Graduate First ( Passe ton bac d'abord ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]

Graduate First ( Passe ton bac d'abord ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ] Review

Graduate First ( Passe ton bac d'abord ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ] Feature

• THIS DVD WILL NOT WORK ON STANDARD US DVD PLAYER

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.66:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Booklet, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Documentary, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: The world sometimes seems divided into two camps: those who recall their teenage years as having been an exhilarating dream, and those who remember them as having been an infernal, nightmarish hell. With all this in mind, it might do to describe Passe Ton Bac D'Abord as Maurice Pialat's "The Best Years Of Our Lives", while bearing in mind all that such a description might suggest. It's an elastic, unsparing portrait of teenage life in the suburbs of France from an era when the phrase "sixteen candles" still might have conjured the image of flames. A group of young actors including several local unknowns - Philippe Marlaud, Bernard Tronczyk, Patrick Lepczynski and Sabine Haudepin (once the little girl of Truffaut's Jules et Jim), among others - make up the cluster of friends adrift beneath the twilight of their school years. There's drama, violence, and pot-induced laughs - group holidays, indiscriminate sex, advances from teachers twenty-five years their seniors, attempted moves to Paris, and few prospects of passing the bac, the final set of exams French students take before embarking into the world to... do what? Marking the last work of Pialat's turbulent cycle of films made in the 1970s, Passe Ton Bac D'abord... is the brilliant spiritual sequel to the great filmmaker's feature-debut L'Enfance-nue - picked up again from a vantage ten years on from the lives of the earlier film's protagonists.

Yurîka

Yurîka Review

After three and a half slow paced, sepia toned hours experiencing emotional pain and anguish I still watched the credits roll. This film starts off with a man hijacking a bus and killing most everyone on it for no apparent reason. The driver and two middle school kids survive, and we spend the rest of the film watching them live with it. We watch them fall asleep watching television and other mundane matters but there is not a wasted frame in this film. There are a remarkable number of plot points to keep things moving forward but it still feels like suspended animation, like time is moving inward instead of along. Koji Yakusho is sublime and Aoi Miyazaki, at like twelve years old--and without saying a word for nearly the entire runtime--is mesmerizing. This film is a masterpiece, a journey exploring the myriad layers of trauma, of metaphorical death, and what three people endure on a path to renewal and emergence from a world of silent suffering. It will take your breath away. As the mecha-fantasy Eureka Seven begins building to its finale, the story grows increasingly metaphysical. Norb, the laconic monk, is calling the shots aboard the Gekkostate: even Holland listens to him. After pausing for an incongruous soccer game, the crew heads for the Vodarac temple where Eureka and Renton meet Sakuya, a Coralian who dwells within a giant lotus blossom. After conferring with Eureka, Sakuya decides the duo will be allowed to pass through the barrier of the Great Wall to the Zone and beyond: "the genuine promised land." No one seems to know what Renton and Eureka will find there, but everyone believes the fate of the planet depends on their journey. Preparations for the trip are complicated by Colonel Dewey's maniacal attempts to destroy the Coralians: he sends Dominic and Anemone in a desperate race to overtake Eureka and Renton. The Special Edition comes with a T-shirt and the first volume of Eureka Seven: Gravity Boys & Lifting Girls, a manga by Miki Kizuki and Dai Sato that serves as a prequel to the series, the original PS2 game, and the manga by Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Konduo. (Rated 13 and older: violence, risqué humor, alcohol and drug use) --Charles Solomon

Eureka Seven, Volume 1 (Episodes 1-5)

Eureka Seven, Volume 1 (Episodes 1-5) Review

A great start to what promises to be a great anime. Thus far it is pretty light hearted. We get a fairly light hearted introduction to the characters and the basic story elements.

It has a great mix of comedy and action and definitely a hint of a greater story lingering beneath the surface. One of the best components of the series so far is the varied cast. It's a large cast, but doesn't suffer from many overdone character types or redundant personalities. Each character even has a unique look and you don't get much of the sibling effect in this show.

Another great element is the look of the rest of the show. It mixes a sci-fi/futuristic look with a retro 60s and 70s style. I'm usually not one for retro styles but it works quite well in this case. The animation itself is also well above average for an anime series and remains consistent with the quality set by the art itself. The soundtrack is quite diverse as well, but also seems to use a retro style at times, while other times it adopts a techno or even alternative style. The voice acting is great as well, both sub and dub. I prefer the dub myself, but sub fans certainly won't be disappointed either.

It is a mecha series at heart, but there's a lot to it at that. At this point there's not a whole lot of story, but what we've had so far has been great to watch and has done a wonderful job introducing the characters and themes.

The special edition comes with a free copy of the 1st manga, a 2-disc soundtrack release, an artbox and a brown size large t-shirt with the Gekkostate logo on the front and the Eureka Seven logo written vertically down the back. I felt the manga failed to live up to the style of the series, but the soundtrack is pretty diverse and impressive and the shirt is actually of pretty good quality.

The artbox opens and closes by removing the entire top piece, which is the bulk of the box. It's an interesting design, but the cardboard piece on the bottom portion that the top portion closes around when you put it back on is already showing wear on my artbox. It's still a great box though, and the artwork is a great example of the shows style. The image of Renton on the box seems a bit young compared to his age in the series, but that's only minor nitpicking. Eureka Seven tells the story of a young boy named Renton, whose life just plain sucks. That is until a giant robot crashes into his house. Piloted by a girl named Eureka, this encounter will lead Renton to be pursued by the military and pulled into a web of drama, intrigue, and non-stop action. Renton's time to daydream is over! The #1 Show in Japan, from Studio Bones. Genre: Action/Sci-fi/Mecha.

Eureka Seven, Volume 6 (Special Edition)

Eureka Seven, Volume 6 (Special Edition) Review

An amazing volume that really brings a great deal of the development in the series recently together. The series is obviously far from over(as I should hope considering this is only the 6th release of 12), but this was still obviously a pivotal volume for this series.

My only real complaint is that a few portions of the time Renton spends with Charles and Ray seems a little awkward. Not a big deal considering all the character development we see with Renton, and even more so with Eureka herself. We even get some hints at the greater storyline in the third episode on this volume along with a some "edge of your seat" moments in the last episode and an important battle of sorts.

The technical merits remain strong with the series and the performances and music all come together with their usual grandeur.

The shirt provided with this special edition is a light gray shirt in size large with the Eureka Seven logo printed on the upper corner of the front and the japanese segement of the logo printed large on the back. The manga remains true to itself, which is disappointing to me as I find it lacking the style and substance the series portrays so effectively.

Eureka Seven, Volume 6 (Special Edition) Feature

• Away from the Gekko, Renton has found a new home with a pair of enigmatic mercenaries: Charles and Ray Beam. And though the duo has opened both their ship and their hearts to Renton, their true agenda will force Renton once again to decide to choose between his new life or his old one. Meanwhile on board the Gekko, Eureka and Holland must come to terms and deal with their contrasting emotions towa

Away from the Gekko, Renton has found a new home with a pair of enigmatic mercenaries: Charles and Ray Beam. And though the duo has opened both their ship and their hearts to Renton, their true agenda will force Renton once again to decide to choose between his new life or his old one. Meanwhile on board the Gekko, Eureka and Holland must come to terms and deal with their contrasting emotions towards Renton. Eureka will her blossoming love, and Holland with his growing hate. Will Eureka's emotions be enough to bring spur search to Renton back to the Gekko? Or will a mysterious pair of mercenaries and a vast military fleet be enough to prevent Renton from discovering where his true home lies? Winner of Top Honors at the 200t Anime Expo SPJA Awards. Genre: Action/Sci-Fi/Mecha. THIS ITEMS IS SPECIAL EDITION and includes Vol 6 DVD of Eureka Seven, the 4th issue of Bandai's Hit Eureka Seven Manga, and an exclusive T-shirt.

Shoah (4 Disc Set & 184 Page Book Special Edition Box Set) (UK PAL/Region 2)

Shoah (4 Disc Set & 184 Page Book Special Edition Box Set) (UK PAL/Region 2) Review

I have been reading and studying about the Holocaust for roughly 45 years. When I was young I couldn't understand how such a thing could occur and yet it did and on such a mammouth scale that comprehension still escapes us. I had heard about "Shoah" for anumber of years and would have watched it sooner except I could never find it on any available network or other outlet. Thus I bought my own copy and watched it over the course of a couple of months.

"Shoah" is a set of 4 DVDs that have approximately 125 "chapters" overall and a viewing time of 9 1/2 hours. It consists of a number of interviews with Holocaust survivors, witnesses and even a few participants. The series of interviews are generally in a loosely chronological order as far as the events they describe. This makes for a more orderly (if that is possible) and focused perspective. The overall cast of interviewees are somewhat limited (thanks largely to the SS and similar obstacles) yet they provide a great deal of detailed eyewitness accounts of their experiences. There are two or three German officials interviewed (one who was apparently unaware he was being recorded) and their information was also an important inclusion in the overall accounts. The interviews often took place indoors but the director used plenty of outdoor footage of the actual sites in which the events being described took place. The last part of the last DVD focuses on the Warsaw Ghetto and the subsequent uprising. The account of Simha Rottem, a survivor of the Warsaw Getto uprising, may have been the most impressive of the many soberly stunning accounts in the film.

There are some aspects of the movie that I found less absorbing than others but they were very few. I thought that the director, Claude Lanzmann, spent too much time talking to Raul Hilberg, an historian. Mr. Hilberg had some relevant things to offer but he was an outsider in a film made up of interviewers with insiders. There was also a Polish leader by the name of Jan Karski who had a real hard time getting himself up to talking about what he had witnessed in the Warsaw Ghetto. I thought that his reaction to the relatively "tame" events and observations he shared were also out of sinc with the rest of the film.

"Shoah" is essential viewing for serious students of the Holocaust. The greater monstrosities are all there as well as the day to day life and the acceptance that their survival may have been as incomprehensible as the events they survived. There were a number of times during "Shoah" when the survivor is relating his observations almost non-challantly only to come to a point where a sudden reminder of a person, a comment, or an incident emotionally overwhelms them completely. After a moment or two of sheer anguish, the speaker continues on with his account as though nothing had interrupted his "presentation". The mixture of Humanity and inhumanity is the ultimate greatness of "Shoah". * PAL/Region 2 pressing.

* Please note you will need a Multi-Region/Multi-Format DVD player to view. This will not play on standard US DVD players/drives. If you don't know what this means, don't order this!

UK only Director approved edition includes a new progressive transfer, improved English sub-titles along with a 184-page book featuring writing by Stuart Liebman and analysis by Claurde Lamzman.

Shoah is Claude Lanzmann's landmark documentary meditation on the Holocaust. Assembled from footage shot by the filmmaker during the 1970s and 1980s, it investigates the genocide at the level of experience: the geographical layout of the camps and the ghettos; the daily routines of imprisonment; the inexorable trauma of humiliation, punishment, extermination; and the fascinating insights of those who experienced these events first hand. Absent from the film is any imagery shot at the time the Holocaust occurred. There is only Lanzmann and his crew, filming in private spaces and now-dormant zones of eradication to extract testimony from a series of survivors, witnesses, and oppressors alike. Through his relentless questioning (aided on occasion by hidden camera), Lanzmann is able to coax out material of unparalleled emotional truth that constitutes both precious oral history and withering indictment. Shoah (the title is a common designation for the Holocaust, and a Hebrew word that can be translated as 'Catastrophe' or 'Annihilation') was the first of Lanzmann's films to analyse the effects of the death camps on individual lives and the world at large. It represents an aesthetic achievement in line with Alain Resnais's Night and Fog, combining inquiry, rage, and mourning to create a monumental portrait of shame and grief. Shoah locates within the present a direct line to the horrors of the past, and is widely regarded as one of the most powerful films of all time.

Traffic

Traffic Review

My personal feelings for `Traffic' as a whole have had quite the yo-yo effect. When I first saw the film I really loved it. Over time my adoration has dwindled but upon a recent viewing I have come to respect it more than I think I ever have. While it is still a flawed work and one that I don't consider a major triumph, I feel as though the ambitious nature of the film is worth applauding and consider it a very integral part of this past decade.

The film tells three separate stories that overlap telling a fuller story concerning the war on drugs here in the US. We have the newly appointed government drug czar, Robert Wakefield, who struggles with his new assignment as well as with his wayward daughter Caroline, who has a serious drug habit of her own. We also have Helena Ayala, the beautiful yet naïve wife of a recently incarcerated drug-kingpin. And then we have Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro in his Oscar winning role), the conflicted police officer who serves as the films moral center; one of shifting focus and impending consequence.

While at times it feels as though it bites off more than it can chew, there is so much going on here that it seems to more than make up for its faults.

The acting here is pretty much sensational. Del Toro is the standout, delivering a natural and completely inhabited performance, but he is not the only actor at the top of their game. Michael Douglas, who is not an actor I am overly fond of, delivers his best performance, in my humble opinion, as a concerned parent folding under the pressure or raising awareness as well as a daughter. Speaking of that daughter, Erika Christensen is simply brilliant here. The way she constructs her characters addiction is heartbreaking and sincere. This film is all about grit and realism and she masters that with her beautifully tragic performance.

Don Cheadle, Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace and Catherine Zeta-Jones only form a small fraction of this talented cast.

The true star of the show here is director Steven Soderbergh. With a film that tries to do so much, Soderbergh keeps throwing it at us, visually as well as thematically. Where the script may drop the ball or find itself (at times) bogged down, Soderbergh makes sure that the visual feast before us is captivating yet raw and unnerving. While I would not have handed him the director award myself, I totally understand why he got it. He takes each story and builds its own separate mood and feel yet ties each story in, creating a cohesive and complex portrayal of human interaction and suffering.

There is a universal `flow' that permeates this film and makes it work even when it technically shouldn't.

So, in the end I highly recommend this. My rating is back to an A because, despite its flaws, `Traffic' is a great film that works to its strengths and delivers in the end. It is a film that definitely understands its subject and it is something we can appreciate and glean from even now, ten years down the road. No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 22-MAY-2007
Media Type: DVD

Eureka Seven Music DVD w/Bonus CD

Eureka Seven Music DVD w/Bonus CD Review

I love listening to all of the opening and ending songs whenever I watch the show, and have wanted to get them on CD for the longest time. However, I didn't want to have to get two OSTs in order to own all of the OP/ED songs, especially if they are the TV versions (from what I've managed to find out). Luckily, this CD solves that problem, and more.

For those who are curious about what exactly this CD has:
the first disk, the CD, has the full-length (not TV-sized) version of ALL of the opening/ending songs, and also includes "REALIZE", the opening to the E7 video games, and the 10- minute version of "Niji", arguably one of the best songs in the entire series. (it's the song that played during the last episode, before the Epilogue.)
The second disk, the DVD, contains the TV intro/endings, the intro to both of the E7 games, and has a 10-minute special video of Niji.

If you wanted to hear the full versions of your favorite OP/ED song(s), and have them all on the same CD, then this CD/DVD set is well-worth your money.

Eureka Seven Music DVD w/Bonus CD Feature

• The Eureka Seven music DVD with bonus CD is a must have for any fan of the series! Unlike the Japanese release which only collected the edited versions of each song this collection takes it to the next level with full versions of some of the best music this side of the Scub Coral! Along with the bonus soundtrack the DVD does not disappoint with its compilation of textless opening and closing seque

The Eureka Seven music DVD with bonus CD is a must have for any fan of the series! Unlike the Japanese release which only collected the edited versions of each song this collection takes it to the next level with full versions of some of the best music this side of the Scub Coral! Along with the bonus soundtrack the DVD does not disappoint with
its compilation of textless opening and closing sequences from both the TV series and the PS2 games