Human Footprint

visually impressive, lacking in substantial content
I teach high school science and 100 level science classes at the local university. I showed the dvd for both groups with a worksheet I made up for them (anyone in education knows that you must give the students something to work on relating to the movie they're watching, or else they won't pay attention). It was visually impressive to see the amounts of "stuff" we go through in a lifetime, and it's a good movie because students have no idea what these amounts really are; they cannot fathom how immense 43,000 soda cans is. However that's really all there was to this dvd-they show a product (or activity), explain (briefly)how it is constructed, or shipped, and then they actually display the amount with the number (literaly they laid out 43,000+ soda cans in a parking lot). There was no explanation of the impact or problems associated with the levels of consumption or waste. And after 30-40 minutes (the dvd is 1.5hrs) it gets well, kind of boring. So good for providing the visual...

Amazing Video
The "Human Footprint" was first aired on the National Geographic Channel earlier this year. It is a graphic portrayal of the quantities of stuff that an average American consumes over the course of a lifetime.

The criticism of our lifestyle is implicit. No one says what all this is doing to the planet, but it quickly becomes obvious that enormous quantities of stuff must be manufactured, consumed, and discarded in order to support the high standard of living that we enjoy. You only have to look at the herd of pigs, tons of potatoes, or football field expanse of bread to be amazed at what we consume.

The story is told with a sense of humor. The kitchen filling with fruit is funny. However, the question that comes to mind is whether we will always have the resources to keep this up. The inventory shown by National Geographic is food for thought.

Another interesting video on the subject of the consumer economy is the 20-minute "The Story of Stuff."...

First Fascinating...Then Boring....Then Irritating
This film tracks the life of a boy and girl from childhood through old age.

At various stages of life their consumption of various resources is examined in great detail.

The early displays of actual counts of what they use are at first fascinating and impressive. Gee...I thought... someone went to lot of effort to assemble and set up over 43,000 soft drink cans.

Then as the statistical bombardment continues, one begins to wonder are these numbers really correct. Each stat is accompanied with yet another visual display of what the number means. OK...I get it...I don't need to see the actual number of toothbrushes I will use in a lifetime.

Finally, the whole experience becomes irritating, if there is a point here the film is not making it clear (at least for me). Even small uses become large values over the 77 years of the average lifespan.

Are we supposed to apologize for being alive? That was the way I felt a few times...

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Burke's Law: Season 1 - Volume 1 (First 16 Episodes)

A Unique and Funny Cop Show
The 64 black and white hour-long episodes of "Burke's Law" were originally broadcast from 1963-65 on ABC. The show then morphed into "Amos Burke, Secret Agent" for another 17 episodes during the 1965-66 season. And one episode "Who Killed the Jackpot" served as the introduction of the "Honey West" characters played by Anne Francis and John Ericson.

Gene Barry played police captain Amos Burke, who headed up homicide while maintaining a lavish lifestyle; not because he was on the take but because he was already extremely rich and was just working for whatever intrinsic value the job provided. This was the main hook or novelty of the show, which was a weekly showcase of his lavish lifestyle (chauffeured limo with fully stocked bar, mansion, and a host of gorgeous women clamoring for his affections). Although technically a mystery-adventure series there was a significant comedy element generated by the reactions of his detectives and his superior to Burke's displays of...

First Class Show, First Class Release!
A decade before Aaron Spelling gave us a long list of big-name celeb guests on shows like "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" he was serving them up on this great 1963-65 detective show "Burke's Law", which starred Gene Barry as the suave millionaire playboy police captain solving a murder from which a half dozen big named guest stars were among the suspects.

VCI's release of the first half of Season 1 (16 hour long episodes) is first-rate, especially since they've never handled a TV series before for release. The episodes clearly come from the original 35 mm masters, and while not as sharp as the prints we see on CBS/Paramount DVDs, they look very good. Original commercials from the film prints have been presented as a supplement, similar to Image's later releases of "Naked City" while the end of each episode retains the preview for the following week's show narrated by Barry.

VCI is committed to doing the entire run of the show (including its reimagined...

"Burke's Law (1963) ... Gene Barry ... VCI Ent. (2008)"
VCI Entertainment presents "BURKE'S LAW-SEASON 1 - VOLUME I" (20 September 1963) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- 1964 Golden Globe Winner best TV Show & Best Male TV Stars --- Capt. Amos Burke (Gene Barry) was a Los Angeles chief of detectives who was also a millionaire with a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce, a mansion, and a high wheeling lifestyle --- The hallmarks of this series were glamorous, sophisticated settings, unusual twists on formula homicide plot lines, and big name guest stars --- After a couple of seasons, its format was radically revamped. Burke left the police force and became an agent for US Intelligence --- At that point, the show's name changed to "Amos Burke--Secret Agent". Burke's adventures were briefly revived in 1994, under the original title.

Burke's Law is a detective series which ran on ABC from 1963 to 1966 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s --- The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire Los Angeles Chief of Detectives, who was...

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The Land Before Time: Through the Eyes of a Spiketail

Little Foot
Little Foot and the gang is great. These movies are great social & moral stories set in carton fun. My son & I love them.

Wonderful stories of friendship and learning.
My granddaughter has loved all the Land before Time stories and dvds.
She is 4 and loves dinosaurs. These characters encourage her imagination and
are wonderful stories of friendship and learning.

Excellent
I bought a lot of these for my children. They love the Land Before time dvds. I would recommend them for anyone whose little ones love dinosaurs. It is a very good dinosaur show for children to watch.

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Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! - Season 1

Drink up
The scene cues and we are introduced into the blank stare of an awkward and uncomfortable looking doctor. His ill prepared segment on fruit cannot start because, as the doctor tries to subtly inform his colleagues, he does not 'have the fruit'. After several clumsy attempts by the camera operator to break the awkwardness of the situation, we catch the backside of a quickly moving production assistant dropping a bag of freshly purchased supermarket fruit in front of Mr. Brule. It works.

Almost if by force of habit we expect a punch line at this point. It doesn't come. Our minds reel as the plot is pulled from beneath our taught fingers. No climax, no story development, no comfort lead in music. Shortly thereafter you realize you are only invited to participate in the haphazard denouement of this story - you are riding the thing down into the glorious and hilarious catastrophe that it was meant to be.

As we let the show aspirate, we can detect notes of dark...

Deprogramming for the TV generation
Many people dont like large chunks of their lives being ripped from them and exposed as being horrendously stupid. Most of us spend a lot of our lives watching television, its almost completely unredeemably artificial and crappy. This show pokes fun at it all. They manage to do it in an entertaining and humorous way not in a preachy or nasty way. Many people are unsettled by the material because its uncomformist and intentionally off key, I personally enjoy the change.
The DVD doesnt get old the work is dense in a good way and new things appear in it on every rewatching. When I am watching some completely retarded infomercial or tv show on the tube. I sometimes just start laughing as I realize how absurd the whole thing is as something from Tim and Eric pops into my head.
Some bits dont work 100% but I give them 5*'s anyway for putting it all out there.

Simply amazing
There is no show today better than this. Think of pee-wee's playhouse meets robot chicken. It is amazing. Tim and Eric awesome show, great job! has all the awesome and funny things you'd expect from tim and eric. Awkward pauses, weird facial expressions, funny dances, weird situations, etc. I love all kinds of shows like Mr.Show, Human Giant, Robot Chicken, Invader Zim, but out of every show ever made this one is my favorite. I don't know what it is about these two guys, but they are the funniest two people to ever live. If you thought their other show Tom Goes To The Mayor was good then you NEED to see this, its even better.

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The Magnificent Seven Collection

BLU RAY box set review....2010 purchaser...
Hi Folks,

Amazon.com is lumping all reviews together so I thought I'd clarify that I am reviewing the BLU RAY set!

It wasn't clear if there were any NEW bonus features from the lovely 2 disc version of the first classic film or the follow ups on this set..there are not. My recommendation is that fans WAIT for a release of the first classic instead of making the expensive mistake I did by purchasing this set. I think I was convincing myself that in hi-def I'd like the follow up films more...I don't and in fact the final installment still looks washed out and almost tv movie of the week quality. The first three do look improved in Blu-Ray but on the first classic film some flaws and grain are magnified by this format. The bonus features look nice in Blu-ray HD but there isn't anything new here.

Unless you are one of the few who liked the follow up movies , a lot, I'd wait for a single disc Blue Ray version of the classic film and save $40...

Blu-Ray Collection Review
Elmer Bernstein's appropriately magnificent score remains a highlight of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, a John Sturges film that turned Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" into an American western classic spawning three sequels, a belated CBS television series, and countless imitators.

The original, resurrected on Blu-Ray from MGM and Fox as part of a multi-disc series anthology, stars Yul Brynner as a gunslinger who recruits a band of six others (Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn among them) to help defend a small Mexican town against villain Eli Wallach and his gang of mercenaries. A bona-fide film classic, MGM's Blu-Ray edition basically offers an HD reprise of the label's 2006 Special Edition DVD, which was issued during that brief window when Sony was distributing the studio's home video product. The AVC encoded transfer looks great, offering crisp detail and strong colors, while the occasionally brittle DTS Master Audio sound offers a re-channeled mix of the film's...

The Magnificent 7 ... and three dwarfs
The Magnificent Seven finds its way into every serious discussion about the best classic westerns. It is easily my favorite. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson and Eli Wallach, in one of his juiciest roles ever - this is the western that you watch again and again. True, it is a remake of "The Seven Samurai," but it takes a backseat to no other film in its genre. Seven American gunfighters - a Dream Team, of sorts - are hired to guard a Mexican village from Banditos that return every season to take whatever crops the villagers have grown. Stellar cast, but just as magnificent is the musical score by Elmer Bernstein, who was nominated for an Academy Award.

It is unfortunate that the studio has chosen to issue an entire set of Mag 7 films as a package. The other three films - Return of the Seven, Magnificent Seven Ride! and Guns of the Magnificent Seven - don't belong in the sentence, let alone the same box. Do yourself a favor - buy the original...

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The Bill Engvall Show: The Complete First Season

Great series, can't wait until season 2 comes to DVD
We really enjoy Bill Envall's comedy, but living in the UK, we get to see precious little of his work. So we were pleased to see he had his own series available on DVD and weren't disappointed. It's great fun, with really likeable characters - this is well observed comedy and anyone with teenage kids will recognise many of the situations. It started slowly in the early episodes, but got better and better and it's just a shame that there were only 8 episodes in series 1. It left us really wanting more!
I read that the show has just started a second series on TV in the US, so hopefully there will be more episodes to enjoy this year and roll on the release of series 2 on DVD so that we can enjoy it here in the UK too!
Well done Bill.

Pretty good show
This show is surprisingly good. The 8 episodes here feature some pretty original stories and solid writing. Engvall and Nancy Travis make for interesting if somewhat standard TV parents. The kids are your standard TV smart alecs but not as annoyingly so as most. The supporting cast, however, is less than good.
This is a fun little family friendly show and better than most sitcoms on TV these days

cool show and funny too!
Bill does a good acting job along with the others in the show.
I just happen to see the show on cable and I wanted it for my collection of DVD's.
Great show.

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Saturday Night Live: The Complete Third Season, 1977-1978

NBC SNL starring The Not Ready for Primetime Players (plus Bill Murray)
This season still features the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players - John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris,Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman. Plus newcomer Bill Murray.

When SNL (at this time it was NBC's Saturday Night Live) first came on it changed the variety format from skits and musical numbers to what is now called sketch comedy with music from popular and upcoming rock groups. Each episode was "hosted" by an actor who was usually promoting their new film.

Each show had an opening skit that end with "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night", the credits followed, then the guest host would come out do some sort of monologue. This would fade into either an original SNL cast commercial (remember The Taste Bud's for Budweiser) or a parody of a commercial. Skit, musical guest, skit, Weekend Update, skit, second musical number, skit and closing.

The show had a number of reoccuring skits, which were rotated to keep them fresh...

Better than you remember
Many reviewers say these early Saturday Night Live seasons are products of their times, that they aren't nearly as funny today as we all thought they were back then. To that I say dude, what have you been smokin'? Yes, I was one of those who watched these shows in college, usually at a party where everyone was, shall we say, already in a purple haze. But thinking that's what made these shows great is simply revisionist history.

Sure there are some dated cultural jokes, a few lame musical guests and an occasional skit that falls flat. However, each episode is still, for the most part, solidly entertaining. As I sat down with these discs today partaking of nothing stronger than a few Diet Cokes, what I noticed is just how watchable these shows still are. Even when not at their best, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin and the others each did at least interesting work, and always in their own personal style. What resulted was a true comedy variety...

SNL Gang Hits It's Stride
This third season, along with the fourth, represent the height of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players. For the first time, we are introduced to The Blues Brothers, The Festrunk Brothers, Roseanne Roseannadanna, Point Counterpoint, The Olympia Restaurant and many others. Favorites such as the Coneheads and the Samurai return in force as well.

I taped most of this season in its entirety over the years, and am quite familiar with the strength of these episodes. I especially like the Steve Martin/Blues Brothers appearance, as well as the season-ender with Buck Henry/Sun Ra.

I've shared my thoughts on the value of the original SNL before, so instead, I'd like to point out a few highlights to look forward to:

1. Chevy Chase returns for first time hosting duties on 02/18/78. There was quite a bit of backstage animosity/tension towards him, and one particular spat ensued over the Weekend Update anchoring duties. Bill Murray, still the "new kid," was...

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The Magnificent Seven: The Complete Series

Amazing show, picture quality could be better.
First, a review of the series itself: 5 gigantic gold, gleaming stars. I caught a few re-run episodes on Encore Westerns and fell in love instantly. Amazing cast, phenomenal acting, great sets, and no gore. It achieves that delicate balance of drama and adventure of the genre without the violence and sex that plagues most modern movies/show today. I really credit whoever cast the series because each actor shines in his role and their personalities play off each other perfectly. I am saddened that the series was cut off after two (all too short) seasons and was floored when I heard that it only came back a second year after an intense fan campaign. Once again primtime networks don't know a truly good show when they see it.

So why 4 stars? I was very disappointed at the picture quality of the DVDs. In the age of digital media when consumers are seeking crystal clear imaging, this set has the graininess of a VHS. Acceptable for an old show of the 60's or 70's, but one...

"Magnificent !" 7
If you love westerns; you'll love this series. Seven men, with backstories of their own, who tame a town and gain the respect of it's citizens. The casting was great and each character played well off each other. You could see the brotherhood even though each man had his own cross to bear. The stories were well written, and I found myelf loving the way the 7 garnered respect and fear from those who simply heard of their reputation. They weren't always hard men, and they weren't always right; the show gives you the gritty look of the old west, the hardships and what it took to make it through a day sometimes.

You want to sit back and watch a good series; another series that should have had a longer shelf life, then buy this series and enjoy. There are so many little things to see, as one character is checking his gun and he flips it over his hands several times before slipping into his gun belt. Not a big scene, just something you catch and it's way cool. The Western...

Worth every penny
How did I miss this when it was on tv?
This is a wonderful western. I have loved every minute of it.
First, there is the eye candy that is very lovely to look at. Wouldn't it be great to live in a west with men who looked and acted like this LOL?
Second, it has little bad language and the gore factor is nil. I realize that a real-life cowboy in a gunfight would not say, "Oh dang!!", but I get the idea. I know that in a real gunfight, knifefight or fistfight there will be blood, guts and broken bones, but I don't really want to watch it happen. I realize that in real life the "ladies of the night" wouldn't be beautiful and sweet, but I don't really want to see the real thing.
My tv shows are my escape FROM life. And this one has succeeded wonderfully.
It is worth every penny plus more.
This is a show that I will be rewatching.

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F-Troop: The Complete Seasons 1 and 2

Review of F-Troop Seasons 1 & 2
My husband and I, with friends, recently rode on motorbikes from Albany Western Australia to Tasmania and back. We saw so many places and covered over 10200 kilometres and often couldn't remember just where we had been or where we were. Trudy, one of our fellow riders joked and said we were like the 'Heckarwe' American indian tribe from F-Troop who took their name from being similarly lost and saying to each other "Where the heck are we". Of course, we all fell about laughing, and from that moment on, the Heckarwe featured frequently in our travels.
We reminisced about enjoying F-Troop nearly 40 years ago. On our return, I investigated buying some DVD's of the show. Couldn't find any available in Australia, so tried Amazon, and voila! there they were. Being impulsive I ordered the complete First Two Seasons package. I then had some reservations about my actions as I had found that shows much enjoyed when I was younger somehow, never lived up to the memories and seemed...

Fun on the frontier
SEASON 1

Episode 1: Scourge of the West. Air Date: 14 September 1965 Hapless "war hero" Captain Wilton Parmenter takes command.

Episode 2: Don't Look Now But One of Our Cannon Is Missing. Air Date: 21 September 1965
A surprise visit by General Grant.

Episode 3: The Phantom Major---Original Air Date: 28 September 1965. It's pay call at Fort Courage when a top secret letter from Washington arrives.

Episode 4: Corporal Agarn's Farewell to the Troops. Air Date: 5 October 1965
Episode 5: The Return of Bald Eagle
Original Air Date: 12 October 1965
Renegade Indian Bald Eagle attacks the fort singlehandedly.

Episode 6: Dirge for the Scourge
Original Air Date: 19 October 1965
Gunfighter Sam Urp is in town.

Episode 7: The Girl from Philadelphia. Air Date: 26 October 1965
Episode 8: Old Iron Pants. Air Date: 2 November 1965
Episode 9: Me Heap Big Injun. Air Date: 9 November 1965...

Excellent
F-Troop is one of the most hilarious shows i have ever watched! I watched the entire first season in one night. I almost laughed myself silly! If you love a good laugh, F-troop the first two seasons is a must have for comedy lovers and for people who want to relive their youth. This show is suitable for all ages.

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Maggie and the Ferocious Beast: Beach Party

Episode Guide
Episode Guide:

Walk The Walk
Sun spot
Hamilton's Box Car
The Beached Whale

Also Includes:
The Lemonade Stand
What's In A Laugh?
Say cheese
Sailing Away
Happy Birthday To All Of Us
The Really Big Show
A Flag For Nowhere Land
Desert Cactus

My granddaughter LOVES Maggie and The Roast Beef Show
It took my daughter and I a couple weeks to understand what my 2 year old granddaughter continually requested. She implored us to get or turn on the roast beef show ... turns out she meant Ferocious Beast ... We have tried to collect all of them. Now the 7 year old and 2 year are arguing over which one to watch first. They love them. The beast is gentle, Maggie is cute, the stories have lessons; a good, fun time with a lovely story each time. I highly recommend especially if you have child or grandchild afraid of monsters or unseen scary things. Lilli has been terrified about monsters. Now she says they're not really scary. She knows they're like Maggie and the "roast beef" and she's not frightened anymore. : )

Maggie and the Ferocious Beast: Beach Party
My 4 year old grand-daughter loves these cartoons. In the process of bonding with her, I got to watching them. They are fun, moralistic, and habit-forming (for me).

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NOVA: The Four-Winged Dinosaur

Microraptor might be the first known tree dweller, but even with four wings, could it fly?
The Four-Winged Dinosaur: Microraptors and the Bird Origin Debate is the DVD rendition of an episode from the public television series NOVA, detailing the discovery of and scientific experiments surrounding fossils of an amazing, recently discovered dinosaur species - microraptor, a small dinosaur with flight feathers on all four of its limbs! Microraptor might be the first known tree dweller, but even with four wings, could it fly? Or did it glide from treetop to treetop? How did it maneuver in the air with four wings? In search of answers, paleontologists conducted a number of wind tunnel experiments and carefully tabulated the data. The results offer insight into one of nature's greatest mysteries: how did winged flight really evolve? Featuring captivating computer imagery of how microraptor might once have looked and behaved in its native habitat, The Four-Winged Dinosaur is enthusiastically recommended not only for dinosaur lovers, but also for bird lovers of all ages and...

a missing link
Recently, the internet has an article on a deer that has one horn in the middle of its head. It's probably just a deformity, but it gets folks excited because it makes us think about unicorns. Well, here, viewers' imaginations get to go wild because scientists have found a dinosaur that had four wings.
This work does a great job in peeling the onion. It asks if this is proof that birds descended from dinosaurs. It questions whether this animal flew or glided. Were its feathered legs for flight, or insulation and breeding. The question comes up: did birds start flying from the ground up or were they in the trees and just adapted to traveling at a height?
The term "missing link" does eventually come up in the work. However, these fossils were preserved well because a volcano covered up every nearby living thing so well and the narrator never says, "like Pompeii." They show a fossil of a mammal and that really had me curious, as humans are in that group, but they just...

Please disband BAND
"The Four-Winged Dinosaur" is a Nova documentary about a bizarre fossil discovery in China. Come and meet the Microraptor, a four-winged dinosaur! Yes, really. Naturally, a creature of this kind is bound to create some chaos in the family tree. Reminds me of Homo florensiensis a.k.a. the Hobbit. This time, however, the problems are in the family tree of birds and paravian dinosaurs, including the "raptors" popularized by the movie "Jurassic Park".

The idea that birds are dinosaurs is, of course, immediately compelling - certainly in popular imagination - so the conflicts were bound to be rather fierce when scientists who deny the bird-dino connection tried to use Microraptor to their advantage. Those who do believe that birds are descended from dinosaurs immediately hit back. The documentary skilfully pits the two groups against each other, as they examine the fossil evidence, build models of how Microraptor might have looked like, and bicker in general.

Somehow,...

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Stonewall

History as it happened - well almost.
Stonewall is a joy to watch on many levels. As an historical (with a liberal dose of fiction) account of the Stonewall riots it shows the horror of the hatred and oppressions gays, trannies and dykes had to endure. As a love story it celebrates diversity and shows the difficulties that occur when a relationship is not sanctioned by society. As a drag musical it rocks.

As a student of gay and lesbian history and the fight for human rights it was interesting to see a film that blows away the myth that gay and lesbian rights are a white middle class issue. The Stonewall riots were about multiple layers of oppression and it is well documented that it was the latinos, blacks and transvestites who, on that night, finally said enough is enough. The contrast with the conformist white middle class push for equality on someone else's terms is handled well.

As for the performances, they are uniformally excellent. Guillermo Diaz is superb as La Miranda, Fred Weller great as Matty...

Good story, history for those who don't remember
Enjoyed this movie. The (i believe) fictional characters provide an entertaining story and backdrop to the real Stonewall event.

We tend to forget how gays & lesbians were treated as real criminals as little as 30 years ago - when police raided gay bars just to beat up the patrons, and get their names published in the daily paper, assuring you that you would lose your job and be outted in a very public way. I was cringing in my seat at some of the stuff we had to deal with back then - considering how open we are today. Really makes you think.

Nice film with a cute story against the historical backdrop.

Watch it for the Drag Queens
The amazing thing about the Stonewall riots is that while they happened only 31 years ago, no one really knows what happened. The press coverage was completely inaccurate and homophobic, and if everyone who said they were there actually was, Manhattan would have crumbled under the weight. With that said, this is a very warm rendition of what could have happened. In some places the story is right on accurate (the drag queens and their can-can lines are fact, that is one thing that historians are pretty sure about, and at least one drag queen showed up at the daft board in full drag). In other places the movie presents a plausible idea of what might have happened (no one knows what sparked the riots, but a drag queen who was being arrested and who resisted is one of the theories). Not that the whole movie is fact, obviously the characters were made up, and in some areas the film takes poetic license with history (the final bar that the Village Voice reporter ended up in...

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