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Reviews Written By: A2P98KLVOIWKI

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	Sesame Street - Old School, Vol. 1 (1969-1974)
	"Good but I'd have liked more"	2008-02-27
Nostalgia time. I grew up on Sesame Street, or rather I was just too old for it since it went on just as I went into kindergarten. Still it was always on in my house, thanks to two younger brothers. This is the first collection of the orginal epsiodes and for the most part its a treat. Here are the episodes pretty much as they played on TV originally. Wonderful. If I could quibble I wish the set contained more. While I know economically it would be impossible to release a whole hundred plus episode season (it would be at least 30 DVDs) I wish the set had included more full episodes. Not that what they have included is bad, its not, but five is not enough. Like wise I would have liked more clips. There were so many wonderful pieces I don't see why we couldn't have had more. I know its kind of ridiculous to want more since between this and the second set so many great bits are included, but at the same time so much of this show has become part of my psyche (You wouldn't believe how much I sang and spoke along even after almost 40 years). Definitely worth getting, especially if you have kids.
	The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide
	"Terrible arrangement of reviews makes this a useless book"	2005-01-22
I have to say that the reviews are witty and a good read but trying to figure out where the minds behind this book have put anything is difficult and make this a useless reference tool. In order to find any movie you're best to turn to the index since the arrangement of the films is seemingy random. The most annoying example is the first 300 or so pages called "The Directors" where many films are listed by their directors. This would be nice if you knew the director but more often than not you don't so its a bad way of finding anything. Worse not all of a directors films are listed in the section or even in the book. Some are given only one film. One film? Why does that make them a great director? Why is say Denys Arcand's Jesus of Montreal the only film listed here while he's directed several other great films as well? (and who would think to look for Jesus under A? Films in the other sections don't end up where you think they should. For example not all documentaries are in the documentary section. The two Paradise Lost films on the killings of three boys in West Memphis are in the "Murder, Mystery, Suspense" section between Our Man Flint and Phone Booth. The films of Neil Simon like Seems Like Old Times are listed under "Performance, Literature and the Arts". I like the film, but it belongs in comedy. I could go on and talk about factual errors like Samurai Fiction not being listed as a Japanese film, but I won't. Nor will I ponder about why some films were included while others were not. Its all well written but too hard to use as anything other than a book to randomly read reviews from. I wouldn't care except that this is suppose to be a film guide and its not very useful as that. Pick this up if you want interesting personal reviews for casual reading but do not pick this up if you want a real reference guide, because its not.
	Walt Disney Treasures - Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume Two
	"Too many repeats"	2004-05-22
Everything on this set looks and sounds great. Technically this is wonderful, but its still a major disappointment when compared to every other Disney Treasure collection released (except Disneyland). The problem is that about half or a little more is repeated on many other DVDs from Disney. I figure there is actually only one DVD's worth of new material here. If you are a Disney fan and have everything, or only somewhat interested in Disney stuff, odds are you're going to have a good chunk of the extras contained here. Yes, the cartoons here are not repeated, but much of the rest of it is. How many times are they going to include the stuff from Fantasia? There is also the many times repeated Plausible Impossible clips, while Mickey and the Beanstalk is half Fun and Fancy Free. Yes, it is nice to have it all in one place but there is a such a thing as too many trips to the well. I can't understand why there is so little new material, especially since Mickey is the icon for the company, I can't believe they used it all up in the first two Mickey sets. The content is quite good and had it been a single disc or not one of the limited tins this would be a great set.But the fact that this set is called a Disney Treasure demands this be something special, which it is not, especially when compared to the high standards set by most of the other collections in the series.
	Sleazoid Express: A Mind-Twisting Tour Through the Grindhouse Cinema of Times Square
	"Perfectly captures what it was like to be there but...."	2003-11-23
As a description of the experience of going to the movies in Times Square before Disney made it safe for everyone this book can't be beat. This is the way it was, unsafe and fun in a sick twisted sort of way. Having been there, its dead on target. A trip into the theatres was an eye opening experience and one which could get you robbed or worse. However as an accurate description of the actual films shown the book is flawed, so much that it makes me wonder if the authors have ever watched the films in the years since they played Times Square. The first half of the book is fine with its description of what it was like to be in the theatres and how some of the films were made. However as the book goes on it becomes a recounting of what film played where, and in many cases I'm left to wonder if they ever really saw what they are describing. Their descriptions of the Mondo movies is mostly wrong, especially in light of the recent release of the 8 DVD Mondo Cane Boxset. They knock Zombie as having bad sound, a remark which is no doubt based on viewing it in a theatre with bad sound. I won't even go into their brief description of Shogun Assassin. There are others questionable descriptions, but these are the first to popped into my head. That said if you want a book that describes what it was like to see movies in a specific time and place this book is for you, just don't be looking for film reference guide to the actual films.
	Hammer Horror Collection (The Curse of Frankenstein/The Horror of Dracula/The Mummy)
	"Three of the Best"	2003-01-14
These are the films that took the three classic movie monsters brought them into the world of color. They each spawned several sequels of various quality ( the Hammer Mummy films coming off worst)but they all changed the way that we view horror today. Made on the high end of a low budget the films look great.The acting is wonderful, Cushing's Frankenstien is masterful portrait of evil and Christopher Lee's Dracula rightly made him famous the world over. It should also be remembered that as tame as they seem by todays standards there was a great out cries about the horror and shock content of the films upon their first release. The films while not nearly as terrifying as they once were are still really good thrillers. The discs themselves are quite good, although sorely lacking in extra material. Why no effort was made to put something together by Warner is beyond me, especially since Christopher Lee has been doing commentaries for the other Dracula films over at Anchor Bay.But that's a minor sticking point since the films themselves are what matter and in this case the transfers are wonderful.