South Pacific (Collector's Edition)

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Rodgers and Hammerstein's Academy Award -winning "South Pacific" is a towering musical masterpiece and the tender love story of a naïve young Navy nurse (Mitzi Gaynor) and an older French Plantation owner (Rossano Brazzi) on a U.S. occupied South Sea island. The breathtaking score is highlighted by some of the most romantic songs ever written: "Some Enchanted Evening," "There is Nothin' Like a Dame," "Younger Than Springtime" and more. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, South Pacific ranks among the most celebrated of Rodgers and Hammerstein's acclaimed musicals.

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The dazzling Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, brought to lush life by the director of the original stage version, Joshua Logan. Set on a remote island during the Second World War, South Pacific tracks two parallel romances: one between a Navy nurse (Mitzi Gaynor) "as corny as Kansas in August" and a wealthy French plantation owner (Rossano Brazzi), the other between a young American officer (John Kerr) and a native girl (France Nuyen). The theme of interracial love was still daring in 1958, and so was director Logan's decision to overlay emotional moments with tinted filters--a technique that misfires as often as it hits. The comic relief tends to fall flat, and an overly spunky Mitzi Gaynor is a poor substitute for the stage original's Mary Martin. But the location scenery on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is gorgeous, and the songs are among the finest in the American musical catalog: "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger than Springtime," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair," "This Nearly Was Mine." That's Juanita Hall as the sly native trader Bloody Mary, singing the haunting tune that launched a thousand tiki bars, "Bali H'ai." Based on stories from James Michener's book Tales from the South Pacific. --Robert Horton


South Pacific (Collector's Edition) Customer Review


The music in this movie is it's best asset. Viewer be warned: All of these people were dubbed, and you WILL notice it too, so don't let that get in the way of the melodies.
You will not help noticing the leffect of filters in different colors: Redish for sunset, intense Technicolor Blue for romantic scenes, Blinding Yellow for beach scenes, all of these are light versions of the formica and plastic that had started to invade America and it is an aesthetic pop-cultural phenomenon that remains unmatched. I daresay it may have influenced Andy Warhol's color schemes.
I found the whole story particularly difficult to believe, even by Holywood's standards, and had it not been a musical, the movie would not have been a pleasure to watch. Mitzi Gaynor is superb as an early fashion icon for lesbians. Her athletic, strong and horsy version of womanhood has been an inspiration for Gay women everywhere, as well as her early-butch haircut that is so fabulously curled when wet. Her consistent masculine fashions and manish demeanor, even when speaking in French can only be understood from this perspective.
Juanita Hill is great in her role, but Mitzi truly is the paramount presence in the film. From a sociological perspective, this is an indication of the new roles of women in America after the war.
The lead roles for the men are not as exciting: Rossano Brazzi is just too uptight to be French and John Kerr is not inspirational as the young hero soldier. Although he is shirtless in most of the scenes, he emanates the sensuality of a pine trunk recently cut down. It is hard to believe that the beautiful native girl (that looks more Chinese than islander) could fall in love, and so quickly with this dead beat. The men in the background look better suited for these roles. There are plenty of shirtless handsome guys in the film, which is a definite bonus.
Culturally speaking, it is sort of embarrassing to see the dance-ceremony sequel which had African masks galore and a confusion of dance/choreography rhythms that could only be summarized as post-king-kong-erotic-island shake. There is also plenty of misplaced Chinese infusions, from the ultra-white shirt that Liat wears to Emile's children's physical looks, accents and overall demeanor.
However, It is easier to understand this film as a product of the times that had also recently produced the atomic bomb.
Extremely important for scholars of pop culture, early pop art, late surrealism, post-atomic aesthetics and gender studies.

★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★

Family 20 Movie Pack

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Comedies and adventures abound in this collection of films starring the likes of Jack Benny, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Shirley Temple and Van Johnson.

Included:
1. Africa Screams
2. Borrowers, The
3. Captain Kidd
4. Christmas Without Snow, A
5. Coach of the Year
6. Father's Little Dividend
7. Flying Deuces, The
8. Gulliver's Travels
9. Inspector General, The
10. Jack and the Beanstalk
11. Jungle Book, The
12. Little Lord Fauntelroy
13. Little Princess, The
14. Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
15. Magic Sword, The
16. New Adventures of Heidi, The
17. Over the Hill Gang Rides Again, The
18. Over the Hill Gang, The
19. Pied Piper of Hamelin, The
20. Son Of Monte Cristo, The

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Family 20 Movie Pack Customer Review


The FAMILY 20 MOVIE PACK is a treat for kids of all ages. These classic movies will never lose their appeal. If you'd like, go ahead and sing along with Abbott & Costello, Shirley Temple or Danny Kaye. Is high seas action what you prefer? Then be sure to check out "Captain Kidd" or "Long John Silver." For fans of great literature, there's also "Gulliver's Travels," "Jungle Book," "Little Lord Fauntleroy" and the Pied Piper. You'll even find some more modern family-oriented titles. All in all it's a great mix, at a great price!

COMEDY KINGS 20 MOVIE PACK is an excellent companion to this box set.

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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(6.2) Africa Screams (1949) - Abbott & Costello/Clyde Beatty/Max Baer/Shemp Howard/Joe Besser
(6.5) The Borrowers (TV-1973) - Eddie Albert/Tammy Grimes/Judith Anderson
(6.3) Captain Kidd (1945) - Charles Laughton/Randolph Scott/Barbara Britton/John Carradine
(6.2) A Christmas Without Snow (TV-1980) - Michael Learned/John Houseman
(5.6) Coach Of The Year (TV-1980) - Robert Conrad/Erin Gray/Red West
(6.5) Father's Little Dividend (1951) - Spencer Tracy/Joan Bennett/Elizabeth Taylor/Billie Burke
(6.8) The Flying Deuces - Laurel & Hardy/Jean Parker/James Finlayson (in support)
(6.7) Gulliver's Travels (animated-1939) - vocals: Jessica Dragonette/Lanny Ross (Jack Mercer as Gabby
(6.8) The Inspector General (1949) - Danny Kaye/Walter Slezak/Elsa Lanchester/Alan Hale (in support)
(5.5) Jack And The Beanstalk (1952) - Bud Abbott/Lou Costello/Buddy Baer
(6.7) Jungle Book (1942) - Sabu/Rosemary DeCamp
(7.2) Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) - Freddie Bartholomew/C. Aubrey Smith/Mickey Rooney
(7.1) The Little Princess (1939) - Shirley Temple/Cesar Romero/Arthur Treacher
(5.6) Long John Silver's Return To Treasure Island ("Long John Silver") (Australia-1954) - Robert Newton
(2.7) The Magic Sword (1962) - Basil Rathbone/Estelle Winwood/Gary Lockwood
(3.6) The New Adventures Of Heidi (TV-1978) - Burl Ives/Katy Kurtzman/John Gavin
(5.0) The Over-The-Hill Gang Rides Again (TV-1970) - Walter Brennan/Fred Astaire/Andy Devine
(5.9) The Over-The-Hill Gang (TV-1969) - Pat O'Brien/Walter Brennan/Gypsy Rose Lee
(6.0) The Pied Piper Of Hamelin (TV-1957) - Van Johnson/Claude Rains/Jim Backus
(6.1) The Son Of Monte Cristo (1940) - Louis Hayward/Joan Bennett/George Sanders/Clayton Moore (in support)

★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★

Assault on Precinct 13 [HD DVD]

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Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/08/2006 Run time: 108 minutes Rating: Pg13

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Action buffs will have a fine time with the spray of bullets, shattering glass, and pyrotechnic silliness that makes up the bulk of Assault on Precinct 13. Updated from the little-known cops-and-robbers classic John Carpenter made in 1976 (two years before he made his name with Halloween), this high-concept thriller is mostly a lowbrow kill-fest, and is very happy with itself for being so efficient in both categories. A decrepit police station on its last night before retirement--New Year's Eve, no less--plays unexpected home to a gang of criminals who become snowbound in the basement lockup. Another mysterious gang of people who stealthily gather in the blizzard outside want one of the particularly nasty criminals (Laurence Fishburne) dead, and they'll take the rest of the precinct down too, by golly. The odd lot of characters trapped inside include a burned-out sergeant (Ethan Hawke), a sexpot secretary (post-Sopranos Drea de Matteo), an even sexier police psychologist (Maria Bello), and various other good guys and bad guys who variously go down in blazes of guts, glory, bullets, and fire. Hawke and Fishburne are opposite sides of the coin: the law, and the bathroom scale. Their need to partner in order to survive the guns outside is the movie's moral conflict, and both actors chew on Precinct 13's peeling walls and scuffed floors to drive the point home every chance they get. Obvious filmmaking fakery abounds in everything from the irksome snowstorm, frequent gunshots to the head, and a shadowy forest that conveniently presents itself in an industrial section of Detroit for the climactic showdown. No matter, this Assault is for non-thinkers who want blood and gunpowder, with no messy slowdowns for logic, please.--Ted Fry


Assault on Precinct 13 [HD DVD] Customer Review


Assault on Precinct 13 [HD DVD], is a very good movie. It has a balance of action and suspense and is well done. The 2 main stars Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne give great performances, and so does the rest of the cast. If you liked Training Day, you should check this movie out. The bonus features were also interesting and very detailed so check those out as well.

★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★

Valdez is Coming

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OscarÂ(r) winner* Burt Lancaster (Birdman of Alcatraz, From Here to Eternity)gives a powerhouse performance as an aging Mexican-American lawman who erupts into a one-man army in this bold saga of retribution and redemption. Valdez Is Coming boldly recreates America's Western frontiera place where life was sometimes cheap...but honor was always priceless. When it comes to keeping the peace, former frontier sheriff Bob Valdez has always been the voice of reason in a sea of chaos. But Frank Tanner (Jon Cypher) is a very different sort of man: greedy, impulsive and rotten to the core. So when Tanner provokes a shootout that results in the death of an innocent man, Valdez orders him to provide financial support for the widow. But when Tanner not only refuses but also laughs in his face, Valdez dusts off his old uniform, straps on his guns and vows toexact justice and vengeance at any cost.

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There's nothing like the laconic, confident ease of Burt Lancaster in his gray years, even in the unlikely role of an easy-going Mexican. Bob Valdez is a deputy sheriff in an American frontier town bubbling over in racism. Scapegoated by the community for the death of an innocent victim of a trigger- happy posse and crucified, literally, by the sadistic gunrunner (Jon Cypher) responsible for the tragedy, the quiet lawman takes up arms in a bloody campaign that begins with the mantra: "Tell him Valdez is coming."

Adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, the script is hardly subtle or original and it never makes the gaping chasm between the search for justice and the bloody reign of terror work in any dramatic terms. It's a rather amorphous morality tale without a solid grounding, but it's dutifully violent, charged with righteous anger, and makes good use of the stark landscape (it was shot in Spain, giving it even more of the flavor of a spaghetti Western). It's a bit embarrassing how Hollywood puts the spotlight on racism by casting a white actor to play the wronged minority, but Lancaster creates a wonderful character in Valdez. With gentle eyes and a tired smile behind a face covered in brown Hollywood makeup, he brings sure-footed authority and calm ruthlessness to a mission of justice by a man wronged one too many times. --Sean Axmaker


Valdez is Coming Customer Review


I am old enough to had the pleasure of watching this movie on the big screen many, many years ago. It is as exciting today as it was then. Burt Lancaster performed excellent in his role as the elderly Bob Valdez, a local constable and former Army cavalry scout. Initially, Bob comes upon a large group of men firing upon a murder suspect. After the man's death, Bob determines the man was innocent and believes the right thing to do is to compensate the man's expectant widow. Bob later approaches some of the shooters and asks for their support. He is advised that if he can convince a local ruthless gun dealer to contribute, they will do the same. This gun dealer instigated the shooting of the innocent man and showed no remorse for doing so. Bob seeks him out and is violently turned away. The rest of the movie details his attempts to get the ruthless gun dealer to donate. In an attempt to confront him, Bob sneaks into his bedroom at night and attempts to force the man (at gunpoint) to pay the money. A gun fight errupts and Bob escapes with the mistress as hostage. The gun dealer retaliates against one of Bob's friends by threatening his family and burning down his house. Bob retreats into the neighboring mountains pursued by the rancher and his men. Eventually Bob is cornered, resulting in a one-on-one confrontation with the gun dealer.

★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★

People Will Talk

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Screen legend Cary Grant stars as Dr. Noah Praetorius, a lovable professor and head of a medical clinic who becomes the subject of a McCarthy-style investigation initiated by a jealous colleague (Hume Cronyn). Along the way, Praetorius befriends and ultimately marries a young woman who attempts suicide when she discovers she is pregnant. Baut as the witch-hunt into the good doctor's personal life progresses, so do the laughs in this well-crafted, all-star treasure that should be part of every film lover's collection of classics.

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After winning consecutive best director Oscars (for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve), Joseph Mankiewicz turned his attention to this extremely curious social comedy. Cary Grant plays a famous, idealistic gynecologist whose mysterious past is questioned by a vindictive colleague (Hume Cronyn). Meanwhile, the doctor falls for a pregnant patient (Jeanne Crain), whose unmarried status is daring for a movie of 1951 vintage. The title is an all-too-apt description of Mankiewicz's chatty style, but it also carries sinister echoes of the McCarthy era--specifically, an attempted right-wing purge of the Director's Guild, I which Mankiewicz was the main target. This subtext lends interest beyond the movie's rather tame romance. The Grant character, named Doctor Praetorius (no relation to the Bride of Frankenstein wacko, one hopes), conducts a college orchestra and is prone to "twilight sadness"--it's an offbeat role for the actor, and one he clearly relishes. --Robert Horton


People Will Talk Customer Review


This is a wonderful movie on Friendship and Love. It shows just what being a true friend is as well as shining a light on social ills at the time. Gary Grant is awesome and the character of Mr. Sunderson is PERFECT!

A must watch!

★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★

Waiting to Exhale

Waiting to Exhale Sale

Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett star in this funny and touching film about four women who find strength through their rare and special relationship. Savannah, Bernadine, Robin and Gloria are all searching for the Real Thing: true love. Bernadine thought she had it, until her husband left her for another woman. Savannah and Robin are successful in business but their love lives are bankrupt. And divorcee Gloria is getting back in the game by flirting with her new, very eligible neighbor. Based on Terry McMillan's best-selling novel, and featuring the #1 smash hit "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)," "Waiting to Exhale" is the film you and your friends have been waiting for! Original score by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

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Based on a novel by Terry McMillan, this weepy melodrama about four African American women and the men who wronged them became an instant cultural phenomenon when it was released back in 1995. It's easy to see why Exhale struck a nerve: the movie boasts an attractive cast of African American actresses and personalities, including Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, and Lela Rochon. Unfortunately, though, Exhale sags under the weight of its soapy, crisis of the week plotting and relentlessly cheery "you go, girl!" optimism. And African American men, cast here as insensitive lovers and pigheaded materialists, get the very short end of the feminist stick. Perhaps moviegoers were simply responding to the brilliant soundtrack by R&B superstar Babyface, who provided the movie's only real groove. --Ethan Brown


Waiting to Exhale Customer Review


Great cast of females .great movie got this from w mart years ago i really enjoy watching this movie

★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★

Nim's Island (Widescreen Edition)

Nim's Island (Widescreen Edition) Sale

Nim Rusoe (Abigail Breslin) lives on a deserted island with her scientist father Jack (Gerard Butler) and her best friends: Selkie, a sea lion; Fred, a bearded dragon lizard; and Galileo, a plucky pelican. But when Jack goes missing at sea and the island is "invaded," Nim reaches out via e-mail to the adventurous author (Jodie Foster) of her favorite books, and together, each discovers what it takes to truly become the hero of your own life story.

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Adventure doesn't always begin with pirates on the high seas or explorers deep in the desert; sometimes it starts with an idyllic life on a private island in the middle of the South Asiatic Sea. For 11-year old Nim (Abigail Breslin) and her father and microbiologist Jack Russo (Gerard Butler), life is perfect thanks to their love of nature, Jack's mechanical ingenuity, and regular deliveries via supply ship. Loneliness is never an issue for Nim because of her special friendships with Selkie the sea lion, Galileo the pelican, and Freddie the iguana and her education is intensive, if rather unique. Adventure and imagination are ways of life for Nim whether she's heading out to sea to help her father collect plankton specimens, playing soccer on the beach with Selkie, or delving into the latest Alex Rover adventure novel, but everything changes when Jack departs on the boat for a two-night expedition to collect plankton specimens and gets caught in an unexpected storm. Alone on the island, Nim begins to worry about her father's safety as well as her own and, through a chance email, connects with Alex Rover (Jodie Foster) whom she begs to come help find her father. Problem is, author Alexandra Rover is an unbalanced big city shut-in who's afraid to leave her townhouse, not the fearless adventure hero portrayed in her books. Nim, Alexandra, and Jack embark upon the adventures of a lifetime in which each must overcome his or her own fears and perceived powerlessness and limitations in order to grow and help one another. The question is; can each prevail against his or her own insecurities and the fury of nature? Based on the novel Nim's Island by Wendy Orr, Nim's Island is first and foremost a captivating adventure full of suspense and peril which also offers a touching look at the love between a father and daughter. (Ages 7 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

Beyond Nim’s Island on DVD

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium on DVD

Horton Hears a Who! on DVD

Alvin and the Chipmunks on DVD

Stills from Nim’s Island (Click for larger image)

Nim's Island (Widescreen Edition) Customer Review


We picked up a copy of Nim's Island few weeks ago, but I never felt motivated to plug it in and give it a look. Then last night my 10-yr old daughter and I watched it. I was amazed by how entranced I became when Emily Breslin started reading the new book from Alex Rover. The way the filming gave us a look into the imagination of 11-yr old Breslin was captivating. I would actually have been happy if more of the movie had been filmed that way.

Anyway, the plot development was interesting, and is in my opinion worthy of family viewing.

I liked the dual role played by Gerard Butler (Timeline (Widescreen Edition), The Phantom of the Opera (Full Screen Edition)) and the psychotic reclusive OCD writer role played by Jodie Foster.

I actually had to stop watching midway throuugh, but I plopped back down and watched the rest as soon as I had chance! I watched it all the way through, and enjoyed the whole thing!

Of course there were major weaknesses here and there in the storyline, but it's all in good fun, and I think "Nim's Island" is a great film for the kids (and their grown-ups) for a Saturday afternoon. It's escapist entertainment that is wholesome and fun.

4 solid stars!

★★★ Read More Reviews ★★★