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Haley Graham
 Haley's Hints $24.95 This DVD is great to have on hand when confronted with some household cleaning problem. I refer to it several times a month...and feel that it is well worth the cost. My husband suggested that I buy it after he saw the promo on PBS TV. We will be buying copies for our daughter and 2 daughter-in-laws. I also have both books.  Stories From My Childhood, Vol. 4: Beauty & the Beast $9.99 Lev Atamanov's "Beauty and the Beast" (also known as "The Pink Flower") is the most beautiful of all Russian animated films, though buyer beware...The Jove transfer betrays a significant loss in quality compared with the recent Krupny Plan restoration (unfortunately, not available in region one). Exquisite moments abound (e.g. reflections in a pool capture the flight of swans overhead) but such fine details, more often than not, come across as an unlovely blur; elaborate 3-dimensional effects, notably, in the beast's magical domain, are rendered flat and lifeless here. And while Jove's intentions are laudable, in attempting to bring this classic to a wider audience, in fact, a true work of art has been poorly served. The disc does offer compensations, however, with handsome reproductions of Stepantsev's "The Nutcracker" and two tales by Pushkin. In general, Jove's "Stories from my Childhood" are a mixed blessing. Some offerings - "12 Months," "Cinderella," "The Snow Girl" - dubbed, re-scored and vibrantly transferred, compare favorably with the Russian originals. Others, such as "The Snow Queen" and "Alice and the Mystery of the Third Planet" do not. Tsekhanovsky's "Wild Swans," perhaps, deserves a more considered appraisal. The image "pops" nicely, though it lacks the proper wide-screen ratio. More damagingly, the magnificent original score by Alexander Varlamov, has been replaced with an inappropriately generic synth-pop arrangement. And, the film's most enchanting sequence (a flight to the island during a thunderstorm) has been ruined with middling cuts and distracting voice-overs. Still recommended - Jove's "Masters of Russian Animation" series (volumes 1-4) and "Soviet Animated Propaganda" - a collection, which despite it's technical imperfections, is well worth seeking out.  Ben 10: Race Against Time $12.98 Love doing business with Amazon! They have always come thru and everything I've ordered has always come in excellent shape! Thanks Amazon! My son loves this movie and you had the best price! |
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