Beasts of the Southern Wild

A Beautiful Elegy to a World That is Dying
I am a coonass. I am from Southwest Louisiana and am a part of the joie de vivre culture of South Louisiana. This world has embraced me and rolled up in its cocoon of love of place, of family, of celebration all my life. Beasts of the Southern Wild comes the closest of any movie I have ever seen to expressing the truth of the sheer beauty of life in the swamps. Through the devastation of hurricanes, the opression of the wealthy, and the well-meaning of outsiders, we survive. And yet our world is dying. We know it as surely as we can see the trees dying on the marshes as the salt water moves further inland, because our buffers are dissappearing. We know it when we drive the roads and watch the waves lap against our tires or roar against the sides of our cars. We know it when we fish and see the open water where once there was land.

This movie, better than any other, cherishes these truths and films them. I'm grateful that Zeitlan chose not to embrace Cajuns in this...

Everything you hope for in a film
A good film is a confluence of many variables. A good director orchestrates these variables into a finished form. Beasts of the Southern Wild is such a film and Behn Zeitlin is such a director. And the brilliance of Zeitlin is that he manages to take all manner of seemingly contradictory elements and make them,as a nameless boat captain says in the film, cohesive.

One such variable is story. Hushpuppy is a six-year-old girl who lives with her father on the wrong side of a levee in a fictitious Southeast Louisiana town called The Bathtub. The film follows her point of view, and the world of her active imagination and the real world around her often intertwine on screen. The film is your standard coming of age story, but it is this unique perspective of Hushpuppy and her understanding of the world around her that is the foundation of the film and its magic.

Another variable is music. The director worked closely with his friend and composer Dan Romer in creating the...

Like 'Whale Rider', a Powerful Performance from a Child in a Great Film
BOTSW is easily the best movie of 2012 so far (although I loved 'Moonrise Kingdom' too), and the stars should get ready for Oscar season. The pacing may be off-putting to some, but if you can handle artsy fare, you're sure to love it. The story tells the tale of eight year old Hushpuppy, who must save her father, friends, and herself from mysterious beasts in what may or may not be the end of the world. The lines between fantasy and reality are very blurry, which makes this movie a great discussion piece for a group. One thing I will note is that while everything about this movie is exceptional, the score is one of the best I've heard in a long time. I went to a screening with the film's director and two stars, and they spoke to how organic the entire film process was, and how elements in the script were rewritten for each of the leads so the dialogue would sound authentic to the deep south. Every detail is watched carefully, and this is truly a must-see.

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Rio (Blu-ray/ DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

3D Review by a 3D Connoisseur
My ratings are based mainly on the QUALITY OF THE 3D, not the video content.

GET THIS; There are about 145 out of screen effects that extend about 10% of the way, from the screen to the viewer and another 36 ranging from 15% to 25%.

The quality of the 3D, in screen and out is exceptional and the movie had my wife and I in stitches many times. This is defiantly a homerun by 20th Century Fox. For animated films, this ranks right at the top along with Open Season and Ice Age.

*** Put this one on your list to ***
*** add to your 3D collection ***

MY 3D RATING = EXCELLENT (poor, fair, good, very good, excellent)

Note: As far as the percentages go, everyone's eyes are different. What I see at 25% you may see at 15% or 35%. To fully realize how far something is out of the screen for you, pause on an effect and direct a partner with an extended finger to the tip of what you are seeing. You may be surprised.

Click on `See...

An animated delight
A rare bird is kidnapped from his adoring owner, who must try to retrieve him. Along the way, the bird encounters various delightful, and some not so delightful, characters. Top notch animation, colorful visuals, and prudent voice selections highlight this animated delight. The storyline and the humor will appeal to adults and children alike, as I found myself getting a few laughs out of this one. The 3D effect is outstanding, and this is a movie for which you will want to lay out the extra expense for the 3D glasses. You don't need a babysitter tonight, as the whole family will enjoy this one.

Familiar themes, but highly entertaining with gorgeous animation
The best single word I can use to describe the film Rio is 'vibrant' as it's the colors that really hit you. One can see why, when you're doing a story about birds, setting it in Brazil with its dazzling variety of brilliantly multicolored avian species is a truly inspired choice.

The story begins when a baby blue macaw in the Brazilian rain forest falls (literally) into the hands of exotic animal poachers and ends up being shipped to the US where, by a fortunate accident, he ends up being adopted by a young girl named Linda in a small town in, of all places, wintry Minnesota. A quick flash forward shows girl and bird, which she names Blu, growing up together, to fifteen years later where Linda is now an adult who owns her own bookstore. The thing is though, Blu, raised as a house-bird, never learned how to fly.

The plot really begins when a Brazilian ornithologist named Tulio comes to Linda's store, having learned from her web-site that she's the owner of Blu,...

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In Living Color - Seasons 1-5

Copyright ruins the value of this set
I would give this a five-star review, but upon watching it and seeing my favorite skits and most especially the music videos edited out, I feel ripped-off to the point I think my money is better spent on watching what's missing on youtube or finding old tapes.

IF you can get over the fact that there have been edits to the DVDs with the missing music videos cut completely and other skits edited (especially the super bowl special), then you can enjoy this. For someone whose enjoyment nostalgia is ruined by the cheapskates who refuse to pay copyrights for the parodies and to let us enjoy the raw humor that defined this magnificent series, I can't enjoy it as much as I wish I did.

Otherwise, this is okay for now.

Good TV Show, but sadly dated and heavily butchered by censors.
The series is from the early 1990's so i wonder if many younger people will appreciate the jokes. Comical quips about reagan, bush sr., exxon valdez, etcetera.

the comedy is rather raw, meaning the show was fundamentally built around making something funny, not politically correct.

sadly that and copyrights butchered the series.

the musical performances at the end of the show are on the disc, but i can't remember enough of the show to tell what else is missing.

a quick wiki look and online search can answer far better than i, but i will say that one of the funniest sketches was demolished. there is a sketch called men on film.
that skit is about two homosexual men reviewing various things, and in this case, they are commenting on a super bowl game during half time. the performance was done live and was extremely funny, but offensive to some celebrities. it also grabbed a HUGE, in the double digits of millions huge amount of viewers from...

Brilliant Production!! Ahead of it's Time!!
Over the years I had forgotten just how extremely talented these actors were. The "Fly Girls" are very attractive as well as very talented. I can't remember when I laughed so hard!! Great comedy!!!

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How I Met Your Mother: Season Six

The Season That Tried To Get Mature
How I Met Your Mother is a great show. Let's get that out of the way first. It has excellent character development, clever humor and an original way of telling its story. With that in mind, I thought Season 6 was the first of the show in which maybe the writers were a little misguided and a little short on ideas. I'll start with the positives:

(Will contain spoilers if you haven't seen all of Season 6)

If you're considering purchasing this season, I'll give you five episodes that absolutely make it worth it:
"Big Days" (episode 6.01)
"Subway Wars" (episode 6.04)
"Blitzgiving" (episode 6.10)
"Legendaddy" (episode 6.19)
"Hopeless" (episode 6.21)

It's no coincidence that two of my favorite episodes of the season are the only two episodes John Lithgow played in. His portrayal of Barney Stinson's awkward long lost father is absolute dynamite. I can't rave enough about how well his character was drawn up. It made sense from a real...

A Season of Development
Season 6 is, to me, fundamentally different from all other seasons of HIMYM thus far. As with all seasons, Ted has his lady interest, in this case Zoey, who is a polar opposite of Ted yet ingratiates herself briefly into the gang's social group. Zoey is a radical protestor who, it turns out, has set her sights on protesting the destruction of the Arcadian, a building which is being destroyed to allow for the construction of a new Goliath National Bank HQ, which, ironically, Ted has been chosen to design. Nonetheless, Ted is his usual self, falling in love without heeding the potential consequences. Clearly, this provides for interesting tension over the course of the season as the two battle their feelings for each other. Oh. Did I forget to mention? Zoey's married.

This season contains heartbreak and fundamental events in the lives of some of the characters. Marshall is plagued by a loss even as he attempts to conceive with Lilly. Robin attempts to get over a brutal...

Mostly disappointing
Even though I still love HIMYM, the cleverness has taken a beating in recent years and the notion of an endgame is increasingly distant. Even though season 8 promises that Ted will meet the mother by the end (and they mean it this time), season 6 has an incredibly loose relationship with the show's mythology. In service of the mother plot, there's a scene at the beginning and the end of the season concerning where Ted met the mother; however, the rest of the season meanders about without too much concern for that conclusion.

Still, that conclusion shouldn't matter. The show has always been 15% mother storyline and 85% solid sitcom. Sadly, without the mother anchoring the show, the goofier moments have gotten less funny and the feeling of dragging along just becomes more profound. How many stories does this show have to tell about Ted growing up or Barney learning that he can't be a player all of his life? Does the show have to dangle plots in our faces that have already...

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The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season

"Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos"---Homer
Season 8 may be the last above average season of The Simpsons. It would not be long after this season when I stopped enjoying The Simpsons as much. Their story lines became increasingly over-the-top and the shows were often to intent on focusing on the celebrity of the week. This season starts to go in that direction with some way-out episodes, but is not quite there yet. Season 7 is my favorite but Season 8 has many gems including "The Homer They Fall," "Burns, Baby Burns," "Lisa's Date with Density," "Hurricane Neddy," "Homer Vs. The Eighteenth Amendment," and "In Marge We Trust."

"Treehouse of Horror VII": (a) The Thing and I: Bart finds out he has an evil Siamese brother Hugo; (b) The Genesis Tub: Lisa conducts experiments with her fallen baby tooth and creates a mini society. When she is zapped into miniature size, she warns the little society against the "Dark One" (Bart); (c) Kang and Kodos come to earth posed as Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. Of course, with the...

The End of an Era...
I looked forward to buying the next released season of The Simpsons on DVD every year, however, getting season eight this year is going to be a bittersweet occasion. Of course, I add yet another solid gold season of The Simpsons to my collection, but this in turn will result in the end of my Simpsons collection. Yes, like many other reviewers of this DVD set on Amazon, I share the same sentiment that this is the last season worth buying. From season 9 and onward, the show grew progressively worse in the long run, and lost what made it worth watching in the first place.

Basically, this is the last season of The Simpsons that retained its witty sense of humor, and didn't resort to outlandish storylines and throwing in celebrity guest stars week after week. Episodes like "You Only Move Twice" (I love the 007 scene), "A Milhouse Divided", "The Twisted World Of Marge Simpson", Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(ANNOYED GRUNT)cious", "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", "Homer's...

Still "Life in Hellish" cynical, hilarious and fresh in season 8.
Episodes of The Simpsons in season 8 were still remarkably fresh, funny and for the most part full of that razor-edged dark humor prevalent in anything developed by "Life In Hell" cartoonist Matt Groening. In episodes like "Homer's Enemy," "The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase," "A Milhouse Divided" and many more you'll see why The Simpsons in its eighth season was the funniest satire on the sad state of the human condition to be found anywhere. Most of these episodes are extremely joke-dense and hilarious; it will take several viewings to catch all the humor packed into each 22-minute episode and with many a "freeze frame" gag in some of them (jokes that can only be clearly seen by freezing the picture) you'll be reaching for the remote occasionally to be sure you get every laugh available out of this set.

This set is 550 minutes long and includes all 25 episodes from season 8. It will be offered in a standard box and in a collectible "Maggie head" package. As usual, extra...

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