Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Slaughterhouse Five


Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks) has a problem with time: he keeps jumping about in his own life, principally between three key scenes. The "present" is a kind of glowing suburban bliss involving a dutiful wife, large house, and presidency of the local Lions; the "past" is being a prisoner of World War II and experiencing the firebombing of Dresden from the wrong side; the "future" takes place in a glass dome on the planet Tralfamadore, to which Billy has been mysteriously spirited along with the woman of his fantasies (Montana Wildhack, played by Valerie Perrine).

All About Eve


I managed to find this a few days before its official release date and am happy to report that it finally gives this classic film the treatment it deserves. The video and audio have been restored from orignal source material with noticeable improvements over the previous DVD transfer. The picture has none of the scratches and dust that were present on the earlier version, and there is a Dolby stereo option as well as the original mono. The stereo soundtrack offers greater clarity and depth and there's no low-level hum or hiss.

Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)


The image quality on this DVD is first-rate. The DVD case indicates that the film is presented in "full screen" format, which is somewhat misleading. It gives the false impression that the film has been "formatted" to fit a standard television. While the image does fit the screen without black bars on the top and bottom, the original aspect ratio of the film has been preserved. That is because it is not a "wide screen" film. Like most films of the period it was shot in standard 1.33:1 (or 4:3), which is the same aspect ratio as a standard television set, so cinema purists need not be alarmed. In other words, there is no annoying "pan and scan" of the image or parts of the frame cropped off to fill the television screen.

The Glass Bottom Boat


This movie is comedy at its best! Doris Day and Rod Taylor make a great team. You never get tired of this classic. It is an old formula that works well.

Out of the Past


This is one of the best examples of Film Noir ever produced. Everything about the production is dark and troubling, yet so fascinating that you can't turn away. The trio of Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas are central to the plot, and all are brilliant in their roles. Mitchum is perfect as the cool and smart former Private Investigator turned gas station owner who finds out that he still has entanglements from his previous life, Kirk Douglas is the absolute embodiment of a cold, calculating career criminal, and beautiful Jane Greer manages to ensnare everyone in her web of mystery and deceit.

A Walk In The Sun (Restored)


Finally!!!! A restored, clean and complete release. The visual effects starting in the landing barge and continuing to the start of the Walk are just awesome. On this DVD you actually see and feel the night slowly creeping towards dawn. Thank you VCI. Great job.

The Prophecy 3: The Ascent


I liked this one best out of all three. Christopher Walken as Gabriel was at his best. I liked Gabriel in the other two, I loved him here. The premise behind the story was a bit cliche, but its delivery was incredible! The action scenes were also much better, "borrowing from "The Matrix," but then again, who doesn't these days." They were much more what one might expect from angels.

The Shawshank Redemption (Single Disc Edition)


Every so often in everyone's life, they walk out of a movie that they consider perfect. A movie where you don't sit through it and think to yourself how you might have done it all differently had you been the director. I have a couple of movies like that, and "The Shawshank Redemption" is one of them. I still remember clearly walking out of the theater in 1994 and thinking that I've just seen one of the best movies that I'll ever have the pleasure of sitting through. A movie so elegant and emotional that is perfect in its way of storytelling. A movie that is about how hope can never die. The movie earned several Academy Award nominations that were certainly well-deserved, but it left theaters all too quickly. Over the years though, it has gained a strong cult following.

The Digital Photography Book


I have enjoyed photography as a hobby for 50+years. I own a Canon 20D and am a Scott Kelby fan. He is a great photoshop expert, yet emphasizes the importance of getting the best possible shot when taking the picture, to make your time in photoshop more enjoyable. You don't have to work as hard if you make the correct exposure to begin with.
The most popular Bestsellersitems on Amazon.com. Updated hourly. CLICK !!

Canon Deluxe Photo Backpack 200EG for Canon EOS SLR Cameras (Black with Green Accent)


I had so much stuff in my huge LowePro Nova 5AW shoulder bag that it hurt my my shoulder and back to carry it around. Saw the Canon 200EG Backpack and based on reviews ordered one. I am impressed. It was about 1/2 the price of my LowePro bag. Its very well designed with lots of compartments, padding, external straps and quality materials. It holds everything that was in my other bag and I still have more room. I've got a Canon 20D with BGE2 battery grip, 3 zoom lenses (one a telephoto), a Canon 580EX flash, a Slik mini tripod, lens hoods for all the lenses, and a large assortment of filters for all the lenses all inside the main compartment.

The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography (Amphoto Guide Series)


I picked this book and another by Kelby (The Digital Photography Book) based on reviews from this site and recommendations from several photography forums. When the two are compared, it is no contest Miotke's book wins hands down. That's not to say that Kelby's book is terrible, it is, in fact, quite good.

Blog Archive

My Blog List