Two Words, One Answer.
Martin Sheen
 Kennedy: The Complete Series $19.98 Being from Massachusetts, I can say that the attempted Kennedy accents in this 1983 miniseries are occassionally almost accurate, never entirely perfect, and sometimes just plain awful. Still, the writing and acting here are pretty good for a TV movie of this vintage. Some parts go on way too long, such as the Bay of Pig and civil rights segments, and J. Edgar Hoover is creepy sometimes, but mostly just over the top. Resemblances are uncanny, though, to the real Hoover and Jackie Kennedy. Martin Sheen as JFK is close, but no cigar. EG Marshall as old man Kennedy does a great job. This is certainly no substitute for history, but as a TV entertainment, it remains impressive. The cutting is pretty contemporary for something of this vintage. This, overall, holds up pretty well.  Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) $19.99 I won't, I can't, forget this movie. I'm sure--had my draft number been higher--this movie would affect me even more, had I survived Vietnam. The horror. . . Yet for all its power, the film is far less compelling than "Heart of Darkness". And Vietnam, for all its contemporary tragedy, is far less tragic than the "civilizing" of colonial powers. (Or is Vietnam just a recent addition to that tale of "civilization"?) After watching "Apocalypse Now Redux" yet again and rereading "Heart of Darkness" yet again, I was bothered by this irksome detail: Nowhere, nowhere in the film or credits does Francis Ford Coppola explicitly credit Joseph Conrad. The horror. . .the horror.  25th Anniversary Edition $47.98 In short: This set contanes not only a stunnig pianism but also highly interesting works (some of which I had no idea of how beutiful are). Listen to the German Dances by Mozart, Out of Doors by Bartk, the Berg and Tippet. His Rachmaninov is interesting but I find Ashkenazu better in the etudes. As for the Chopin concerto I find Metha not on the same level as Perahia. The Schubert impromtu is a killer! I garantee that this set contanes high quality pianism in every way.  The Believers $14.98 Martin Sheen (The Dead Zone) plays Cal Jamison, a psychologist who gets mixed up w/ a cult that practices human sacrifice (on kids no less). It seems that this underground group of hoodoo fanatics is responsible for a recent pair of child mutilations. Dr. Jamison, who has already lost his wife in a bizarre kitchen "accident", must now fight to keep his only son from the clutches of this mob of murderous, religious crazies! He is helped by a tough, cynical cop (Robert Logia from Independence Day and Scarface) and by a local practitioner of santeria. Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue") is an early victim, and Richard Masur (The Thing) plays Jamison's lawyer. THE BELIEVERS is actually pretty frightening and effective in it's presentation of black magic at work in New York City. Add it to your horror / supernatural thriller collection... |
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