Noel Devine

Around the World in 80 days
$2.99
David Niven and Cantinflas embark on a fun trip around the world. They are joined with Robert Newton, Shirley MacLaine and a huge host of big Hollywood names in spot scenes. As a fun excercise, see if you can name the stars before the credits. Do watch the credits at the close as that is a very enjoyable part of the film. The movie garnered 5 well deserved Oscars including best picture. Two music themes dominate the movie, one a song that hit the top ten (Around the World I Searched For You) during its release that held special memories for me as I spent a good part of the year it was made half way around the world from a woman who was to become my wife. The other(Rule Britainia)is still played on classical music radio and was played during Winston Churchill's funeral. The scenery shots are tame by today's standards, but were great at the time of its release. This CD is worth watching more than one time still.

The Complete Recordings, Vol. 9
$6.98
I'm not sure if Caruso admirers will rush to secure a copy of this ninth volume in the complete Naxos reissue series, but I can report that there are many great recordings here and not a few rarities. One of the latter is the so-called "Coat Song" from Puccini's "La Boheme". According to one of the great stories in the annals of opera performance, Caruso agreed to sing this two minute piece in Act Four for his bass colleague whose voice had by then petered out during a performance at Philadelphia. With the bass miming and Caruso with his back to the audience the trick was successful. Caruso agreed to sing it again for a recording soon after, not for general issue but for distribution amongst friends. Another rarity is a "Carmen" duet he recorded in 1914 with Francis Alda. Two takes are here: one issued for the first time, the other not issued until the 1960s. John McCormack was meanwhile achieving great sales with recordings in which he teamed with the violinist Fritz Kreisler. Two tracks here, featuring rare items not attempted by McCormack and Kreisler, have Caruso teamed with violinist Mischa Elman. As for the great recordings, I would opt for the Verdi Requiem excerpt, and the wonderful aria from Gounod's "La Reine de Saba". The latter, as with many other items here, is sung in French. A disappointment is the "La Traviata" Brindisi. Perhaps Caruso and Alma Gluck had been drinking too much instead of singing about it.

The Arrival/Arrival II
$9.98
The Arrival:

Aliens, not hair spray, are the cause of Global Warming! (3.5 stars)

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Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen), an astronomer, is at work one day scanning the solar system with his co-worker and friend Calvin (Richard Schiff) when they come across an unidentified signal that is being sent to Earth, not from Earth. Excited that they might have come across extraterrestrial contact, they rush to their boss, who quickly fires Zane because they are 'downsizing' and cutting back employees. Baffled because he's considered one of the best in his field, begins to think something is just not right. So he creates his own scanner in his back yard garage, and comes across the same frequency again one night, but this time it's being sent from Earth, not from outer space. With a little research he finds out that the signal was sent from Mexico, and with that information, he quickly makes his way there to investigate. What he finds though is not quite what he was expecting. Now that paranoia from what's he's witnessed has set in, there is no one that he can trust. Alone, he must get enough evidence to expose the truth to what is going on, before it's to late for the human race.

The story of 'The Arrival' is what really drives this movie. The conspiracies, the paranoia, the subtle evil plan. When I saw this in theaters, I remember everything being just right. But now, some 12 years later, not everything is perfect like I remember. What really brings the movie down for me is the action scenes. Most of them just seem so corny. And the CG just isn't as good as say 'Independence Day' which was released around the same time. I wish the movie had been extremely more of a story driven drama than an action/sci-fi. Even Charlie Sheen was pretty good and believable as an astronomer. I loved when he just walked into a conference looking for his boss after he found out a lot of information going on. The man looked like he had been to hell and back.

In the end, if you can deal with some hokey action, then this is a definite watch if you like a good 'alien' story. I almost want to give it 4 stars, but just cant because of the goofy action scenes.

P.S. Right at the beginning of the movie you see a scene where maybe a football field size of grass was growing... at the North Pole. My friend said that that couldn't happen since the North Pole is nothing but water and ice. There is no actual soil there. Is this true? I'm to lazy to look it up.

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The Second Arrival (The Arrival 2):

The Conspiracy continues... sadly.

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Jack Addison (Patrick Muldoon) receives a package one day from his dead step brother Zane Zaminsky. It contains everything Zane gathered on the alien conspiracy before his death. Also in the package is a request for Jack to meet up in a warehouse for a super secret meeting. Jack, who doesn't completely believe his brother, changes his mind at the meeting after they come across some alien technology. After they are attacked by aliens, Jack escapes with Bridget Riordan (Jane Sibbett), one of the few reporters who actually believed in Zane's story. With the alien technology in hand, Jack and Bridget begin to run for their lives while trying to continue Zane's wish, to reveal to the aliens evil plan to the human race before it's too late.

Wow. Talk about hard to get through. I can't believe I've now seen this movie twice. The first time I saw this I must have drowned everything I saw in this movie with a 24 pack of beer because if I had remembered how bad this was, there would've been no way I would've watched it again. I would've just lied on this review. The cg effects were horrendous. I mean horrendous. I think with 45 minutes of CG training, I could have produced 80% of the stuff they did in here. The CG back drops were so plain it was ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, I would love to had seen how thick this script was. I swear most of the movie was just our heroes running away from the villains. For example... the aliens drug Jack with what seems to be a syringe of Jack Daniels. Because when he falls out of the vehicle they were transporting him in, he just begins to stumble, quickly though, away. How the aliens couldn't catch up to him I'll never know. He just stumbles along through a train station and out to a train (guess you don't need money or a ticket to get on a train) while a big dumb alien runs after him. Jack somehow tricks the alien to get on the train. Jack then begins to stumble away again, right into another alien who holds up a syringe. Jack falls down into the rail tracks. Stumbles and falls into more train tracks. Then gets up on the other side and starts to stumble into the railway station again. Now the alien decides to get him, by walking of course. As she 'chases' him through the railway station and then outside it, Bridget pulls up in a car (how she knew where he was I'll never know that either) and then the Alien decides to start running. So so so stupid. The acting is bad, the story is bad, the action is bad, the cg is bad, the..the..um...uh...oh I know, the *insert anything you want here* is bad.

Just stay away. Stay very far away.

P.S. I've never liked Patrick Muldoon. Didn't like him in Starship Troopers either. Know why? Because he stole Kelly from Zack in Saved by the Bell. What a poop head!

Wicked Minds [VHS]
$9.99
This movie was shown on Lifetime television when I saw it for the first time and I had to have it. It arrived in like new condition and that is how it plays