About this product: Dr. John Gottman has revolutionized the study of marriage. He uses rigorous scientific procedures to observe the habits of married couples in detail over many years for unprecedented insight into the inner workings of successful relationships. Here is the culmination of this life's work: the seven principles that guide couples on the path toward a harmonious and long-lasting relationship. Learn how to build a positive dynamic with your spouse Hear tips for getting closer through everyday interactions, gain insight into the ways lasting marriages operate, if you are serious about improving your relationship, this is a must-see DVD. The discoveries Dr. Gottman has made are insightful and you can start using the techniques right away. Listen to John's DVD and then let your partner listen to it. Or, listen to it together. This presentation is sure to spark some serious conversations about your relationship. More importantly, this DVD can put you and your partner on a real path to a stronger, more fulfilling and ultimately happier relationship.
About this product: Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage opens with a couple--Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson)--being interviewed for a magazine. Every moment seems to teeter on the brink of some rupture; just as they start to get comfortable, the interviewer has them freeze for a photograph. After making some bland general statements, they both start admitting intimate details, confessing that they were brought together by mutual misery, then cheerfully claiming that theirs is a model marriage. The entirety of Scenes from a Marriage, which chronicles their emotional relationship even after their divorce and marriages to other people, continues to have these contradictory moments of honesty and self-deception, cruelty and kindness, concern and self-obsession--all laid bare by the skillful actors and the subtle, constantly shifting screenplay. Every scene is a small movie unto itself; in fact, Scenes from a Marriage was originally a six-episode TV show, which was carefully edited down into a unified film. This is one of Bergman's most immediate and accessible works, concerned more with the facts of human behavior than symbolism or abstract themes. Bergman understands how to balance what could be horrible pain and despair with the characters' earnest efforts to improve their lives. His imitators reduce everything to sheer suffering and alienation; Bergman sees the best in his characters, even when their actions are terrible. This 1973 film won numerous awards, including several acting honors for Ullmann. --Bret Fetzer
About this product: Mozart's Marriage of Figaro is a comedy whose dark undertones explore the blurred boundaries between dying feudalism and emerging Enlightenment. Among dozens of fine Figaros on CD and DVD, few are as finely sung as this one, filmed in 1976 to a soundtrack recorded the previous year.
Herman Prey's Figaro is admirably sung in a firm baritone and aptly characterized. So too, is his antagonist, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as the Count perpetually frustrated by the scheming wiles of Figaro and Susanna, here the perky Mirella Freni, who sings and acts like a dream. The Countess is creamy-voiced Kiri Te Kanawa, and the Cherubino, Maria Ewing, looks just like the horny, teenaged page she's supposed to be. The all-star leads are complemented by worthy supporting singers, the Vienna Philharmonic at the top of its form, and the experienced Mozartian, Karl Böhm conducting a stylishly fleet performance.
The problematic visuals though, don't match the musical attributes of this Figaro. Director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle says film techniques of editing and special effects permit added musical and interpretive components. So we get nervously irrelevant camera movements, distorted close-ups, jump-cuts that place singers in impossible places during arias, and--most distracting of all--arias on the soundtrack while the "singer" stares close-mouthed at walls, ceilings, and furnishings. Try Te Kanawa's beautifully sung "Porgi amor" to see how this distracting technique subverts the music, rather than "complementing" it. Of course, this may not bother many but others will prefer to listen to the glorious soundtrack and give Ponnelle's directorial hubris a pass. --Dan Davis
About this product: Mozart's immortal adaptation of Beaumarchais's satirical tale has always been a Glyndebourne staple, so it was appropriate that this delightfully traditional production of Le Nozze di Figaro was chosen to reopen their refurbished opera house in May 1994. John Gunter's set design is airy and uncluttered, leaving the actors plenty of breathing space, while director Stephen Medcalf likewise allows the characters to speak (and sing) for themselves. Gerald Finley's Figaro and Alison Hagley's Susanna make a charming central pairing; Renée Fleming and Andreas Schmidt are a formidable aristocratic duo, while Marie-Ange Todorovitch fills Cherubino's trousers with pleasing playfulness. Bernard Haitink and the London Philharmonic sparkle, as of course they should. Unfussily filmed, this is as close to the real thing as you're likely to get without a Glyndebourne season ticket. --Mark Walker
About this product: Tuya, hardworking and hardheaded, is a Mongolian desert herder who refuses to be settled in a town in accordance with the new industrialization policy. She is kept busy with two kids, a disabled husband and one hundred sheep to care for, but one day she hurts her back. The only way for the family to survive is for her to divorce her husband on paper and look for a new spouse who can take care of the whole family. A series of suitors lines up, but it s not easy to find a man who fits the bill. This warm, endearing tale, featuring stunning cinematography, won the top prize at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival.
About this product: Portrait of a Marriage opens with deceptive calm-- a husband and wife working in a garden look up at planes flying overhead. But the planes are off to bomb Germany and moments later a phone call thrusts the wife--poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West (Janet McTeer, Tumbleweeds)--into a bittersweet reverie from the previous war. Five years into her marriage with Harold Nicolson (David Haig, Two Weeks Notice), Harold confesses his affairs with men--but swears his only true passion is Vita. She accepts this, but when her childhood friend Violet Keppel (Cathryn Harrison, Clarissa) arrives, the two women begin an affair. Soon Vita and Violet find themselves deeply enmeshed, traveling through the gay demimonde of Paris with Vita in men's clothes. The affair becomes all-consuming and starts tearing at Vita and Harold's marriage and the lives of their two children. Portrait of a Marriage practically bursts with revealing psychological details and startlingly steamy sex scenes--as Vita and Violet's relationship grows more carnal, so does the miniseries. But there's nothing casual or exploitive about it; the sex deepens the hold the women have on each other's hearts and leads to emotional pyrotechnics. The tension constantly thickens, made all the more complex because Vita and Harold genuinely love each other, regardless of their sexual longings. The vivid and meticulous recreation of the period frames the superb performances by McTeer, Harrison, and Haig. This four-episode miniseries from 1990, based on the biography by Vita and Harold's son Nigel, is yet another example of the BBC's mastery of literary adaptations. --Bret Fetzer
About this product: This time capsule from a bygone era features an amazing Dean Martin bachelor pad and the delectable sight of Frank Sinatra go-go dancing in a rock club. Such campy pleasures are the main appeal of Marriage on the Rocks, a sitcom-style comedy about marital dissatisfaction and legal confusion. Sinatra's been married to Deborah Kerr for 19 years, but her boredom with his stick-in-the-mud personality has her leaping to shake things up--especially when a Mexican vacation accidentally divorces the two. How Dino gets himself wedged into this mess is the stuff of labored farce. The two Rat Pack buddies have done this so many times they barely rouse themselves to mix the highballs, with only the presence of Frank's daughter Nancy, in a supporting role, stirring the fatherly spark. Trini Lopez contributes a song, in the aforementioned nightclub, and Cesar Romero has a buffoonish role as a do-everything Mexican local official. The whole enterprise has the air of hedge-betting about it, and everybody looks as though they're fulfilling a contractual obligation. --Robert Horton
About this product: The beautiful and ambitious Annie discovers that her charming and seductive lover, Brent, has conned her into killing her husband only to steal away her inheritance. Fearing a future haunted by lies and murder, Annie leaves her lover and assumes a new identity. Her new life proves to be a dream come true as she remarries a wealthy real estate heir and enjoys a lavish lifestyle. However, Brent tracks her down with plans to repeat his deadly scam. Will he convince her to kill again?
About this product: Bob Hope and Oscar-winner Jane Wyman star as the perfect married couple with one minor exception: They are about to announce their divorce. However their daughter is getting married. And that's just the beginning. The young couple must deal with the trials and tribulations of the groom's father (Jackie Gleason) as he tries to stop the wedding. The film was quite fitting as Bob saw his own daughter Nora get married that same year. Taking the helm as director was longtime collaborator Norman Panama. Panama directed Hope in Road to Hong Kong (the final "Road" picture) wrote That Certain Feeling Monsieur Beaucaire Road to Utopia and supplied the story for My Favorite Blonde. He also directed Danny Kaye in The Court Jester and penned the classics White Christmas and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. The film also stars Tina Louise (Ginger of Gilligan's Island) Tim Matthieson (National Lampoon's Animal House) and Leslie Nielsen (The Naked Gun).System Requirements: Running Time 104 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 090096098791 Manufacturer No: 60987-9
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