now because Volume 3's layout and features is consistent with the previous two. All players that received firmware upgrades after October 2008 should be able to play this set.
Here is my evaluation of the current Bond Blu-ray collection (a work in progress as I'm not fully done with the viewing) - and it's not unlike my impression of the first 2.
_____________________________________________
THE GOOD:
- Incredible video quality, most likely better than what the audience saw on release date on some of the older movies.
- Lots of extras, most of them worth watching or listening to.
- Beautiful, innovative packaging.
THE NOT SO GOOD:
- The sound restoration not as good as the video on the early Bonds.
- Some of the 'extras' sections would benefit from a 'play all' option.
- The boxes could be a bit slimmer.
- May require upgrades on certain players if they haven't been upgraded since September-October 2008.
_____________________________________________
The overall impression is of quality, inside and out. The box could be a little smaller but the packaging is exquisite. There's a transparent plastic slide cover over a solid cardboard box holding a small binder on which the individual movie disks are attached to pages. Each movie comes on one disc holding the movie itself and in incredible amount of extras.
The menu interface is well organized and there's even some humor in labeling. For example, the option that plays the movie is labeled 'The Mission' while the historic promotional material is found under 'The Propaganda'. Depending on which section you may be, menu options branch into further sub-menus.
The extras are numerous and, for the most part interesting. There are features on the restoration process and we get to learn who did what, why and how. Then, we see contemporary documentaries on the making of the movie and so on. The Goldfinger disc, for example, includes actual radio interviews with Sean Connery, 2 major documentaries on 'the making of' and 'the world of' Goldfinger, about 30 minutes each, original trailers, screen tests, an interview with Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore), even a feature on Bond's Aston Martin. And, amazingly, it all fits on one disc.
The area where some of the older installments show their age is the sound. The audio options include the original sound track which, in the older releases is 'mono' but all movies come with DTS-HD Master Audio 24-bit 5.1 surround as the default. The sound wasn't upgraded and improved to the degree that the picture was but, it's understandable. Going from mono to 5.1 surround is the equivalent of upgrading from black and white to full-color 3-D in the world of images. Commentary sound tracks featuring the director and the cast and crew are also included.
When it comes to the video quality, the best that I can say is that you've got to see it to believe it. The restoration of the older movies started with the actual original negative, which is the one reference copy that's almost never touched. Once the copy was digitized as a 4000 lines resolution digital copy (Bluray is 1080) every frame was reprocessed to eliminate any possible defects from 'dirty optics', such as the proverbial hair that we sometimes see on the older movies to scratches, bad exposure, color brilliance. The restorers' goal for the end result, and this concerns the video only, not the sound quality, was to deliver what would appear to be a contemporary movie with a 60's or 70's theme rather than a 60's or 70's movies. In my view, they succeeded and, surprisingly, the 1964 Goldfinger looks as good as the 1979 Moonraker.
My overall rating is a solid five-stars. Just about everything in this release is superlative: the physical packaging, the interface design, the extras, the video quality. The sound is not so good on the older movies but, given the state of sound restoration technologies, I did not feel compelled to remove a star because the old movies sounded more or less like they did on release date or better.

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Disc 1: Goldfinger Ultimate Edition Blu-ray Widescreen Feature Film
Disc 2: Moonraker Ultimate Edition Blu-ray Widescreen Feature Film
Disc 3: The World Is Not Enough Ultimate Edition Blu-ray Widescreen Feature Film

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Tempest (1982) Review

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(More customer reviews)I just purchased this video today after many years of recalling memorable scenes from it. To me it's about a man with a greek surname who abandons his meaningless life as an NYC Architect to explore himself, taking his trepidacious(?) daughter with him to a small Greek island.
The story has dual timelines which eventually meet at the present day. This was a new experience for me when first seeing this movie.
Some of the many memorable scenes are:
John Cassavetes looking up at the baloons falling during the New Years Day party and making the decision to get the hell out of there.
The Greek captain of the ship taking them to their island calling out the names of the dozens of Greek islands.
Raoul Julia dancing around with an octopus on his head.
Also Raoul admitting that he wants to sleep with Cassavetes daughter saying 'She wants the Bonnie Johnnie inside of her'. Cassavetes fights him and probably considers killing him but stops.
Cassavetes' wife happens to be floating near the island as an entouragee of a Greek tycoon ala Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis. Cassavetes conjures a storm with his reading glasses saying "Come on, show me the magic."
To me this is the pinnacle of Cassavetes journey to find himself, fancies himself a god, and makes the magic happen only to regret his actions but assist in rescuing the party.
This movie is definitely on my list of the best movies ever.

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This modernistic fantasy-drama, is about a New York architect Phillip (John Cassavetes), who is fedup with city living. He takes his wife Antonia (Gena Rowlands), an actress, and their daughter, Miranda (Molly Ringwald in her debut), to Greece to a barren island. There he meets a singer and a hermit and others who land on the island when the boat is shipwrecked.

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Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Review

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(More customer reviews)Arsenic and Old Lace has been a family Halloween tradition for years. In some ways it might be called the original horror spoof: Two sweet old ladies poison lonely old men as a "charity" and bury them in the cellar, and no sooner does their stable nephew find out about this (while preparing to leave for his honeymoon) than his long-lost homicidal brother returns with a face like Frankenstein's monster.
Cary Grant knew his way around a comedy, so it's easy to believe when his character Mortimer grows more and more frazzled throughout the night, jumping from one problem to the next so quickly that he can't even remember he's just been married that day. In his place, juggling four insane relatives (three of them killers), a handful of cops, and two dead bodies, we'd all feel the worse for wear. The pace is quick, almost frantic at times; complications and plot twists come faster than anyone in the movie can handle them. The only characters who aren't perturbed and thrown completely out of their elements by the affair are the rest of the Brewster family, who are all crazy anyway.
The dark comedy genre is full of films that are a little too graphic or disturbing for kids (and even some adults), but this one's not quite so dark, and wildly funny enough to entertain all ages. And no matter how young or old you are, no matter how normal a family you have, you won't be able to help but chuckle when the harried Mortimer takes a breather to explain to his new wife: "Insanity runs in my family.... It practically gallops."
The DVD transfer is flawless; the clarity is wonderful. Pop some popcorn and watch it with the whole family.

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You'll die laughing!Frank Capra directs Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre and stellar cast in the hit Broadway farce about a nutcase family with well-intentioned homicidal tendencies.

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The Pippi Longstocking Collection (Pippi Longstocking / Pippi Goes on Board / Pippi in the South Seas / Pippi on the Run) (1975) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm just about to turn 34 and finally the four original theatrical Pippi Longstocking releases are arriving on DVD. I still get a kick out of Pippi and her friends. These 4 discs are all new sharp, digital transfers and It will knock your socks off. For those wondering about the audio tracks, the original 1970s voice over track we all remembered so well was also kept. There isn't any new updated voice over which I'm excited about, this was only done on the TV DVD series of Pippi released last year since there was no English dub for the TV series. The four Pippi films were mostly shown in the US with a wonderful (Godizilla like) voice over audio track in English. There is no Swedish audio track, again because these films were actually taken from the TV series in Sweden and edited together to make a full length films for the US in the 1970s. There is a Spanish track, however.
All this info was confirmed by Steven Newmark the President of Hen's Tooth. He sent me a wonderful promo add which I would love to share but unfortunately Amazon doesn't allow links to be posted. I will contact them and see if they can load the add on the web site.
Thx for reading

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PIPPI LONGSTOCKING A mysterious young girl, Pippi Longstocking, moves into the abandoned Villa Villekulla. The redheaded Pippi, living alone but for a monkey called Mr. Nilsson and her horse Little Old Man, befriends two neighboring children, Tommy and Annika. Join in the fun-filled adventures of the world's strongest girl in her first full-length feature film! 90 minutes, Original Full Frame Format (1.33:1). PIPPI GOES ON BOARDHaving decided to stay on in the Villa Villekulla Pippi continues to run riot in her quest for fun. To the joy of her best friends Tommy and Annika, Pippi throws a bizarre birthday party, causes chaos at a carnival, builds the world's biggest snowball and celebrates Christmas her own way. 79 minutes, Original Full Frame Format (1.33:1).PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS When Pippi Longstocking learns South Sea pirates have kidnapped her father, she sets off on a daring rescue mission. Naturally she takes her inseparable friends Tommy and Annika along with her. Shiver me timbers! It's all aboard for a pirate-packed musical romp with Pippi Longstocking that is guaranteed fun for all. 96 minutes,Letterboxed (1.55:1). PIPPI ON THE RUN After being nagged by their parents for staying out late with their best friend Pippi Longstocking, Annika and Tommy decide to run away. Life can never be ordinary when you're with Pippi Longstocking, the world's strongest girl! Join Pippi and her friends in this fantastic escapade that is packed with catchy songs and rollicking action. 93 minutes, Letterboxed (1.55:1). All four films star Inger Nilsson, Par Sundberg and Maria Persson. Language options: Original theatrical release English dubbed; Spanish language dubbed. All four are Rated G and Region 1 encoded.

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Classic Cartoon Favorites, Vol. 4 - Starring Chip 'n Dale Review

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(More customer reviews)This would have been a five star release if not for:
1) it is too short and
2) It has only two of their three solo cartoons. "LONE CHIPMUNKS" is missing and SHOULD have been included. It is unlikely that Chip & Dale will get their own Disney Treasures DVD release with only three cartoons.
Unlike most of the Cartoon Favorites series DVDs, this installment mostly features cartoons not yet available on the Disney Treasures series. The descriptions are already included above, so I will give the duplication run down here:
CHIP AND DALE (1947)- NEW TO DVD but expected to be on the Disney Treasures: Chronological Donald volume 3 to be released this Dec. 11 2007.
TREE FOR BREAKFAST (1948) - NEW TO DVD but expected to be on the Disney Treasures: Chronological Donald volume 3 to be released this Dec. 11 2007.
OUT ON A LIMB (1950) - NEW TO DVD but expected to be on the Disney Treasures: Chronological Donald volume 3 to be released this Dec. 11 2007.
FOOD FOR FEUDIN' (1950) - Only cartoon already released on "Disney Treasures: Complete Pluto volume 2".
OUT OF SCALE (1951) - NEW TO DVD, not yet announced for any Donald Duck release.
CHICKEN IN THE ROUGH (1951) - NEW TO DVD - solo Chip & Dale cartoon.
TWO CHIPS AND A MISS (1952) - NEW TO DVD - solo Chip & Dale cartoon.
WORKING FOR PEANUTS (1953) - NEW TO DVD, not yet announced for any Donald Duck release.
DRAGON AROUND (1954) - NEW TO DVD, not yet announced for any Donald Duck release.
Bottom line: This is a MUST GET DVD!

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An hour-long collection of Disney cartoons. Chicken in the Rough, 1951, In a farmyard a hen is sitting on a nest of eggs when Chip an' Dale, who are picking acorns, come upon the eggs. A baby chick comes out of one of the eggs and Dale, in trying to stuff chick back into the egg, gets involved with a rooster. He is finally trapped under hen with rooster pacing out in front.Chip 'n' Dale, 1947, Cold Awakens Donald; he goes out to chop tree for log. Chipmunks, Dale and Chip, inside log, shaken out into snow, follow Don into house to get nuts left in log. They try various ways to get log from fireplace and finally succeed.Out of Scale, 1951, Donald, as the engineer of a miniature train, runs into difficulties with Chip 'n Dale when he replaces an oak tree, where they have stored nuts, with a miniature tree. A chase follows and chipmunks end up in the miniature village where they duck into a tiny house. Gags follow with Donald simulating extremes of weather. Chips decide to get their tree back. Tree is kicked onto tracks and train drives a hold through the tree. Chips put "Giant Redwood" sign on tree and convince Donald it is in scale.Two Chips and a Miss, 1952, Chipmunks attend a nightclub and vie with one another for attention of a nightclub singer who divides her attention between the two.Food for Feudin', 1950, Chipmunks fill a tree with nuts. Pluto causes the nuts to roll down into his doghouse. They try to retrieve nuts. Eventually lure Pluto up hill with nuts.Working for Peanuts, 1953, Chip and Dale steal peanuts from Dolores, the elephant. Donald, using Dolore's trunk as a vacuum cleaner, pulls the peanuts away from the thieves, and then in machine-gun fashion, he shoots the nuts back at the chipmunks. He misses the chipmunks, they laugh, he chases them and knocks himself out by hitting a wall. Chipmunks cover themselves with whitewash, and sneak back into the zoo as rare albino chipmunks, fooling both Donald and Dolores into giving them more peanuts.Out on a Limb, 1950, Donald, as a tree surgeon, discovers the tree home of Chip an' Dale and decides to have sport. The chipmunks, unaware he is in the tree, think the tree pruner is a monster. Gags with pruner and lawn mower; Donald loses and has tantrum.Three for Breakfast, 1948, Chip and Dale try to get pancakes which Donald is making. Fork flies in and leaves with pancake on it. Continues until fork misses and sticks into pan of rubber cement, spilling on stove which forms rubber pancake. Donald replaces pancake with rubber cake. The chipmunks are frustrated, and the gag backfires on Donald.Dragon Around, 1954, Donald, a steamshovel operator, is clearing an excavation and must tear out the tree where the Chips are living. Chip and Dale have been reading a fairy tale and imagine the steamshovel is a dragon. When they see their home threatened, they set out to 'kill' the dragon. Donald decides he is going to have some fun and tease the Chips. In the course of the battle that ensues, the Chips manage to get into Donald's tool chest. With his wrench they unbolt the steamshovel, causing it to fall apart. Having thus 'slain' the "Dragon," they save their home.

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Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails Review

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(More customer reviews)The fourth Thomas movie down the line (after "Thomas and the Magic Railroad", "Calling All Engines", and "The Great Discovery"), "Hero of the Rails" makes the biggest change in Thomas's history so far; the entire film is done in CGI animation produced by Nitrogen Studios in Canada. All of the characters are now individually voiced, although Micheal Brandon returns to narrate through the film.
In the story, Spencer, a big silver engine from the mainland, is visiting Sodor to help build a private summer house. Thomas, after being teased about his size, foolishly tries to compete with Spencer, but ends up crashing onto an abandoned old line. There he finds Hiro, an old abandoned engine who once worked on Sodor long ago. Wanting to prevent him from being scrapped, Thomas promises to help return him to his former glory, along with the help of Victor and Kevin (a steam engine and a crane, respectively), who work at Sodor's famous "Steamworks". Along the way, he has to avoid the suspicious eyes of Spencer, and keep Hiro's secret from Sir Topham Hatt.
Not spoiling the end of the story, it's vaguely similar to "Magic Railroad", but it was fantastically executed overall. Hiro's character is very believable and likable, and Victor and Kevin make a wonderful pair on-screen. The story's moral is laid in through the narration, but isn't thrown right into the viewer's face, unlike most children's films, which is a refreshing change.
The film's main focus, however, is the new animation. While the original model series was wonderful, the new CGI is a breath of fresh air. The moving faces give a whole new life to the characters, and each locomotive looks as realistic as they can be. The backgrounds, scenery, and buildings are far more detailed than something I would have expected from a film for children. There are plenty of new camera angles, too, that could never have been achieved with the models, such as shots from under the engine, or swooping shots of two engines racing side by side, or panoramic shots of morning skies across massive mountains.
The voice acting is fantastic as well. Thomas's new voice fits his personality to the tee. Hiro has a gentle Japanese accent, which suits him very well. Michael Brandon does an even better job at narrating than ever, and he really helps to bring the story to life. I would advice the scriptwriters to work more on the actual lines though; the format used in the film gets repetitive over time (for example, "Thomas's wheels whirred and wobbled" "Thomas's boiler was bubbling" or "his pistons were pounding) and the "phrases" the engines use come and go ("Fizzling fireboxes!" "Blistering boilers!" "Rattle my rods!" "Cinders and ashes!").
Overall, however, I feel that "Hero of the Rails" is one of Thomas's best films yet, and I can't wait to see Thomas in his new animated format in the near future. HiT Entertainment and Nitrogen Studios put a lot of work and effort into this new film, and it shows. Old and new fans alike are sure to enjoy Thomas in his newest adventure.

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See Thomas & Friends™ like never before in this new action-packed movie. Follow Thomas as he discovers Hiro, an abandoned engine from a faraway land. Fearing that Hiro will be scrapped, Thomas enlists the help of many friends, but mishaps, mistakes and one boastful engine could foil their rescue plans. Watch and find out if they can work together to help their new friend in the most heroic movie of the year!

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Funny Farm (1988) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is definitely one of the better Chevy Chase vehicles, as it does not go too far off the beaten path and is handled with a lighter touch than many of his other films. It is funny, wry, and deftly humorous.
The plot is simple. A sportswriter from New York, Andy Farmer (Chevy Chase), and his wife, Elizabeth (Madolyn Smith-Osborne), decide to move to the country so that he can write his great American novel. They move to rural Redbud, Vermont, and instead of a bucolic, pastoral setting with friendly, kindly, country folk, they find snakes, a postman who maniacally drinks and drives, a sheriff who can't drive a car, a corpse in their back yard, and a whole slew of the weirder than weird.
Instead of writing the great American novel, Andy only manages to turn out some useless drivel, while Elizabeth turns out a charming children's book. This causes great friction between the two, and it looks as if their sojourn in the country, as well as their marriage, is to be a brief one. They decide to move back to New York and inveigle the entire town of Redbud to assist them in selling their house, by turning the town and its environs into a warm and cozy setting out of a Norman Rockwell painting. What happens next is quite funny.
Just about every one in the film is a little wacky, with the exception of Andy's wife, Elizabeth, who is the one sane, grounded character. Madolyn Smith-Osborne gives an excellent performance as the wife. She is a perfect comedic foil. Chevy Chase as Andy is well...Chevy Chase and, as always, funny. The supporting cast is likewise excellent and contribute to the many humorous moments in the film. All in all, this is an enjoyable comedy that is fun for the whole family.

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FUNNY FARM - DVD Movie

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To Sir, With Love (1967) Review

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(More customer reviews)Sidney Poitier has the role of a new teacher in one of Britain's secondary schools. He is given a class of students who, with maybe one or two exceptions, have reached the end of the academic road and will be leaving school at the end of term. They have no academic future and their future outside of school is not to promising. Bike messengers and shop assistants if they're lucky is what awaits these 15 year olds. (Leaving age in the mid-60s was 15.) The kids can care less about school and are just watching the days roll down until they don't have to attend anymore.
Poitier's charecter quickly realizes that the best thing he can do is get these kids ready for the real world. He junks the syllabus and creates his own plan for these people to meet life with something like survival skills. Instead of maths, science and english, he teaches the world of cooking, politeness and proper grooming. These latter skills will help these kids far more than being able to diagram a sentence.
I first saw this film when it first came out. I think I had a better appreication of it, as an American, becuase I had jsut returned from living in the UK and attending a secondary school, which while not like North Quay, did introduce me to some of the characters portrayed. Guys I knew were facing school leaving with prospects of working as a green grocer's assistant or a boy soldier or seaman in the Forces. So on an intellectual level, I certainly understood what Poitier's character faced. These weren't juvenile delinquents but a real segment of British society that probably still exists today.
This film has just as much validity today as it did when it was first released. The cast is excellent from Poitier down to the kid with no lines but filling a desk. I found this to be a fine film at the time I first saw it and today when I saw it again after a period of several years between viewings. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys British films.

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