About this product: THE OPEN ROAD: AMERICA LOOKS AT AGING, a new documentary premiering on PBS in July 2005, examines the personal and social impact of the impending retirement of America's 77 million Baby Boomers. Through insightful stories of individuals confronting the obstacles and pursuing opportunities presented by the "third stage" of life, THE OPEN ROAD probes the important social, economic, and cultural issues at stake. It is a film that will make people think, talk, and plan for the road that lies ahead. It is a key part of a nation-wide dialogue that will include town meetings in 9 select cities, locally-sponsored discussion groups throughout the U.S., articles written on retirement authored by veteran journalists, and the creation of a model communities program. Coupled with this intensive grassroots outreach effort, THE OPEN ROAD will help Americans from all walks of life gain understanding of the importance of this imminent demographic change and to begin planning for the challenges and obstacles that must be overcome to successfully shape America's future into the first half of the 21st century.
About this product: Love the classic monsters Frankenstein, the Mummy, Dr. Jekyll, the Creature, Dracula, the Werewolf, and the Invisible Man? They're all here in this animated, 90-minute video--and so are the vocal talents of Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller. After discovering the secret of destruction, Baron von Frankenstein is retiring as head of the World Wide Organization of Monsters. He's handpicked his mortal nephew Felix to be his successor, and his fellow monsters are less than pleased. Even though Felix politely declines to carry on this family tradition, the monsters band together and double-cross one another in comic attempts to expel Felix from the group.
The "Rankin/Bass Animagic process" of using stop-motion photography with three-dimensional figures makes this video a visual feast for animation buffs, but it is outdated compared to modern animation techniques. Humorous details, like the count looking into a mirror to comb his hair and seeing only his comb reflected, permeate the video and will have viewers chuckling out loud and on alert for potential missed laughs. This video is best for children from about 5 to 12 years old or adults who want to reminisce over a movie viewed in their childhood. --Tami Horiuchi
About this product: In New York City, a twist of fate intertwines the lives of a Yugoslav hit-man, his former wife and her boyfriend. Through a series of confrontations, their lives and relationships unravel, leading to a dramatic conclusion, where the end is another beginning, and nothing is as it seems.
About this product: After spending over half his life in prison, ex-hitman Kunihiro is determined to go straight. But the shortcomings of the new gangs mean that he is soon having to call on his old-school yakuza talents. And when he falls for Asako, a beautiful piano player, she unknowingly ignites a fire within Kuni that will immolate everything and everybody around him. Regarded by many as his masterpiece, Onibi has all the hallmarks of a Mochizuki film, with the gangster elements tightly compressed and controlled to allow space in which a subdued romance can bloom. Coming from a background in porno cinema, this master of sexual relations injects a fresh passion and tension into the macho world of the yakuza film.
About this product: This is a film adapation of The Valley Of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It stars Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes and Ian Fleming as Dr. Watson. Wontner is a very laid back Holmes, which makes sense as it's established at the beginning of the film that he is retiring. It's not a very faithful retelling of the story, but it's watchable enough...well, it would be if the quality of the DVD was better.
Unfortunately the quality of the audio was so poor that it made watching the film almost impossible. This is the worst transfer I have ever seen on DVD. The sound is abysmal...there is a constant warbling noise that distorts the soundtrack all the way through the film. It sounds like the sound was recorded underwater! The picture isn't much better as the contrast is so high that certain scenes are completely washed out which makes following the story extremely difficult.
I have seen this film recently on television and the sound was much better on the print I saw. The picture was an improvement as well. It's also worth noting that there some brief opening establishing shots that are not on the DVD version.
It's a shame that more care wasn't taken with the presentation of this film. This film and others in the series are of great interest to many Sherlock Holmes fans and it would be wonderful if a company who cared what they were doing managed to present restored editions of the Arthur Wontner Sherlock Holmes films on DVD.
If you want to see restored versions of early Sherlock Holmes films, you'd be better off purchasing the Universal Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce films on DVD from MPI that are available to order from Amazon. They are available in box sets as well as individually.
About this product: Elsa & Fred is a story about two people who, at the end of the road, discover that it s never too late to love... or to dream. Elsa is 82 years-old, while Alfredo is a bit younger than her. After losing his wife, Alfredo feels disturbed and confused so his daughter suggests him it would be best if he moved into a smaller apartment. There he ll meet Elsa. From that moment on, everything changes. Elsa bursts into his life like a whirlwind, determined to teach him that the time he has left to live - be it more or less - is precious and that he should enjoy it as he pleases.
Elsa & Fres es la historia de dos personas que al final del camino descubren que nunca es demasiado tarde para amar....o soñar. Elsa tiene 82 años, mientras que Alfredo es un poco más joven que ella. Después de perder a su esposa, Alfredo se siente perturbado y confundido por lo que su hija le sugiere mudarse a un departamento más pequeño. Ahí conocerá a Elsa. Desde ese momento todo cambia completamente. Elsa irrumpe en su vida como un torbellino dispuesta a demostrarle que el tiempo que le queda de vida, mucho o poco, es precioso y puede disfrutarlo como le plazca.
About this product: If "To err is human, to forgive divine," that counts double during the holidays. When her single mother, Marie (Tracy Nelson), is injured in a traffic accident, 10-year-old Becca (Joan of Arcadia's Juliette Goglia), is left without a guardian. Due to a rift in the family, she’s never met her grandfather, Bert (Golden Globe nominee Ernest Borgnine), who also lives in Los Angeles. Long divorced from his wife, who has since passed away, Bert is also alone, except for a community of retired actors and agents. When a social worker asks if he can take care of Becca until Marie recovers, he's happy to try. At first, Becca just wants to sulk, but then she starts to enjoy the company of her grandfather and his friends, like the piano-playing Roxie (Soap's Katherine Helmond) and chess-playing Karl (All of Me's Richard Libertini). With their encouragement, she participates in her school’s Christmas pageant. With Marie on the mend, things are looking up for Becca, so it comes as a disappointment that her mother can't see the goodness in Bert, who's doing his best to make up for lost time. Marie only remembers how hurt she felt when her parents split up and has always blamed Bert, but sees him in a new light when she finds out the whole story. Produced for the Hallmark Channel, A Grandpa for Christmas finds the right balance between realism and wish fulfillment, and the 90-year-old Borgnine gives one of his most enjoyable performances to date. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
About this product: Helen Mirren returns in triumph to the role that brought her international stardom, British police inspector Jane Tennison, in the sixth series of Prime Suspect. Tennison finds herself being pressured to retire and responds by seizing a difficult homicide investigation: A young female Bosnian refugee has been tortured and murdered. As the trail begins to suggest connections to war atrocities in the Balkans, Tennison finds herself struggling with resistance from higher up, uncooperative and ambitious underlings, and deeply buried secrets. The strength of Prime Suspect has always been how it merges suspenseful detective work with an intricate grasp of police politics, and The Last Witness is no exception. The plot unfolds masterfully, the program is directed with striking visual style, and Mirren (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, Gosford Park) commands the screen. Her authority in this role, honed through five previous series, is unmatchable; the richness of the character--steely, sexy, obsessive, rash, cunning--makes Prime Suspect essential viewing. --Bret Fetzer
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