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The War Of The Worlds
Science Fiction & Fantasy Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Robert Cornthwaite, Sandro Giglio, Lewis Martin, Houseley Stevenson Jr., Paul Frees, William Phipps, Vernon Rich, Henry Brandon, Jack Kruschen, Cedric Hardwicke, Jimmie Dundee, Hazel Boyne Byron Haskin
After the success of 1950's "Destination Moon" and 1951's "When Worlds Collide", visionary producer George Pal brought the classic HG Wells story of a Martian invasion to the big screen, and it instantly became a science-fiction classic and winner of the 1953 Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It's a work of frightening imagination, with its manta-ray spaceships armed with cobra-like probes that shoot a white-hot disintegration ray. As formations of alien ships continue to wreak destruction around the globe, the military is helpless to stop this enemy while scientists race to find an effective weapon. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson play the hero and heroine roles that were"de rigueur" for movies like this in the 50s, and their encounter with one of the Martians is as creepy today as it was in 1953. It finally takes an unseen threat--simple Earth bacteria--to conquer the alien invaders, but not before "War of the Worlds" has provided a dazzling display of impressive visual and sound effects. This is a movie for the ages, the kind of spectacle that inspired little kids such as Steven Spielberg (not to mention Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, whose "Independence Day" is a remake in all but name) and still packs a punch. --"Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com"

Weeds - Series 1
Comedy Romany Malco, Mary Louise Parker, Kevin Nealon, Elizabeth Perkins

Weird Science
Anthony Michael Hall, Kelly LeBrock, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Bill Paxton, Suzanne Snyder, Judie Aronson, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Rusler, Vernon Wells, Britt Leach, Barbara Lang (III), Michael Berryman, Ivor Barry, Anne Bernadette Coyle, Suzy J. Kellems John Hughes
Yes, that is Bill Paxton as Mitchell-Smith's militaristic big brother. And that's Robert Downey Jr. as one of the in-crowd jerks who makes nerds Mitchell-Smith and Hall's lives miserable. Fortunately, this is a John Hughes comedy and our smart nerds create the perfect woman, Lisa (Kelly LeBrock), using a computer and voodoo. Lisa is a willing sex toy, has magical powers, and just wants to help the boys get even and meet nice babes. She even cleans up. The fantasy ebullience of Hughes is given full rein here and that's good and bad (mostly good). It's all aimed at a certain kind of hormone-addled, 16-year-old sensibility; but who doesn't have a little bit of that in them? --"Keith Simanton, Amazon.com"

The West Wing - Complete Season 4
Drama Jason Ensler
This fourth and last season for creator, Aaron Sorkin is certainly the best of the series. Every episode has you glued to your television. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to watch the last two episodes back to back. You haven't seen intense drama so perfectly crafted (especially the last ten minutes of the second to last episode) untill you've seen this. You'll be so stiff with concern, almost to the state of shock, before you realize the bitter taste of adrenalin in your own mouth. Sorkin, the director, and the actors (brilliant, every one) have you sympathizing with them so much, you'll think you're a part of it all. That's what drama is supposed to do. You'll want to watch it over and over.

The West Wing - Complete Season 7
Drama Martin Sheen, Robert Lowery, Stockard Channing, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, John Amos, Timothy Busfield
Covering the final months of the Bartlett Presidency, Series 7 represents a fitting sign off for what has been one of the greatest TV series produced. Over the last seven series, we have been treated to great writing, acting and directing.

All the old stagers from the previous six series continue to deliver great performances in their charactors. As to be expected, there is a lot of focus on the election campaign to succeed President Bartlett and Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda pick up where they left off as the sparring candidates. Both actors have added greatly to the core cast and turn in great performances in Series 7 all the way up to the election result.

The episode focussing on Leo McGarry as a tribute following the death of John Spencer was a great tribute to an actor that has been central to this great show.

On a personal note, it was great to see Sam Seaborn return (albeit briefly). I always felt it was a shame the show lost Rob Lowe's charactor serveral series ago, but Sam is brought back into the show nicely in a sequence that references that classic opening episodes of Series 2.

If you are already a fan, you will probably already have bought it. If you aren't a fan yet.....buy it anyway and then prepare to order the previous six series box sets and to spend a lot of time in front of your TV.

"Four more years.......four more years....."

The West Wing - Complete Series 3
Drama Stockard Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, Rob Lowe, Joshua Malina, Mary McCormack, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Jimmy Smits, Martin Sheen
There is no letdown in talent or skill for the third season of this blue ribbon drama. One could say these 22 episodes play as a continuation of the second season; there are no major new characters or earth-shattering plots and the Emmys rewarded the series with its third straight award for Best Drama (and unlike season 4, no one argued about the laurels). The third year starts with a stand-alone episode "Isaac & Ishmael", a special show created, shot, and broadcast 22 days after the 9/11 events. Although the final results tend to be sermonic, the fact the show was able to drop everything and commit to a new season opener is evident not only of talent, but of a disciplined work force operating at the top of their game.
President Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) decision to run for reelection after the disclosure of suffering MS fuels the fire for the first half of the season. Depositions are filed against the staff, minor mistakes take on more significance, and the White House consul (Oliver Platt) has the run of the table warning of worst-case scenarios. The focus soon turns to the First Lady (Stockard Channing) as the potential "Lady Macbeth" of the scandal. Channing aces her role and turns her birthday celebration ("Dead Irish Writers") into one of the season's highlights. Assistant Donna (Janel Moloney), her boss Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), and press secretary C.J. (Alison Janney) all have charismatic romances, but the ace supporting player this year is John Spencer as the relentlessly loyal Chief of Staff Leo McGarry. Whether delivering the hard truth, accepting the proverbial bullet for the President, or being our guide to how Bartlet ran in the first place (in another wonderful flashback episode, "Bartlet for America"), all roads lead to McGarry. Acting Emmys went to Channing, Spencer, and Janney, but the strength of this show is that the entire cast has glorious moments (Toby's taking on the President's mode of operation, Sam's belief in government, or the President's peculiarities of Thanksgiving are just a few). Recurring guest stars--the likes of Ron Silver, Tim Matheson, Mary Louise Parker, and Mark Harmon--deliver some of their career-best work. Crack writing, a breathless pace, plus you learn a bit about government. What else do you want from a TV drama? "--Doug Thomas"

The West Wing - Complete Series 5
Drama Martin Sheen, Glenn Close, Gary Cole, Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Alison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Dule Hill, Janel Moloney, Stockard Channing, Joshua Malina
No one should claim that Season 5 of the West Wing matches up to the highs of the earlier seasons, particularly 1-3. The episodes tend to be slightly more disjointed, occassionally irreverant, and certainly less gripping than those of the West Wing at its peak. As happened towards the end of Season 4, there is an altogether unnecessary tendency to use time jumps within episodes, which can both be confusing and break up the flow of the plot in a rather ineffective way. Also, as mentioned in an earlier review, Kate Harper enters the series as a thoroughly redundant and one dimensional character who cannot hope to match Fitzwallace or Nancy McNally in terms of security advisors.

Nevertheless, as the title says, the flaws still don't prevent the series from outshining the vast majority of other drama series by some distance. The characters remain as brilliantly conceived and performed as ever, and the story lines are still excellent if not so perfectly executed. Never even consider letting the drawbacks prevent you from watching or buying, simply be aware that its not the West Wing at its finest, which is hardly a mighty criticism.

The West Wing - Complete Series 6
Drama Martin Sheen, Stockard Channing, Alison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Alan Alda, Jimmy Smits, Gary Cole
Anyone who dismisses WW6 as a tawdry sequel to the heights scaled by previous series of this magnificent drama should take another look. Admittedly, the pace and quick witted nature of the Sorkin era has been somewhat lacking since the creater's departure from the production team, but this in no way detracts from the series as a whole. The progression of the storyline is as captivating as ever and the final episdoe of WW6 is, in my opinion, one if the greatest ever produced. The development of the characters in this series has been somewhat fierce and at times unsettling (speaking as an avid WW fanatic since series 1). The west wing is now home to increasingly few of our favourite characters, as they all set about defining their own futures. It seems inevitable that nothing will remain as it was in the 'good old days', but this adds to the dynamic feeling of the series. Each episode leaves you wondering what will happen next. For anyone in doubt about buying this dramatical masterpiece should place all preconceptions aside and buy it now - right now - you will NOT be disappointed

The West Wing - Season 1 Part 1
Drama Jason Ensler
Aaron Sorkin's American political drama "The West Wing", set in the White House, has won innumerable awards--and rightly so. Its depiction of a well-meaning Democrat administration has warmed the hearts of countless Americans. However, "The West Wing" is more than mere feel-good viewing for sentimental patriots. It is among the best-written, sharpest, funny and moving American TV series of all time.
In its first series, "The West Wing" established the cast of characters who comprise the White House staff. There's Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer), a recovering alcoholic whose efforts to be the cornerstone of the administration contribute to the break-up of his marriage. CJ (Alison Janney) is the formidable Press Spokeswoman embroiled in a tentative on-off relationship with Timothy ("Thirtysomething") Busfield's reporter. Brilliant but grumpy communications deputy Toby Ziegler, Rob Lowe's brilliant but faintly nerdy Sam Seaborn and brilliant but smart-alecky Josh Lyman make up the rest of the inner circle. Initially, the series' creators had intended to keep the President off-screen. Wisely, however, they went with Martin Sheen's Jed Bartlet, whose eccentric volatility, caution, humour and strength in a crisis make for such an impressively plausible fictional President that polls once expressed a preference for Bartlet over the genuine incumbent.

The issues broached in the first series have striking, often prescient contemporary relevance. We see the President having to be talked down from a "disproportionate response" when terrorists shoot down a plane carrying his personal doctor, or acting as broker in a dangerous stand-off between India and Pakistan. Gun control laws, gays in the military, Fundamentalist pressure groups are all addressed--the latter in a most satisfying manner ("Get your fat asses out of the White House!")--while the episode "Take This Sabbath Day" is a superb dramatic meditation on Capital punishment.
Handled incorrectly, "The West Wing" could have been turgid, didactic propaganda for The American Way. However, the writers are careful to show that, decent as this administration is, its achievements, though hard-won, are minimal. Moreover, the brisk, staccato-like, almost musical exchanges of dialogue, between Josh and his PA Donna, for instance, as they pace purposefully up and down the corridors are the show's abiding joy. This is wonderful and addictive viewing.--"David Stubbs"

The West Wing - Season 1 Part 2
Drama Jason Ensler
Aaron Sorkin's American political drama "The West Wing", set in The White House, has won innumerable awards--and rightly so. Its depiction of a well-meaning Democrat administration has warmed the hearts of countless Americans. However, "The West Wing" is more than mere feel-good viewing for sentimental patriots. It is among the best-written, sharpest, funny and moving of recent American TV series.
In its first series, "The West Wing" established the cast of characters who comprise the White House staff. There's Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer), a recovering alcoholic whose efforts to be the cornerstone of the administration contribute to the break up of his marriage. CJ (Alison Janney) is the formidable press spokeswoman embroiled in a tentative on-off relationship with Timothy Busfield's reporter. Brilliant but grumpy communications deputy Toby Ziegler, Rob Lowe's brilliant but faintly nerdy Sam Seaborn and brilliant but smart-alecky Josh Lynam make up the rest of the inner circle.
Initially, the series' creators had intended to keep the President off-screen. Wisely, however, they went with Martin Sheen's Jed Bartlet, whose eccentric volatility, caution, humour and strength in a crisis make for such an impressively plausible fictional President that polls once expressed a preference for Bartlet over the genuine incumbent.
Handled incorrectly, "The West Wing" could have been turgid, didactic propaganda for The American Way. However, the writers are careful to show that, decent as this administration is, its achievements, though hard-won, are minimal. Moreover, the brisk, staccato-like, almost musical exchanges of dialogue, between Josh and his PA Donna, for instance, as they pace purposefully up and down the corridors are the show's abiding joy. --"David Stubbs"

The West Wing - Season 2 Part 1
Drama Jason Ensler
The second series of "The West Wing" takes up literally where the first series left off and, after a few moments of slightly toe-curling patriotic sentimentalism, maintains the series' astonishingly high standards in depicting the everyday life of the White House staff of a Democratic administration.
The two-part opener covers the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), switching between the anxious wait on the injured and flashbacks to Bartlet's campaign for the Presidency. Other peaks in a series exceedingly short on troughs include "Noel", the episode in which Alan Arkin's psychiatrist forces Josh Lynam to confront his post-traumatic stress disorder and the concluding episodes in which President Bartlet, having lost his secretary Mrs Landingham in a tragic car accident, rails angrily against God in Latin.
Other new features of this series include the introduction of Ainsley Hayes, a young Republican counsel hired after she beats communications deputy Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in a TV debate ("Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!" crow his colleagues), as well as the revelation (to us first, then later his staff) that the President has been suffering from multiple sclerosis. Meanwhile, the White House must move heaven and earth to make incremental political gains as well as deal with a host difficulties abroad, demonstrating, some might argue, more compassion, skill and restraint than that exercised by the real-life US administration.
With Aaron Sorkin's dialogue ranging as ever from dry, staccato mirth to almost biblical gravitas, an ensemble of overworked (and curiously undersexed) characters and an overall depiction of the workings of government that's both gratifyingly idealised yet chasteningly realistic, "The West Wing" is one of the all-time great American TV dramas. --"David Stubbs"

The West Wing - Season 2 Part 2
Drama Jason Ensler
The second series of "The West Wing", Aaron Sorkin's relentlessly erudite drama about life behind the scenes at the White House, continues here with the emphasis on President Bartlet's multiple sclerosis, a condition that he has hitherto concealed from the American electorate and most of his staff. Tensions grow between himself and the First Lady (Stockard Channing) as she realises, in the episode "Third State of the Union" that he intends to run for a second term in office.
It becomes clear to Bartlet (Martin Sheen) that he must go public with his MS, and his staff are forced to come to terms with this, as well as deal with the usual plethora of domestic and international incidents, which apparently preclude any of them from having any sort of private lives, least of all love lives. These include crises in Haiti and Columbia, an obstinate filibuster and a Surgeon General's excessively frank remarks about the drugs situation. Thankfully, the splendid Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) is on hand to make chief of staff Leo McGarry's life more of a misery in "The Drop-In".
These episodes, though occasionally marred by a sentimental soundtrack and an earnest and wishfully high regard for the Presidential office, are masterclasses in drama and dialogue, ranging from the wittily staccato to the magnificently grave, capturing authentically the hectic pace of political intrigue and the often vain efforts of decent, brilliant people to do the right thing. "Two Cathedrals", which features flashbacks to Bartlet's schooldays and his thunderous denunciation of God following a funeral, is perhaps the greatest "West Wing" episode of all.
On the DVD: "The West Wing, Series 2 Part 2" features no extras, though the transfer is immaculate. --"David Stubbs"

What Have I Done To Deserve This?
World Cinema Carmen Maura, Juan Martinez, Cecilia Roth
I think the other reviewer, as mentioned by himself, missed the genius of it...

The film is not about a big plot...is about every day life, trivial things...

it's beautiful for it's simplicity, the acting, direction, clever jokes...it would help if u could see it in spanish and knew something about Spanish culture at the time it was done.

It's very difficult to produce something complicated and make it look like it was effortless, just like that was an hidden camera filming those people's life.

For some reason is considered to be one of the best Almodovar films.

Will and Grace: Series 1
Comedy James Burrows (II)
Hit American sitcom "Will and Grace" is as perky as "Friends" and as wittily urbane as "Frasier". The premise concerns Will (Eric McCormack), a mildly uptight lawyer who agrees to have as a flatmate his best friend, interior designer Grace (Debra Messing). Their relationship has all the hallmarks of lovers--emotional dependency, little things that get on each others' nerves, strong mutual interests and volcanic arguments. The only snag is that while Grace is straight, Will is gay.
Though not shy of poking sharp fun at that situation, "Will and Grace" is among sitcom's most potent and sophisticated antidotes to homophobia. Though initially a little too pleased with its own camp pertness, the show grows and grows on you with successive episodes, finally becoming indispensable. It also benefits from secondary characters Jack (Sean P Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally), also gay and straight respectively, both outrageously and hilariously irresponsible characters: he a free spirit and freeloader, she's "working" as Grace's assistant even though she doesn't need the money, having married it. Despite its diamond and rapid-fire punchlines, "Will and Grace" conveys enough sense of the main characters' lovelorn predicament to prevent it from becoming too cute. --"David Stubbs"

Will and Grace: Series 1
Comedy James Burrows (II)
Hit American sitcom "Will and Grace" is as perky as "Friends" and as wittily urbane as "Frasier". The premise concerns Will (Eric McCormack), a mildly uptight lawyer who agrees to have as a flatmate his best friend, interior designer Grace (Debra Messing). Their relationship has all the hallmarks of lovers--emotional dependency, little things that get on each others' nerves, strong mutual interests and volcanic arguments. The only snag is that while Grace is straight, Will is gay.
Though not shy of poking sharp fun at that situation, "Will and Grace" is among sitcom's most potent and sophisticated antidotes to homophobia. Though initially a little too pleased with its own camp pertness, the show grows and grows on you with successive episodes, finally becoming indispensable. It also benefits from secondary characters Jack (Sean P Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally), also gay and straight respectively, both outrageously and hilariously irresponsible characters: he a free spirit and freeloader, she's "working" as Grace's assistant even though she doesn't need the money, having married it. Despite its diamond and rapid-fire punchlines, "Will and Grace" conveys enough sense of the main characters' lovelorn predicament to prevent it from becoming too cute. --"David Stubbs"

Will and Grace: Series 1
Comedy James Burrows (II)
Hit American sitcom "Will and Grace" is as perky as "Friends" and as wittily urbane as "Frasier". The premise concerns Will (Eric McCormack), a mildly uptight lawyer who agrees to let his best friend, interior designer Grace (Debra Messing), to become his flatmate. Their relationship has all the hallmarks of lovers--emotional dependency, little things that get on each others' nerves, strong mutual interests and volcanic arguments. The only snag is that while Grace is straight, Will is gay.
Though not shy of poking sharp fun at that situation, "Will and Grace" is among sitcom's most potent and sophisticated antidotes to homophobia. Though initially a little too pleased with its own camp pertness, the show grows and grows on you with successive episodes, finally becoming indispensable. It also benefits from secondary characters Jack (Sean P Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally), also gay and straight respectively, both outrageously and hilariously irresponsible characters: he a free spirit and freeloader, she's "working" as Grace's assistant, even though she doesn't need the money, having married it.
Despite its diamond and rapid-fire punch-lines, "Will and Grace" conveys enough sense of the main characters' lovelorn predicament to prevent it from becoming too cute.--"David Stubbs"

The Woodsman
Drama Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Eve, Mos Def, David Alan Grier, Benjamin Bratt Nicole Kassell
Kevin Bacon gives one of the best, most nuanced performances of his career in "The Woodsman", a daring and thought-provoking drama he co-produced with his wife, Kyra Sedgwick. In portraying a convicted pedophile named Walter, recently released from prison and struggling to rebuild his life, Bacon and writer-director Nicole Kassell (making her feature-film debut) do a remarkable job of exploring all facets of this troubling yet very human character, from his continuing criminal impulses to the despair he feels over having to conceal his horrible past. Sedgwick costars as the one woman who appears willing to accept Walter, secrets and all, and while "The Woodsman" takes a few regrettable shortcuts in illustrating Walter's quest for the good man he can be, the film deserves to be seen and discussed as a provocative yet admirably humane study of an individual whom society may too quickly label a "monster." The film allows for different interpretations, and that complexity--along with Bacon's performance--makes it worthy of a wide and hopefully understanding audience. "--Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com"



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