NCIS: Los Angeles - The First Season

A Different Town, A Different Team...
"NCIS: Los Angeles" is a spin-off of the popular TV drama series "NCIS", short for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. NCIS: LA, first pitched in a cross-over episode on NCIS, features the work of an undercover team from the Office of Special Projects, located in a confiscated villa in Los Angeles. Its mission is to deal with criminals, terrorists and spies who threaten national security.

"NCIS: Los Angeles", a younger, hipper version of the original, took a little while to find its footing. Its early selling point was the wonderful buddy team chemistry of special agents G. Callen and Sam Hanna, played with zest by Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. Their verbal sparring and collaboration is a highlight of the show.

The team roster took awhile to settle. The increasing prominence given Linda Hunt as eccentric Operations Manager Hetty Lange provided balance and wry humor. Daniela Ruah as field agent Kensi Blye quickly established her street credentials; the...

Can outdo its predecessor!
As an avid fan of the original NCIS series, I was happy to hear that a spinoff would be introduced!
I've only every seen Chris O'Donnell in Greys Anatomy, and only heard of LL Cool J, Danielle Ruah, etc. as part of the series. But they top off an amazing series that I surprisingly prefer to the original!

Although I love the witty banter of the Gibbs team, the upbeat comedy they integrate into the LA series (particular Sam and G!) cracks me upp time after time. Nate brings a whole new characteristic to NCIS, where profiling suspects is lacked in the original seriesm whilst Hetty provides a mothering comic relief to the series. Dom, Kensi and Eric also appear frequently, and add a new dimension the original series does not. You may grow tired of just the Gibbs team, but the other agents provide a refreshing new outlook. It also manages to integrate well with the original, frequently including Abby and Vance.

Overall, aside from being a crime procedural, it...

Some technical details
Very good TV serie. If not, I wouldn't have bought it.

I give only here some precisions for languages useful for foreign customers like me.

Audio : English and French for all episodes.

Subtitles : English, Spanish and Portuguese.

French subtitles for episodes 1 and 2 (spin offs from NCIS East coast), and for all the extras (discs 1 and 6).

Remaining of episodes are not French subtitled, but you can listen them in French like mentionned above.

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Tommy [Blu-ray]

25 years and better than ever!
As the five-star rating would indicate, I've loved TOMMY sincethe day it opened (and yes, I was there for its premiere). I've alsopurchased the movie in just about every incarnation that have been released: videotape, laserdisc, and now DVD.

What's most exciting about the DVD version -- and something which doesn't seem to have been mentioned in other Amazon reviews -- is that the soundtrack to the film has been completely restored. "Quintaphonic sound" may sound a little silly and may not even mean much in this age of digital sound, but TOMMY was the movie that saw the rebirth of multi-channel audio (most films of the late 60s and early 70s were either mono or 2-channel stereo). The enhanced 5-channel discrete sound was a perfect extension of Ken Russell's audacious visuals. The tag line to the movie was "Your senses will never be the same," and it perfectly described both the visual AND aural assault on audience members.

Well, this DVD is the first (and...

a REVIEW from an OWNER ....sadly NO bonus features!!!!
I was thrilled to pick this up a few days early at my local record store....but HORRIFIED to find it a bare bones affair. Yes, it does look even better than the Superbit version but my UK 2 DVD set from 2004 has HOURS of bonus features...
1) Director Commentary
2) insightful interview with Ken Russell by Mark Kermode
3) more of Ken Russell discussing Tommy
4) Pete Townshend interview
5) Roger Daltrey interview
6) Ann-Margret interview
7) Trailer, Press Promo materials, a featurette on the Sound...
NONE of this is on the new Blu-RAY....
with any luck it will all be on an all region UK blu-ray..
I'll refer to this version as a Boo-Ray...
GREAT MOVIE...but I can't rate this a 5 STAR Blu-Ray DVD...my review is NOT for the movie but the product/presentation itself...

Plenty weird yet compelling - and the music's great
Having heard about Tommy for years, I felt it was time to actually watch the movie. I had never acquired much of a sense for what the movie is about, probably because I don't think it is really possible to actually explain the film to anyone else. This is some pretty weird stuff. As the thing progressed, I had a hard time figuring out if I liked what I was seeing, whether it made any sense, etc. In the end, I must say I did enjoy the film, thanks largely to Daltrey, the music, and Ann-Margaret. What does it all mean? That's a toughie, as I'm sure the story means different things to different people. I had the sense that Tommy is supposed to be some kind of spiritual experience, and in some ways it is - maybe.

Here's my ridiculously oversimplified summary of the basic story. As a kid, Tommy is messed up pretty good, having witnessed something pretty dramatic; as a result, he becomes deaf, blind, and mute - for psychological rather than physical reasons. His mother...

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Wall Street (Insider Trading Edition)

New extras worth double dipping
When Oliver Stone made Wall Street, he was riding high from the commercial and critical success of Platoon (Special Edition). His father, Lou Stone, had been a stockbroker on Wall Street in New York City and this film was a son's way of paying tribute to his father. Almost twenty years later, it has become one of the quintessential snapshots of the financial scene in the United States and epitomizes the essence of capitalism, greed and materialism that was so prevalent in the 1980s.

Michael Douglas owns the role of Gekko and by extension dominates the movie with his larger than life character. He gets most of the film's best dialogue and delivers it with such conviction. There is a scene between Bud and Gekko in a limousine where he tells the younger man how the financial world works, how it operates and lays it all out, pushing Bud hard to go into business with him. It is one of the strongest scenes in...

The movie that helped to end the Cold war
To watch this movie in Moscow in 1988 as a student was a liberating and exhilarating experience. Here is the capitalism close-up, warts and all. And we loved it. In three more years the Soviet communism will be dismantled, free market hurriedly introduced, and some of my friends and fellow students will proceed to become very rich people themselves. I did not know then, that Gordon Gekko, a villain who incidentally was much admired by me, was a thinly veiled portrait of Ivan Boesky. Boesky, who incidentally was a son of Russian immigrants, became a center of the biggest insider trading scandal and government investigation in the 1980s, which let to the collapse of junk bond powerhouse firm Drexel Burnham. However, I knew that Gekko must be much more than a villain, otherwise how this ugly character could be so attractive? Of course, a huge part of it was a superb acting by Michael Douglas. But watching this film now, 17 years later, gave me an opportunity to ponder more on the subject...

Wall Street is one of our favorite movies, this edition is not better than the 20th anniversary edition
2 Disc Set - Insider Trading Edition, released September 7, 2010

Wallstreet was made in 1987 by writer and director Oliver Stone and starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, Darryl Hannah, and John C. McGinley. A young stockbroker after months of persistence finally bags the big fish, Gordon Gekko, a man whose presence and lifestyle he idolizes. He shuns his blue collar background in pursuit of greed and impatiently engages in illegal insider trading.

I first watched this movie after a book called "Now Showing" claimed it to be one of the best 25 movies....ever, I guess. I must say, all in all, it was a good movie. I actually really liked Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen's work in it and I believed their relationship. The pull of an actual father and son relationship really added to the authenticity of the roles. I finally got to see Michael Douglas just the way I like him -- being a bad guy, someone getting the best of him, and not seducing...

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Goosebumps: Go Eat Worms

Great video
Bought this video for my two boys ages 5 and 9. We are a big fan of Goosebumps. We all enjoyed this one with it usual suspence and goriness. As always it was appropriate for kids--not TOO scary or gory, just enough to make it fun!

Worms, Magic Tricks, and Gnomes!
Here are three more 22 minute episodes from the Goosebumps TV series based on the books by R.L. Stine.

In Go Eat Worms, Todd Bastrow is obsessed with worms and torturing his sister with them, but then the worms start playing tricks on him.

Tim Swanson is an amateur magician in Bad Hare Day, in which he sneaks out with his little sister to go to the Amaz-O Magic Show. Tim ends up stealing the Amaz-O's bag of tricks.

Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes is the best on this disc, where the lawn gnomes come to life at night and wreck the neighbor's yard.

These three tales would make a great addition to your DVD collection!

Worms are Friends not Food
I bought this for my second grade daughter who considers her idea of heaven to be all the Goosebumps books she can read or a Goosebumps Marathon on television. The first episode on the disc is "Go Eat Worms", in which a sadistic boy is taught empathy by the worms he tortures (well they try to anyway). The second episode "Bad Hare Day", a young aspiring magician meets a talking rabbit. Finally (my favorite) "Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes"...is classic. Two rival neighbors are pitted against each other when the lawn gnomes began vandalizing the prize winning rose gardens.

Favorite Quote: Don't you know anything about gnomes? We make mischeif, it's what we do.

My daughter's favorite was also Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, "Because the lawn gnomes come to life and destroy the yard."

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I'm Gonna Explode

i adore this film BUT....
I get a pleasing sensation watching Marie Deschamps and Jean Pablo de Santiago for over an hour because they really do have beautiful faces and very cool personalities That thing Roman does with the red and white stocking pulled down to his nose, as a hat, with eye-holes scissored out is adorable. Marie Deschamps looks like a young Marie Schneider.

Maru is surrounded by bulls******* people seem to fall short of her deeps and sensabilities always. Roman is still freaked out about his mother's death. He's the rich kid with a credit card instead of parental attention .However i still found the father and his girl-friend full of accountability. It's just that their world has no room for the needs of a developing teen.. He has psychotic fantasies to deal with his frustrations.but nothing truly disturbed. Maru wants a relationship that transcends the superficiality surrounding and excluding her. Roman has a void inside. These are their pivots acting like magnets.It's full of...

Teenage Romance Or Rage Against The Machine? Rebellions And Tantrums Under The Mexican Sun
The creative team behind the interesting "Drama/Mex" continues its quest to prove that there is no such thing as a healthy, well-adjusted teenager in Mexico! "I'm Gonna Explode" unite two such disaffected youths in a drama of alienation, co-dependence, and romance on the run. But whether you view the couple as true rebels or as simply brats (and I might make a case either way)--"I'm Gonna Explode" taps into some real feelings of angst. And like "Drama/Mex," "I'm Gonna Explode" asks the viewer to regard the young protagonists in a sympathetic light even if their bad acts and selfishness might not always warrant compassion. Ah, but the foibles of youth!

"I'm Gonna Explodes" introduces Roman, the privileged son of a local congressman. Roman's trauma stems from the death of his mother and the blame that he places firmly on his father's shoulders. With homicidal fantasies, including a brutal opening sequence, it's hard to immediately get behind the sullen character...

Excellent teenage drama from Mexico
I was looking for a good foreign movie to watch and when I was browsing the foreign movie section at my local library (here in Blue Ash, suburban Cincinnati, which has tons of great foreign movies in its collection), I fell upon this. Didn't really know much about it but boy, I am glad I picked this up.

"I'm Gonna Explode" (104 min,; originally released in Mexico in 2008; finally released on DVD in the US in 2010) brings the story of HS outcasts Ramon and Maru, who find each other by happenstance and immediately click. They run away, causing Ramon's dad, a highly-regarded politician, to start a search for the teenagers. As it turns out, the teenagers have set up camp (literally) on top of Ramon's (hence dad's) mansion. Sparks fly between Ramon and Maru. They feel like soulmates. But things eventually take a turn when they are found out, with dramatic consequences. You'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out, and I guarantee that you won't be disappointed...

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Frozen

When Nature Has the Upper Hand
We've seen so many thrillers in which the threat comes from something unnatural, be it a ghost, a zombie, or a masked serial killer that cannot himself be killed. This is partly why "Frozen" is such a refreshing experience - nature itself is the threat. Human beings are capable of withstanding a great deal, but there's always a breaking point, and this movie does a pretty good job of searching for it. It begs the question: What would you do if you found yourself in a similar situation? Is there anything that could be done? Or is it merely a matter of waiting to die? For something that very easily could have been a mindless shock fest, "Frozen" is instead an effective story where suspense builds from a fairly plausible situation.

As far as the plot is concerned, there isn't all that much to describe. In fact, it can all be summed up in one sentence: At a mountain resort, three college kids struggle to survive when they're left stranded on a ski lift. Everything depends on...

A Harrowing And Character Driven Tale Of Survival--"Frozen" Is NOT A Horror Film
A dubiously labeled "horror" film--"Frozen" is actually a surprisingly strong film about survival. If you were disappointed by "The Blair Witch Project" (a harrowing film about being lost, not about witches) or "Open Water" (a film more reliant on the drama of helplessness than on shark scares), then you will probably see little point to "Frozen." If, however, the very real frights of those films unsettled you--this film should tap into the same sensibilities and be right up your alley. An incredibly tense tale of three friends who are stranded on a ski lift, "Frozen" explores very real and powerful feelings of isolation and desperation as the trio comes to terms with their situation. Realizing that to survive is to act is only the first hurdle. Unfortunately, it seems as if nature itself is conspiring against the kids.

"Frozen" is a surprisingly sophisticated drama despite its very simple premise. The terror is understated and real (not at all what I was expecting from the...

absolutely excellent - will keep you on the edge of your seat
This film just opened today in limited release and I just came back from watching this film. Very few films take us through a real original disturbing and masterfully crafted edge of your seat thriller/drama/horror adventure movie....All I have to say is... studios look and learn. I could only hope more films were this engrossing. As I watched I was so involved in what was going on, my popcorn and coke fell out of my hands. This is a really truly horrific scenario that is so real and could very much happen just about anywhere at anytime and without notice. The actors, Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore and Emma Bell gave nothing short of outstanding performance and the direction is flawless. Saw Zegers in Transamerica and really like his choice of work... have been following him for sometime now and I look forward to seeing more work from Shawn Ashmore and Emma - all very gifted actors who really own their craft. Back to the film... I was inmerse from the get go till the end and you never...

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Scrubs: The Complete Ninth and Final Season

Decent in it's own right, horrible for Scrubs' legacy.
It's too bad that this show had to be called Scrubs, because it would have made a relatively good first season of a different show. And, as another reviewer has pointed out, the Scrubs holdovers were often the worst part of this last season.

Why was this show finally canceled? Let us count the ways:

1. In a move that apparently only the staff writers found funny, Zach Braff's J.D. became increasingly vane, stupid, and effeminate to the point of being totally ridiculous. This change began in season 5 when JD's silliness leaked out of his fantasies and into his normal behavior, when J.D. began truly acting selfishly with regard to his relationships with Elliot (especially) and Turk (occasionally). This annoyance persisted throughout seasons 6 and 7 as the fantasies got longer and dumber and the stories lost their humanity and realism. Though the writers sagely brought back the sweet and introspective J.D. for almost all of season 8, we find him back in his...

Different
I think my biggest and really only problem is that they named this Scrubs season 9 and not season 1 of "The new Scrubs" or "Scrubs: Med School" This was not the original Scrubs, but would have been a good series in itself. With a fresh young cast and some of the leftovers from the original I thought this had a good balance of new and old. I think that bringing the old Scrubs fans into a new spin off show, instead of them hoping they would get another season of their beloved show would have been a much wiser decision, and it may have been renewed if that were the case. If you are a fan of Scrubs and go into this seeing it as a spin off you will most likely love it. If you go into watching it thinking it will be the same as the prior 8 seasons you will be severely disappointed.

Suffering from old actors and old name
Upon reading others' reviews of the product, I have also decided to write my own (somewhat biased) review.

This television show suffered from two main problems, the first of these is that it carried on the name "Scrubs." This is by far the worst decision ABC could have made regarding this show. In the same way Fraiser, Mork and Mindy, or countless other spin-offs created new titles for themselves while still keeping familiar characters this series needed to do the same. Do NOT buy this product if you are expecting the same brilliance that can be found in the first 8 seasons of this show. It is a different show all together, much as Bill Lawrence wrote on his blog about the show. People expecting the same characters and same relationships as before will find themselves sorely disappointed in the product, much as I am.

The second "unforgivable sin" which you will note that many other reviews (both previous and following this one) is the return of the characters and...

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