Dead Poets Society (Special Edition)

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Robin Williams stars as an English teacher who doesn't fit into the conservative prep school where he teaches, but whose charisma and love of poetry inspires several boys to revive a secret society with a bohemian bent. The script is well meaning but a little trite, though director Peter Weir (The Truman Show) adds layers of emotional depth in scenes of conflict between the kids and adults. (A subplot involving one father's terrible pressure on his son--played by Robert Sean Leonard--to drop his interest in theater reaches heartbreaking proportions.) Williams is given plenty of latitude to work in his brand of improvisational humor, though it is all well-woven into his character's style of instruction. --Tom Keogh

Description

In an age defined by crew cuts, sport coats, and cheerless conformity, he not only broke the mold ... he reinvented it. Academy Award(R) winner Robin Williams (Best Supporting Actor, GOOD WILL HUNTING, 1997) delivers an extraordinary performance in one of the most compelling motion pictures of all time. Williams stars as English professor John Keating, a passionate iconoclast who changes his students' lives forever when he challenges them to live life to the fullest and "Carpe Diem" -- seize the day! Keating's unconventional approach meets with irrepressible enthusiasm from his students, but the faculty at staid, exclusive Welton Academy prep school is, to put it mildly, not amused. Featuring a star-marking performance by Ethan Hawke and over three hours of never-before-seen bonus materials, this Special Edition of DEAD POETS SOCIETY will captivate and inspire you again and again.

Customer Reviews:

teacher to father.......2007-08-07

Interesting film. I saw this when I was young and I emphasised with the teacher who was bold, interesting full of life and passionate about what he believed was right. Now I am nearly 40 I find myself emphasising with the father who was basically playing the averages in the knowledge that this probably was best for his son. This is a brilliant film and one of my favourites of all time. I wonder what I will think when I am 70...In fact I know...Dreams make us alive and Robin reminded me of that.
Thanks.

One of my favorite movies of the 80's.......2007-07-25

This movie tends to grow on you. It is shameless on its manipulative stance on free thinking, poetry, and living poetically. I loved it.

Carpe Diem...Seize the day, gather ye rosebuds while you may.

YAWP!.......2007-07-06

There are a number of movies about a teacher who inspired his or her students. There are a number of stories about prep schools and students that learn to appreciate art and the classics as a way of helping them find themselves.

This movie is sort of the captain of them all. It is the leader. If there is a starting point, this is where it all began. If there is a measuring stick by which all other similar movies are judged, it would be this one. Robin Williams is simply amazing. While his actions are deemed controversial in the times in which he lived, watching the film today, many might think "what's the big deal?"

But it was a big deal. The character Williams portrays brings a boring class to life. He brings a bunch of bored prepschool boys out of their funk. He teaches them to love not only literature but life itself. A lesson that is echoed in many movies that will come after it....

I love this movie and rate it as a MUST SEE!

Absolutely Timeless.......2007-06-16

Some of the more cynical movie critics out there have been quick to slam 'Dead Poets Society', mistaking its beauty and idealism for over-sentimentality. In my view these critics simply need to open themselves up a little more.

The arrival of John Keating in a strict boys boarding school, blows open the lives and minds of all his young students. Perhaps this is where the film finds a place in the hearts of so many viewers. Many people will have spent their schooldays mired in tedium and waiting for someone to truly engage them. This is the gift that Mr. Keating bestows upon his students. The movie is a subtle, beautiful and moving examination of human relations.

The movie works heavily with the idiom that still waters run deep. Todd Anderson is new to the boarding school and extremely quiet. His shy nature is what guides him into the purview of Mr. Keating and allows him to become a sort of poetic protegé. The relationship between these two is one of the most touching parts of the movie and is sure to reach even the hardest of cynics out there.

To any potential viewer of this film, all I would say is open yourself up. This is a beautiful fim and will perhaps show what those schooldays could have been, given a little inspiration in the faculty.

Good for class.......2007-05-07

I used this in my class after reading several of the poems. Outstanding! Gave students a lot to think about.

Average customer rating:

Great movie!
Pure 80's laughter
80's Cult Classic
One for your collection
This flick is genius! TWO DOLLARS!

Better Off Dead
Starring: Yano Anaya , Curtis Armstrong , Frank Burt Avalon , John Cusack , and Elizabeth Daily
Director: Savage Steve Holland
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005JKFA
Release Date: 2002-07-16

Amazon.com

Lane Myer (John Cusack) is stuck in a personal hell. A compulsive, adolescent Everyman growing up in Suburbia, USA, not only does he fail to make the prestigious high school ski team (again), but his beloved sweetheart, Beth, also leaves him for Roy, the team's popular, arrogant captain. If this isn't bad enough, he's stuck with a mother who frighteningly experiments--rather than cooks--with food, a brother who builds rockets out of models, and a best friend so desperate for drugs that he settles for snorting powdered snow. Faced with these prospects, Lane opts to end it all ... until he comes up with a ridiculous plan to gain acceptance and win Beth back. Director Savage Steve Holland warps this simple, clichéd premise, letting his wacky imagination twist it into a fairly original, slightly dark, and completely hilarious '80s teen comedy. Not as serious a "suicide-attempt" movie as, say, Harold and Maude but just as funny, the film's more a collection of screwball sketches than a narrative. Holland livens the high jinks with surrealistic fantasy touches, including Jell-O that crawls, a hamburger that sings Van Halen, drawings that mock its creator, Japanese race-car drivers who only speak Howard Cosell, and a psychotic paperboy seeking blood over a missing $2. Cusack puts the whole thing on his shoulders and carries the insanity with another one of his touching, obsessively romantic performances, which, along with Say Anything, The Sure Thing, and One Crazy Summer, made him the quintessential (and appealing) personification of lovestruck adolescence and suffering. --Dave McCoy

Customer Reviews:

Great movie!.......2007-08-03

This movie is one of my all-time favorites. I am so glad that I own it now!

Pure 80's laughter.......2007-07-23

With this movie who has a mother that cooks food that always seems to walk off your plate? A funny but short movie with John Cusack in it as the main character. Wanting to beat the popular kid on the mountain slope he goes off to try and win the heart of a girl without killing himself skiing down the mountain. Some good music in this movie, and the best scenes are when his mother tries to cook the food and when she serves it, it seems to walk off their plates. Very 80's and it's a very young John Cusack.

80's Cult Classic.......2007-07-06

Love this movie. Definetly an 80's Favorite and totally underestimated! The young John Cusack is such a hottie!!

One for your collection.......2007-06-10

If you are looking for a corky, funny movie this is it. One of my all time favorites.

This flick is genius! TWO DOLLARS!.......2007-05-29

Who else loves this film? Apparently, John Cusack doesn't. Oh well!

The film is about a teenager, Lane Meyer, who is ridiculously obsessed with his girlfriend. After breaking up with her, he tries suicide. Of course, the attempts backfire on him. Meanwhile, she's with a new guy, Roy, captain of the ski team, and he's trying to avoid a paperboy who will try anything to acquire his two dollars, and unbearable events at his house with his off the wall family members. Fortunately, Lane's neighbors have taken in a French exchange student, Monique Junot, who seems to have a crush on Lane. Meanwhile, Lane has to defeat Roy in order to get his girlfriend's respect...

"Better Off Dead..." is DEFINITELY one of the greatest teen comedies ever conceived. It's truly an original, off the wall, hilarious film. Cusack will always be Lane Meyer to me.

Average customer rating:

RIDIN' THAT TRAIN....
Love Train
What shall we do with the drunken sailor?
Festival Express
Wave That Flag

Festival Express
Starring: Janis Joplin , The Grateful Dead , Janis Joplin & The Full Tilt Boogie Band , The Band , and Buddy Guy
Director: Bob Smeaton
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000305ZDO
Release Date: 2004-11-02

Amazon.com

The vintage concert footage alone makes Festival Express a memorable and worthwhile endeavor, offering scintillating performances by Janis Joplin, the Band (their rollicking version of "Slippin' and Slidin'" is particularly mind-blowing), the Grateful Dead, Buddy Guy, and others (remember Mashmakhan?). In 1970, during the heyday of the rock festival, promoter Ken Walker decided to organize a traveling musical revue, bringing the mountain to Mohammed, as it were. In five days' time, the festival played in three Canadian cities with the entire conglomeration traveling, playing, and getting smashed together the whole way. Nearly as rewarding as the live performances are the candid scenes of the train ride itself, an endless jam session and party during which musicians of all shapes and sizes let their hair down--musically and otherwise. The contemporary interviews with Walker and some of the surviving musicians aren't particularly noteworthy, except as a way to prove that it all actually happened. Walker comes off as a hero in the film: he treated the musicians like royalty and insisted that the train roll on even though he was losing his shirt. (His financial failure is a large reason why this material stayed in the vaults for so long.) Perhaps the most remarkable scene is an off-the-cuff, LSD-fueled train jam featuring Joplin, the Band's Rick Danko, and the Dead's Jerry Garcia playing the old chestnut "Ain't No More Cane." Danko is so obliterated that even Janis has to ask him if he's OK--when Janis is worried about your state of mind, you must be pretty messed up. --Marc Greilsamer

Description

Festival Express is a rousing record of a little-known, but monumental, moment in rock n' roll history, starring such music legends as Janis Joplin, The Band, and the Grateful Dead. Set in 1970, Festival Express was a multi-band, multi-day extravaganza that captured the spirit and imagination of a generation and a nation. What made it unique was that it was portable; for five days, the bands and performers lived, slept, rehearsed and did countless unmentionable things aboard a customized train that traveled from Toronto, to Calgary, to Winnipeg, with each stop culminating in a mega-concert. The entire experience, both off-stage and on, was filmed but the extensive footage remained locked away -- until now. A momentous achievement in rock film archeology, Festival Express combines this long-lost material with contemporary interviews nearly 35 years after it was first filmed.

DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

RIDIN' THAT TRAIN...........2007-09-06

This is a jam packed movie about a few sixties rockers riding the rails in Canada circa 1970. If you are into this sort of thing, you should definately check this one out. It's right up there in my top concert picks with WoodstockThe Movie.
As many have stated, Janis is pretty much the center of attention performance wise. The director must have had a special interest in her the most, because she gets the most camera time... but the other acts all put on stellar performances as well.
Grateful Dead with Pigpen is something everybody should see. There is very little footage that I know of that includes Pigpen (who died in '73) and in my book was the coolest member of the band. He does a version of HARD TO HANDLE that is pisser.
Buddy Guy rules too. Proto Jimi Hendrix type, really carries that axe, and does a version of MONEY (Thats What I want) that is without fail, the best performance of the song I've ever witnessed.
Then theres performances by The Band, Flying Burrito Brothers and New Riders Of the Purple Sage. However the highlights of the film are the scenes where the bands just hangout on the train, which is really fun to watch.
Somehow this little tour ended up going down as a failure, but you won't notice from this movie. In fact there is a scene where Jerry Garcia says the only part he didn't like, was when they stopped it. Great showcase of one of the last great scenes of the hippie era... check it out.

Love Train.......2007-09-03

This movie is possibly my fave music film! Everybody on the train was having so much fun!
Also, in the summer of '71 I rode those very same rails on frieght trains. At the time it was sort of national sport in Canada. It was a wild and loose time then. Everyone wanted to be Jack and Neal. The movie just reminds me of some very good times. You can see why no one wanted it to end.

Also the out takes are very good. The best footage of the Dead ever! It shows how important Pig was. After he died I never liked them as much. They were on a real roll then.
The whole tour was a one of kind never to be repeated event.

What shall we do with the drunken sailor?.......2007-08-30

Yeah, I hated it as well. They just looked like a bunch of self-indulgent, narcissistic "musicians" (oh, behave!). Definite talent amongst them, but so many sounded sooo overated when put to the old grey whistle test. There were a couple of countrified songs by the Dead that sounded ok, but mostly, the on-stage performances by just about everyone ranged from plain average to abysmal.

I realise this rockumentary should probably be taken as a period-piece but my advice is to use it as a hair-peace.

Anyway, I better stop now before my over-industrious hyphenations start to organise and begin a 60's rebellion all on their own. Imagine, horizontal bits of text gettin' hy.

Give this a wide berth unless you have a pair of them big hippy-style rose coloured glasses on the end of your nose.

Woody Guthrie caught trains to get from A to B. These guys were stopping at every letter of the alphabet - if you know what I mean.

Festival Express.......2007-07-19

Intimate performance film recreates the heady times of 1970, when the memory of Woodstock was still fresh. Grateful Dead fans will enjoy seeing Garcia in his prime, Joplin breaks your heart offstage (and dazzles you on-) and you can't go wrong with those other acts. Director Smeaton skillfully blends footage of the happening with contemporary reminiscences. A must for any rock fan.

Wave That Flag.......2007-07-03

The Fourth of July always puts me in the mood for a little Grateful Dead. To me they are the quintessential American band. It certainly fits musically, with their music drawing from the blues, country, bluegrass, and gospel, in addition to other streams of Americana. But, even more so, their collective personality was classic American, in lots of positive ways and plenty of negative ones too. They were fun, energetic, creative, exploratory, and generous, yet hypocritical, arrogant, fat, lazy, and ultimately self-indulgent to the point of self-destruction. They were dreamy idealists while at the same time the most crass of capitalists. And just in case the connection was too subtle for the heads, the Avuncular Jerry Garcia would croon it out on "U.S. Blues:" "I'm Uncle Sam,/ That's who I am/ Been hidin' out/ In a rock n' roll band."

You aren't going to catch a Dead show anymore, at least not the real deal, but Festival Express is a nice little treat to catch a little bit of contact vibe. I hadn't heard about this until recently, but apparently there was a traveling festival in 1970 including the Grateful Dead, Buddy Guy, Janis Joplin, and the Band. The concert footage is worth watching but even more amazing are the scenes from the train, traveling from town to town, with musicians completely inebriated and jamming non-stop in various combinations. It's worth it just to see a relatively young Jerry Garcia and a relatively old Janis Joplin sitting intimately and just making music. The movie also comes with a villain- though he is packaged as the hero- rock promoter Ken Walker. Hunched over, wringing his hands like Mike Myers playing Dr. Evil, and even with an old-fashioned handlebar mustache just to complete the malevolent ambience. He tells us over and over again how he saved the day in various venues. Threatening anyone in his path, punching out some Canadian mayor in the face, brandishing a gun to make his point, that kind of thing. He takes great pride in what we come to learn was a gigantic failure, but the movie would be less entertaining without this character.

Anyway, it is fun ride, you'll wish you could have been there. I recommend it as part of your Fourth of July festivities. Never mind that the entire film takes place in Canada. Some of the best of America is actually Canadian. This is nothing new, don't over-think it. It's just a good time.

Average customer rating:

Hilarious!
old times
so funny!
Drop Dead Fred
Just an upgrade

Drop Dead Fred
Starring: Phoebe Cates , Rik Mayall , Marsha Mason , Tim Matheson , and Carrie Fisher
Director: Ate de Jong
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00009NHAG
Release Date: 2003-07-22

Amazon.com

This not-quite-black comedy was probably a laugh riot on paper. The translation almost works, but the execution is flawed. Phoebe Cates is a recently separated young woman who suddenly begins to see her supposedly imagined childhood friend (Drop Dead Fred) after moving back into her mother's home. Is he a manifestation of her secret desires to ditch the boorish spouse? Or was he real all along? Rik Mayall is a limber, carrot-topped Brit with the lamentable assignment of trying to make us laugh with vulgar, sophomoric trickery. He is supposedly the repository of Cates's fastidious repression but is more annoying than cathartic. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Reviews:

Hilarious!.......2007-08-07

This was my favorite movie as a child! I used to rent it every weekend for a few years, got on my parents nerves. But I loved it then and I love it even more now.

old times.......2007-05-15

this movie was awesome.. was when i was little and still is now! only place i found it was here and the price BONUS!

so funny!.......2007-04-30

when I was a kid I loved this movie...it always bright the little kid in me and still does...its about an imaginary friend and the adventures he goes through..well kinda

Drop Dead Fred.......2007-03-29

Bought this for my 9 year old daughter and she can't stop watching it! She loves this movie! Thinks Fred is great and loves the "pants pie"....lol!

Just an upgrade.......2007-01-04

My daughter and I have watched Drop Dead Fred for years after renting it from a video store on VHS. Our own VHS tape had become worn and frayed - static and distortion while watching it. Mom decided it was time to upgrade to a DVD copy of it as part of Christmas. She's now 14 and still loves this hilarious show! ~*SNOT FACE!*~

Dead Silence (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Three Words: Bump that Ish!
Maybe I'm just too old
Dead Silence went dead
pretty decent..
Okay for what it is ....

Dead Silence (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Amber Valetta
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000PMLJMQ
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Customer Reviews:

Three Words: Bump that Ish! .......2007-09-16

******SPOILER********

Yah Know......There are a series of events that happen within the first 5 minutes of the movie that if it were real life, there would not have BEEN a movie. I know I know, it's only a movie. Hollywood is allowed to make ANYTHING into a movie, even if everyone reading this review know that It Aint gonna happen. The movie was not boring, took a little long to get to the point, and I will admit, there were quite a few parts that made me yelp. The twist on the end was clever, and worth the wait, and seeing the movie for the second time, I looked out for signs of the twist early on! For the most part, I had three words to say: BUMP THAT ISH!

Event #1: There is a knock on your door at 11:00pm. You live in a secured building.

Event #2: You look through your peep hole, no one is there....>STOP!! The movie should have been over at this point, because had that been anyone with a brain, that whole little "knock" thing would have been completely ignored, and for DANG sure wasn't nobody opening the door! But lets say curiosity gets the best of you, and you open the door ANYWAY...

Event #3: On the floor in front of your apartment door, there is a big brown box on the floor, with your name and NO return address......>STOP!! With the wake of terrorist attacks, I am not TRUSTING the package because I don't know who dropped it off, I wasn't expecting a package, it's 11:00pm AND there's no return address? In what world does it constitute bringing that into your home? Hell, it wasn't even wrapped in pretty paper! I was PLAIN BROWN with black marker for goodness sake!! But let's say you are still curious ( I am pretty sure most of us were moaning at the main character at this point) and you bring that box into your home IGNORING ALL THE SIGNS.....

Event #4: Inside the box you find a creepy looking doll with the most evil look on his face.

Event #5: The box looks too much like a red satin lined coffin.

Event #6: Your psycho girlfriend starts singing a song about how this chick who loved ventriloquist dolls will kill you if you scream when she visits you in your dream......>STOP!! Okay, at this point there is a fire place within 4 feet of our main character......all those conditions make a perfect night for a fire....and a burning doll. And an ex-girlfriend. Movie is over, The End.

Maybe I'm just too old.......2007-09-16

I really can't understand how others think sometimes. Take this movie, for instance. It scared the Hell out of me. On the creepiness scale it was off the chart. Light on gore and strong on atmosphere, it is reminiscent of the great horror flicks of yesteryear, like the original version of The Haunting. The dolls alone are enough to give any sane person nightmares. So why all the negative reviews? What am I missing here?

If you're a blood and guts fan this one isn't for you. This film is heavy on suggestion and suspense, with special effects used more as the spice than the main treat. Call it a thinking person's horror movie if you like.

In any event, if you agree with my prior reviews of scary flicks you'll like this one a lot. If you don't then there's plenty of slasher trash out there on DVD to keep you busy for years - sad but true.

Dead Silence went dead.......2007-09-15

I bought this in high expectations since it was made by the people of SAW (which was AMAZING). Leigh Whannell is one of my favorite movie writters but, no offense Leigh, but you did not do a great job on Dead Silence.

pretty decent.........2007-09-12

I realize movies are very subjective....I liked this movie..not giving it 5 stars because there is room for improvement but I found the premise a bit spooky..and dolls always freaked me out as a child and so did dummies...(and clowns LOL).. I thought this was a good movie...(I also liked House of Wax..which I find similiar in the weirdness category..)

Okay for what it is ...........2007-09-09

If you are looking for a silly horror diversion, this one fills the bill fine. Some weird gore, decent sets, a couple of decent jumps, and a very silly premise. It's improved by the actors who take it much more seriously than it deserves, but for a short horror flick it does have a few fun moments. Harmless fun. How old is Amber Valetta anyway?

Average customer rating:

teacher to father
One of my favorite movies of the 80's
YAWP!
Absolutely Timeless
Good for class

Dead Poets Society
Starring: Robin Williams , Robert Sean Leonard , Ethan Hawke , Josh Charles , and Gale Hansen
Director: Peter Weir
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305144168
Release Date: 1998-11-10

Amazon.com essential video

Description

Academy Award(R)-winner Robin Williams delivers a brilliant performance in one of Hollywood's most compelling and thought-provoking motion pictures. Williams portrays passionate English professor John Keating who, in an age of crew cuts, sports coats, and cheerless conformity, inspires his students to live life to the fullest, exclaiming ... "Carpe Diem, lads! Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary!" This charistmatic teacher's emotionally charged challenge is met by his students with irrepressible enthusiasm -- changing their lives forever. Magnificently directed by Peter Weir (THE TRUMAN SHOW), DEAD POETS SOCIETY earned unparalleled praise among audiences and critics alike. Discover for yourself what all the cheering's about!

Customer Reviews:

teacher to father.......2007-08-07

One of my favorite movies of the 80's.......2007-07-25

This movie tends to grow on you. It is shameless on its manipulative stance on free thinking, poetry, and living poetically. I loved it.

Carpe Diem...Seize the day, gather ye rosebuds while you may.

YAWP!.......2007-07-06

Absolutely Timeless.......2007-06-16

Good for class.......2007-05-07

I used this in my class after reading several of the poems. Outstanding! Gave students a lot to think about.

The Dead Zone (Special Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Very good Shocker from Stephen King and David Cronenberg.
One of the Better Stephen King Screen Adaptations
This Movie Is a Thought Experiment
ONE OF THE BEST "KING" ADAPTIONS TO DATE!
"You're Going To Get An Ice Cream Headache...."

The Dead Zone (Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: Christopher Walken , Brooke Adams , Tom Skerritt , Herbert Lom , and Anthony Zerbe
Director: David Cronenberg
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000GBEWH0
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Amazon.com

The Dead Zone is based on a novel by Stephen King, directed by David Cronenberg (Scanners, The Fly) and produced by Debra Hill (Halloween, The Fog). Such a trio of horror vets would be expected to come up with an evening of shocks and gore, but The Dead Zone is a surprise. While it has great atmospheric eeriness and undeniably scary moments, The Dead Zone is at heart a sensitive and thoughtful portrayal of main character Johnny Smith's dilemma. Christopher Walken, king of the vaguely creepy, plays Smith, a man who awakens from a five-year coma with the very mixed blessing of second sight. At the mere touch of a hand, Smith is unwillingly launched into scenes of past and future terror. (Director Cronenberg is said to have fired blanks from a .357 Magnum just out of camera range to keep Walken's flinching spontaneous.) The Dead Zone wisely takes its time telling the story, and thus allows for some great performances. Walken gives a rich portrayal of the conflicted Smith, and Colleen Dewhurst and Tom Skerritt both do welcome turns in smaller roles. The most fun of all, though, is clearly being had by Martin Sheen, who gives a spirited performance as a complete sleazebag. --Ali Davis

Description

Christopher Walken wakes from a coma due to a car accident, only to find he has lost five years of his life, and yet gained psychic powers. Foreseeing the future appears to be a 'gift' at first, but ends up causing problems…

Customer Reviews:

Very good Shocker from Stephen King and David Cronenberg........2007-07-27

Teacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) had a good life until he gets into a car accident, luckily he survives and wakes up from a coma after 5 years. He discovers that he now has a special power to see people's futures.

A fascinating and well acted sci-fi horror thriller based on a novel by Stephen King and directed by David Cronenberg ("Scanners", "Videodrome", "The Fly", "A History of Violence")with producer Debra Hill ("Halloween", "Escape from New York"). This cerebral and stylish thriller also co-stars Martin Sheen as a future senator and Tom Skerritt, the film is one of the better Stephen King adaptations if not one of the best.

This Collector's Edition DVD has good picture and sound with extras like four featurettes and a theatrical trailer, it's one of Cronenberg's finest movies and worth owning if your into sci-fi and horror.

Also recommended: "The Butterfly Effect", "Dead Ringers", "Scanners", "Carrie", "Final Destination Trilogy", "Misery", "Firestarter", "Akira", "Unbreakable", "Nomads", "Making Contact (a.k.a. Joey)", "The Manchaurian Canidate (1962 and 2004)" and "The Fly (1986)".

One of the Better Stephen King Screen Adaptations.......2007-05-18

David Cronenberg directs the Stephen King novel about a man who awakes from a coma with a life draining ability to see future tragedies when making contact with people. He also finds he can change these morbid outcomes. The screenplay (not written by Cronenberg or King) remains the films only real flaw besides some questionable supporting cast members. The novel is not a book that would make a perfect story to tell on film so the screenplay sort of stays in the shallow end and spits forth each episode that our hero Johnny Smith expereinces one at a time and without the level of understanding and depth King's book has. That is not to say The Dead Zone isn't a good movie. It's actually a very good movie.

The film remains a semi-classic in the suspense genre. Cronenberg has a way of handling scenes that is very European despite lacking the technical skills of his peers. He can give the actors very specific emotional direction and tell so much with using little or no dialogue. This helps the screenplay because it only offers some flashes of great dialogue. Cronenberg loves taking on films that lack certain aspects and giving them depth in places you never thought could have it. He is a unique force in independant films and earns his stars among the mainstream fans with this film. Martin Sheen surprisingly gives a solid performance here as well. He plays a crooked politician bent on gaining the presidency and earns our hatred quickly. He is actually quite remarkable here.

O.K., now it's time to play favorites. Johnny Smith is played by one of the most identifiable actors of all time. The greatest character and supporting acting of all time in my eyes and here we see him in a rare feature role. He is Christopher Walken and with all the imitations of his wild talk and bizarre off-screen shenanigans aside, he is quite simply an amazing actor. He takes his role very seriously here and turns the film from mediocrity into a very good movie. He takes the character for what readers may have loved about him and that is that he is your every day guy who happened upon some very usual and at times deeply sad circumstances...it just wasn't in the cards or it wasn't meant to be like Smith's Doctor felt. For those who read the novel you'll see subtle references to some of the more robust thinking in the story but never quite enough. There is an underlying message in the film that I really wish wasn't somewhat lost among the communication of the screenplay and the direction. King's novel touches on these things tremendously well and makes us question fate and wonder if time and death is really just so one-dimensional. The film makes you think if you want it to, but not like the novel which is truly one of King's greatest. I honestly believe Walken may have been the only guy on the set who understood this about the story.

If you are looking for a film full of suspense and several exciting climaxes and you like Christopher Walken, then I highly recommend The Dead Zone...but keep in mind that so few King novels have been done real justice with a film and where this is probably not one of them it remains a very good movie. It isn't quite Carrie or The Shining but it is still very good.

This Movie Is a Thought Experiment.......2007-05-18

I am used to Stephen King's work being horror stories. It was surprising for me to discover that this was not a horror story, but a thriller. I will not describe the story for the fear of revealing the plot. One thing I will say is that the description on the reverse of the package concentrates too much on the particulars of what happens to an individual and totally neglects the bigger implication - that this is Stephen King's thought experiment of what would happen if a person possessed a power that most other people do not possess - of the particular power of seeing the future, the past or the present - but elsewhere. What kinds of possibilities are opened for such a person? How would the society and individuals interpret his actions? This is, indeed, a thought experiment in sociology of ESP. I enjoyed this movie and was surprised.

ONE OF THE BEST "KING" ADAPTIONS TO DATE!.......2007-04-08

This is an impressive king adaption. Walkin is mezmerising as the man who can not only see the future,but he can change it. The rest of the cast is excellent in this first rate production of one of my favorite thrillers! This film deserves a completely remastered DVD treatment.

"You're Going To Get An Ice Cream Headache....".......2007-03-12

Stephen King has always been an enigma to me. Once in a while there's some pretty good adaptations of his novels("Carrie, "The Shining", "Misery") though it's his short works that seem to have produced the better films("Stand by Me", "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Green Mile"). "The Dead Zone" falls in the category of slightly above average thanks to the stellar direction of horror-meister David Cronenberg and a top-notch cast led by Christopher Walken. There were moments of deja vu here where I felt the film was derivative of a "Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits" episode but there's also some genuine inspired moments as well. King has some interesting things to say about telepathy and the responsiblities of those imbued with it. Walken has a sympathetic turn here as the telepath whose psychic abilities are foisted on him. Good supporting work by vets Herbert Lom as Walken's physical therapist, Tom Skeritt as a local sheriff, cult fave Anthony Zerbe("The Omega Man", TV's "Harry-O") as a father who hires Walken to tutor his son. Martin Sheen's work here kind of anticipates "The West Wing". Think of Josiah Bartlett's evil twin. Not bad but could have used more cowbell.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (A Way of Life / The Great Liberation)

Average customer rating:

49 Days
Great knowledge for life
Book of the Dead
Interesting but slightly disturbing
The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Dummies

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (A Way of Life / The Great Liberation)
Starring: Leonard Cohen , Dalai Lama , and Ram Dass
Director: Barrie McLean (II)
Manufacturer: Wellspring Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000YTOZS
Release Date: 2004-02-17

Description

Death is real, it comes without warning and it cannot be escaped. An ancient source of strength and guidance, The Tibetan Book of the Dead remains an essential teaching in the Buddhist cultures of the Himalayas. Narrated by Leonard Cohen, this enlightening two-part series explores the sacred text and boldly visualizes the afterlife according to its profound wisdom. Part 1: A Way of Life reveals the history of The Tibetan Book of the Dead and examines its traditional use in northern India, as well as its acceptance in Western hospices. Shot over a four-month period, the film contains footage of the rites and liturgies for a deceased Ladakhi elder and includes an interview with the Dalai Lama, who shares his views on the book's meaning and importance. Part 2: The Great Liberation follows an old lama and his novice monk as they guide a Himalayan villager into the afterlife using readings from The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The soul's 49-day journey towards rebirth is envisioned through actual photography of rarely seen Buddhist rituals, interwoven with groundbreaking animation by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ishu Patel.

Customer Reviews:

49 Days.......2007-06-30

Insider's look at Tibetans beliefs and death practices on this DVD. Some of the things you will learn; From selecting which astrological day would be best for your cremation, 49 Days of chanting a reciting from scriptures so that you have a good next life, feeding your remains to vultures so that you have better merit. Good one to watch.

Great knowledge for life.......2007-06-11

I would recommend everyone to watch this and investigate on death. By investigating on death allows one to understand more about life.

Book of the Dead.......2007-03-20

Tibetan book of the Dead. Lots of dead people and funeral pyres to look at. Difficult to watch.

Interesting but slightly disturbing.......2007-03-13

I didn't enjoy seeing the dead being handled. I wasn't expecting that. It was interesting, except for that. I can't seem to get that nauseating feeling from my belly when I think of this cd.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Dummies.......2006-10-29

I originally saw this video in McLeod Gange, India in a funky little theatre downstairs from a curry restaurant. It so impressed me I ordered the DVD after returning to the US and shared it with interested people baffled by the Tibetan Book of the Dead. This video explains general concepts and applies them in a very concrete way to death in two Indian villages. The effect is both intimate and educational and translates itself more clearly to Westerners through the comparative use of these practices in a hospice program in San Francisco. For anybody interested in Tibetan Buddhism in particular or world religions in general, I highly recommend it!

Average customer rating:

Funny Film !
Dead On!
mark paul gosselaar the world loves you
"You guys ever been in a high speed chase before? It's intense!"
Awesome!

Dead Man on Campus
Starring: Tom Everett Scott , Mark-Paul Gosselaar , Poppy Montgomery , Lochlyn Munro , and Randy Pearlstein
Director: Alan Cohn
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305310254
Release Date: 1999-03-09

Amazon.com

Well, it's a good idea. Dead Man on Campus had the potential to be a classic dark comedy: Two students at a prestigious university are flunking out; however, due to a provision in the school's charter, if they had a roommate who committed suicide, they'd both get straight A's as a form of reparation for grief and trauma. So, to stay in school, they seek out the most depressed student on campus and transfer him into their three-person dorm room. Unfortunately, rather than satirizing the real issues--academic narrow-mindedness, parental pressure, the obsessiveness of late adolescence--the movie is a compilation of frat-boy clichés and jokes that want to be in bad taste but are actually quite tame. The leads (Tom Everett Scott and Mark-Paul Gosselaar) are pleasant and the soundtrack (produced by the Dust Brothers) has some very hip selections, but after a snappy opening-credit sequence, the movie stumbles along, aimless and sluggish. Alyson Hannigan (American Pie, Willow on TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has a small role and is her charming geeky self. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Funny Film !.......2007-06-03

The first time I seen this film I could not stop laughing it's a great film with great characters and a great story line. It is the character of Cliff which makes this film so good really this film is totally underrated and should have been much more popular than it was however it is good to own on DVD.

Dead On!.......2007-01-10

I looked everywhere for this movie! Wal Mart, Circuit City, KMart, Target, FYE, EB Games and a few other places. My husband loves it!

mark paul gosselaar the world loves you.......2006-12-03

wow wow wow mark paul gosselaar is an explosive actor. he can do any genre comedy, suspense, romantic oh and did i mention comedy. this film is amazingly funny. the acting skills from mark paul are second to none

dont rent this film buy is its a masterpiece

lee frayling hereford hr7 4js england

"You guys ever been in a high speed chase before? It's intense!".......2006-08-14

"Dead Man On Campus" is a film about two guys who enroll at Daleman College, and become roommates. Josh enrolls via a scholarship, and is studying to become a doctor, and Cooper, well, he's just there to avoid having to clean toilets for a living at his father's business, and of course, to goof off and party. Josh eventually decides to party with Cooper, and as a result, starts to fail every class he's in. He winds up failing his mid-terms, and he finds out that he needs to maintain a B+ average if he wants to keep his scholarship.

One night, while the boys are at a local bar, they find out that if your roomate commits suicide, you get straight As for your grief, so they decide to move a suicidal roommate into their dorm!

In my opinion, the best roommate they find is a no holds barred psychotic named Cliff O'Malley (played by the underrated Lochlyn Munro). Cliff is my favorite character in this film! He's so wacky, and he completely lacks sanity or a conscience! Most of his dialogue and facial expressions in this film is priceless! I'd list a few quotes, but I'm sure Amazon will bleep 'em out!

As for their other roomates:

Buckley: He's a computer nerd who's paranoid, suicidal, and thinks Bill Gates is after his brain!

Matt Noonan: He's the "depressed" goth rock star who acts happy and likes to sing show tunes when no one's around!

In the end: This is one of the most underrated teen stoner flicks ever! For off the wall teen comedies, this is as good as it gets, right up there with "Wayne's World" and "A Night At The Roxbury". This movie originally bombed at the box office when released in August of 1998, and seems to be forgotten nowadays, but trust me, it's funny, and the character Cliff totally makes it worth the admission! It's bound to become a cult classic sooner or later.

3 1/2 stars out of 5.

As for the DVD: It contains a non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer, as well as English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround 2.0 soundtracks, as well as a French Dolby Surround 2.0 soundtrack. The only bonus feature is a theatrical trailer for the film.

Awesome!.......2006-07-28

I love this movie before i bought it and i couldn't find it in any stores, so i looked on [...] and i found it very easily. this movie is great and it came even faster in the mail than what they predicted. it was quite a surprise when i got it early, but it was also very nice.

Average customer rating:

This guy is bitter
awsome!
Raw, real, and amazing.
Depressing look at the rock lifestyle
It's real

Waking Up Dead
Director: Fabio Jafet
Manufacturer: Mvd Visual
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000P29B1M
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Description

How do you help someone whose life is spiraling out of control? Make a movie, and make him come face to face with his own demons. For a solid four years, Emmy award winning journalist & filmmaker Fabio Jafet, documented the seedy underworld of the music business through the eyes of friend Phil Varone of Saigon Kick & Skid Row fame. Jafet reveals what really goes on behind the scenes in a way never captured before on camera. Waking Up Dead captures the addictions, betrayals and pitfalls on the relentless road to rock stardom.

Customer Reviews:

This guy is bitter.......2007-09-02

Waking Up Dead is not exactly what I was expecting. Based on the reviews I'd read prior to the film's release in theaters, I thought this would be a wild ride with an out-of-control junkie b-level rocker desperate for success. Instead, it's pretty tame. Varone clearly has (had) a cocaine problem, but he wasn't the crazed drug addict I expected. So in that regard, this documentary wasn't as wild as I thought it might be.

On the other hand, I was impressed by how honest Varone was about his finances (or lack thereof). At one point, the camera zooms in on the computer screen to show his bank account of $1.57. It is amazing that a musician can sell as many records as Varone has and have so little. The evil recording industry takes another victim...right?

That's certainly what Varone thinks. He blames his every problem on the industry. Sure he should have more in his pocket after all these years, but shouldn't at least some of the blame fall on Varone himself? Let's face it: he would have more money if he hadn't spent $1000 a week on coke. But the industry was to blame there, too...right?

Not once in this entire film does he take any responsibility for his actions. He says people were always around, offering drugs & alcohol & anything he wanted, and now he's broke & hooked on drugs. He had plenty of enablers around him, and that's gotta be tough, but at the end of the day, he did what he did to himself.

I met Phil Varone after a show in Baltimore a few years ago. He was really friendly, cracked some jokes, signed my CD & let me get a photo with him. I left that show thinking he was a cool guy. After 90 minutes of hearing him refer to women as b*#ches over & over and how everyone on the planet has wronged him, I feel bad for the guy & I liked him a little less. Bitter is probably the best word to describe him. Hopefully the guy is on a better path now.

awsome!.......2007-07-30

chilling! crazy how drugs can take control of someone
great story
a must see for all aspiring musicians on how what NOT to do

Raw, real, and amazing........2007-07-30

I was a little worried this movie would glamorize drug addiction, and be somewhat pretentious, but it was just the opposite. The footage was raw, Phil is incredibly open, honest, and true. No holds barred. Really good stuff. Sad and inspiring at the same time.

Depressing look at the rock lifestyle.......2007-07-18

As a thirty-something rocker wannabe who never mustered up the nuts to follow his rock and roll dream, I feel somewhat vindicated after watching this movie. The fact that you can sell a million records, tour the world several times over, and basically make no money doing it is just mind-boggling. I guess the megastars like the Bon Jovi's and the Def Leppard's are the only ones who make the real money.

That being said, the drug-induced downfall of Phil Varone was very sad to watch. He's just an average guy that everyone can relate to, but he became so jaded by the business side of music that he went after an escape into drugs and ultimately found addiction and pain instead. As a drummer for hire picked up by Skid Row, he got to live out his dream by touring for 4 years but made very little money doing it and spent whatever he had on cocaine. All the while his wife and two children are at home wondering what he is doing. Very sad indeed.

Even the groupies and the sex part of it is portrayed to be empty and unsatisfying, leading to the question of why it is even worth it to go into music in the first place. Which is ultimately Varone's point, as he tells you at the end to get an education and do something else and that anyone who takes that advice will thank him later.

What about the passion for the music itself and the love of the craft of drumming? Although Varone started out with that as the main focus, the joy of it quickly got squelched by the business side of music and seemingly never returned. Then it became all about escaping into drugs and sex.

Again, a very depressing film about one man's journey. Hopefully not all rocker stories are this depressing, and maybe someday we'll get a chance to see another take of somebody else in a different light.

It's real.......2007-07-15

I was scared to watch the film because Like Phil, myself and countless others have been down this road and lived this so-called life of rock and roll. This film is a must see for those who think the rock and roll lifestyle is glamour, fame, and riches.
This is a true piece of "reality".

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