|
|
1
2 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
[...]
List Price: $39.98Price: $15.99You Save: $23.99 (60%)F Troop - The Complete First Season
Actors: Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, Ken Berry, Melody Patterson, James Hampton
ASIN : B000EQ46HI
Sales Rank : 3352
Director : Charles R. Rondeau, David Alexander, Gene Reynolds, Leslie Goodwins, Seymour Robbie
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012569807747
UPC : 012569807747
Release Date : December 06, 2006
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 667
DescriptionAfter accidentally leading a cavalry charge into victory, Private Wilton Parmenter becomes a hero and is given command of Fort Courage. Here, his group of cavalrymen bumble through fighting their enemies and working with the local Hekawi Indians to sell items to tourists. Amazon.comF-Troop belongs to the ranks of television's great military slacker comedies, including Sgt. Bilko and McHale's Navy. Ken Berry was promoted from bit player to leading man with his role as clueless and clumsy ("I fall down a lot") Wilton Parmenter, who is put in charge of the frontier post Fort Courage after a display of inadvertent Civil War heroism. "He's the pigeon we always dreamed of," enthuses Sgt. O'Rourke (Forrest Tucker), who runs "O'Rourke Enterprises" with his sidekick Corporal Agarn (Larry Storch). Most episodes involve O'Rourke and Agarn's get-rich schemes that ultimately backfire. The show's great (albeit politically incorrect) comic conceit is the Hekawis, the decidedly un-bloodthirsty Indian tribe who makes tourist souvenirs, not war. "We invent peace pipe," proclaims Chief Wild Eagle (Frank DeKova), whose broken English and anachronistic vernacular (similar to Joey Bishop in Texas Across the River) provide most of each episode's biggest--and, in these more enlightened times, guiltiest--laughs. F's troupe also includes Melody Patterson as Wrangler Jane, who has a hankerin' for "Will" ("I told you, Jane, not in front of the men"), James Hampton as bungling bugler Dobbs, Joe Brooks as nearsighted look-out Vanderbilt, cowboy star Bob Steele as gung-ho Alamo survivor Duffy, and venerable character actor (and Rocky and Bullwinkle's "Fractured Fairy Tales" narrator) Edward Everett Horton as Hekawi medicine man Roaring Chicken. Among the more memorable guest appearances include Zsa Zsa Gabor as a gypsy who attempts to fleece Agarn in "Play, Gypsy, Play," and Don Rickles (!) as Chief Wild Eagle's excitable, warlike son in "The Return of Bald Eagle." The episode, "Reunion for O'Rouke," contains the classic bit about how the Hekawis got their name. F-Troop debuted in 1965 and lasted but two seasons. It broke no television ground and was never nominated for an Emmy. A single-disc compilation of six episodes is also available, but Baby Boomers who remember F-Troop fondly will want to enlist for a full season. It's old school, flat-out funny. -–Donald Liebenson
Reviews for the F Troop - The Complete First Season
List Price: $39.98Price: $15.99You Save: $23.99 (60%)F Troop - The Complete Second Season
Actors: Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, Ken Berry, Melody Patterson, James Hampton
ASIN : B000N6UF10
Sales Rank : 2750
Director : David Alexander, Gary Nelson, Gene Nelson, Hal March, Hollingsworth Morse
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0085391130307
UPC : 085391130307
Release Date : December 29, 2007
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 784
DescriptionGo west...and go loco. Yes, Captain Parmenter and his buffoons in blue are ready again to untame the wilderness in TV's wackiest Western spoof. Wrangler Jane still pines after Parmenter, the Hekawis still plot after profits and Sergeant O'Rourke and Corporal Agarn have more get-rich-quick schemes up their regimental sleeves. A plains-load of comic guest stars joins the fun, including Phil Harris as a 147-year-old Indian chief, Harvey Korman as a Prussian balloonist, Paul Lynde as a singing Mountie, Milton Berle as a flim-flam medicine man and Vincent Price as a spooky Transylvanian count. Enlist now for a second comedy tour: the out-of-its-mind and ahead-of-its-time 31-episode final season of F Troop! Amazon.comYes, you are seeing double in F Troop's second, and final, season. In "The Singing Mountie," Larry Storch appears as Corporal Agarn and his cousin, a French fur trapper. In "Did Your Father Come from Ireland?" Forrest Tucker brogues it up as Sgt. O'Rourke's visiting Irish father. In "Wilton the Kid," Ken Berry gets into the act portraying klutzy, clueless Capt. Parmenter and his look-alike, a vicious bank robber. And in "One Russian Is Coming! Only One Russian Is Coming!" Storch again doubles up as Agarn's Cossack cousin. It's a sure indication that F Troop had indeed jumped the stagecoach (particularly the 1967 episode "That's Show Biz," featuring a frontier rock group, the Bedbugs, and a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Tambourine Man" that makes William Shatner's sound like the Byrds), but the show is so unabashedly old-school funny, and its ensemble of crack character actors so likeable, that one willingly takes the leap. During its brief run, F Troop spawned its share of catch-phrases (Agarn's "Who says I'm dumb" and "I'm warning you, Dobbs"), but this season's "Bye Bye Balloon" contains perhaps the series' most classic quotable, as the Hekawis' Chief Wild Eagle (Frank DeKova) gazes upon the mysterious flying object in the sky and proclaims, "It is balloon" (it plays better than it reads). For a frontier outpost, Fort Courage sure saw its share of visiting show-business luminaries, including Paul Lynde as "The Singing Mountie," Harvey Korman as a Prussian balloonist in "Bye Bye Balloon," Milton Berle as sham medicine man Wise Owl in "The Great Troop Robbery," Sterling "Winnie the Pooh" Holloway as a bespectacled sheriff in "Wilton the Kid," and Vincent Price as a suspicious Count in "V Is for Vampire." One regrets the show's switch from black and white to color and the replacement of F Troop's original rousing theme song with an instrumental rendition (the original, with vocals, obligingly plays over each disc's menus), but the commercial-break freeze frames are fun. Tucker, as the entrepreneurial O'Rourke, and Storch, as his wildly emotional sidekick, are one of TV's great comedy teams, and Berry displays Astaire-like grace performing the bulk of the physical comedy. Those who dismiss F Troop as a mindlessly silly sitcom are directed to the near-half-hour series retrospective, in which military personnel salute this series' spoofing of military protocol and life as a morale builder during the Vietnam War. --Donald Liebenson
Reviews for the F Troop - The Complete Second Season
List Price: $39.98Price: $31.99You Save: $7.99 (20%)Jonny Quest - The Complete First Season
Actors: Mike Road, Tim Matheson, Don Messick, Danny Bravo, Henry Corden
ASIN : B0001MZ7J6
Sales Rank : 4239
Director : Joseph Barbera, William Hanna
Studio : American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Region Code : 1
Format : Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781560398639
ISBN : 1560398639
UPC : 014764234120
Release Date : December 11, 2004
Publisher : American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Manufacturer : American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Running Time : 661
DescriptionUnlike the outrageous fantasy plots of cartoons that preceded it, "Jonny Quest" drew on science and detective-style logic to solve mysteries and apprehend sophisticated villains. Viewers were transported to exotic locales as Jonny's dad Dr. Benton Quest tackled each new government assignment, aided by ex-agent "Race" Bannon, the Indian boy Hadji, family bulldog Bandit...and of course, his fearless 11-year-old son Jonny (voiced by actor Tim Matheson). Now all 26 classic episodes from Year One charting the fantastic exploits of brave and brainy Jonathan Quest are available for the first time ever, digitally re-mastered on DVD in a deluxe four-disc collectors set, featuring over 11 hours of classic original TV programming and newly-added enhanced content. Amazon.comBaby boomers of a certain age, and anyone fond of classic Hanna Barbera cartoons, might find the 40-year-old episodes in Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season an exciting blast from the past. Five years before Hanna Barbera made a comedy about amateur youths solving exotic mysteries in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, the animation giant captured a more serious spirit from a different era in Jonny Quest. The series played on primetime television--a very big deal for animation at the time--in 1964, and was infused with energy from sundry pop trends as well as cold war paranoia and a prevailing belief in limitless technology (largely inspired by America's race to the moon). Part intelligence thriller, part science fiction, Jonny Quest made a child's adventure out of thwarting international espionage and sabotage with super-computers, state-of-the-art transportation to every corner of the planet, an apparently bottomless budget for building fantastic weapons, martial arts, and more. The fact that schoolboy Jonny, as well as his best friend, Hadji, and canine companion Bandit, were having adventures akin to those of James Bond was terribly exciting. Young Jonny (voiced by actor Tim Matheson, later a co-star of Animal House and The West Wing) is the motherless son of government scientist Dr. Benton Quest. The latter conducts all manner of research from a remote island, where he lives with Jonny, Hadji, Bandit, and chief assistant Race Bannon, a rugged fellow who tutors Jonny but also provides muscle when the group is on assignment anywhere from the Arctic to Calcutta. The original 26 episodes (on four discs) find the team battling conspirators amidst half-sunken pirate ships in the Sargasso Sea (in the pilot, "Mystery of the Lizard Men," sans Hadji), working undercover to stop a Jahilipur manufacturer of fake gold ("Riddle of the Gold"), and foiling an effort to steal an experimental, "mind-numbing" drug (and passing off a Race look-alike as the real McCoy) in "Double Danger." (The last introduces Race's hottie girlfriend, Jezebel Jade.) The slow, deliberate animation (even more stiff than Scooby) can get a little wearing, but the uniqueness of Jonny Quest as a genuine adventure-drama makes this collection a must. --Tom Keogh
Reviews for the Jonny Quest - The Complete First Season
List Price: $14.98Price: $13.49You Save: $1.49 (10%)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Eric Sykes, Timothy Spall
ASIN : B000E6EK2Y
Sales Rank : 966
Director : Mike Newell
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012569593886
UPC : 012569593886
Release Date : December 07, 2006
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 157
DescriptionWhen Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools - the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named. In this fourth film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, everything changes as Harry, Ron and Hermione leave childhood forever and take on challenges greater than anything they could have imagined. Amazon.comThe latest entry in the Harry Potter saga could be retitled Fast Times at Hogwarts, where finding a date to the winter ball is nearly as terrifying as worrying about Lord Voldemort's return. Thus, the young wizards' entry into puberty (and discovery of the opposite sex) opens up a rich mining field to balance out the dark content in the fourth movie (and the stories are only going to get darker). Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) handily takes the directing reins and eases his young cast through awkward growth spurts into true young actors. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, more sure of himself) has his first girl crush on fellow student Cho Chang (Katie Leung), and has his first big fight with best bud Ron (Rupert Grint). Meanwhile, Ron's underlying romantic tension with Hermione (Emma Watson) comes to a head over the winter ball, and when she makes one of those girl-into-woman Cinderella entrances, the boys' reactions indicate they've all crossed a threshold. But don't worry, there's plenty of wizardry and action in Goblet of Fire. When the deadly Triwizard Tournament is hosted by Hogwarts, Harry finds his name mysteriously submitted (and chosen) to compete against wizards from two neighboring academies, as well as another Hogwarts student. The competition scenes are magnificently shot, with much-improved CGI effects (particularly the underwater challenge). And the climactic confrontation with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes, in a brilliant bit of casting) is the most thrilling yet. Goblet, the first installment to get a PG-13 rating, contains some violence as well as disturbing images for kids and some barely shrouded references at sexual awakening (Harry's bath scene in particular). The 2 1/2-hour film, lean considering it came from a 734-page book, trims out subplots about house-elves (they're not missed) and gives little screen time to the standard crew of the other Potter films, but adds in more of Britain's finest actors to the cast, such as Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody and Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter. Michael Gambon, in his second round as Professor Dumbledore, still hasn't brought audiences around to his interpretation of the role he took over after Richard Harris died, but it's a small smudge in an otherwise spotless adaptation. --Ellen A. Kim
Reviews for the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Widescreen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
List Price: $26.98Price: $22.99You Save: $3.99 (15%)The Wolf Man - The Legacy Collection (The Wolf Man / Werewolf of London / Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / She-Wolf of London)
Actors: Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi
ASIN : B0001CNRNE
Sales Rank : 3043
Director : David J. Skal, George Waggner, Jean Yarbrough, Roy William Neill, Stuart Walker
Brand : WOLFMAN, THE: THE LEGACY COLLECTION (DVD MOVI
Studio : Universal Studios
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Box set, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780783288178
ISBN : 0783288174
UPC : 025192445828
Release Date : December 27, 2004
Publisher : Universal Studios
Manufacturer : Universal Studios
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Universal Studios
Running Time : 70
DescriptionFor the first time ever, the original The Wolf Man film comes to DVD in this extraordinary Legacy Collection. Included in the collection is the original classic, starring the renowned Lon Chaney Jr., and three timeless sequels, featuring legendary actor Bela Lugosi and others. These are the landmark films that inspired an entire genre of movies and continue to be major influences on motion pictures to this day.
Reviews for the The Wolf Man - The Legacy Collection (The Wolf Man / Werewolf of London / Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / She-Wolf of London)
List Price: $14.98Price: $10.99You Save: $3.99 (27%)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Full Screen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Eric Sykes, Timothy Spall
ASIN : B000E6EK38
Sales Rank : 2727
Director : Mike Newell
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012569593879
UPC : 012569593879
Release Date : December 07, 2006
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 157
DescriptionWhen Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools - the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named. In this fourth film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, everything changes as Harry, Ron and Hermione leave childhood forever and take on challenges greater than anything they could have imagined. Amazon.comThe latest entry in the Harry Potter saga could be retitled Fast Times at Hogwarts, where finding a date to the winter ball is nearly as terrifying as worrying about Lord Voldemort's return. Thus, the young wizards' entry into puberty (and discovery of the opposite sex) opens up a rich mining field to balance out the dark content in the fourth movie (and the stories are only going to get darker). Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) handily takes the directing reins and eases his young cast through awkward growth spurts into true young actors. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, more sure of himself) has his first girl crush on fellow student Cho Chang (Katie Leung), and has his first big fight with best bud Ron (Rupert Grint). Meanwhile, Ron's underlying romantic tension with Hermione (Emma Watson) comes to a head over the winter ball, and when she makes one of those girl-into-woman Cinderella entrances, the boys' reactions indicate they've all crossed a threshold. But don't worry, there's plenty of wizardry and action in Goblet of Fire. When the deadly Triwizard Tournament is hosted by Hogwarts, Harry finds his name mysteriously submitted (and chosen) to compete against wizards from two neighboring academies, as well as another Hogwarts student. The competition scenes are magnificently shot, with much-improved CGI effects (particularly the underwater challenge). And the climactic confrontation with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes, in a brilliant bit of casting) is the most thrilling yet. Goblet, the first installment to get a PG-13 rating, contains some violence as well as disturbing images for kids and some barely shrouded references at sexual awakening (Harry's bath scene in particular). The 2 1/2-hour film, lean considering it came from a 734-page book, trims out subplots about house-elves (they're not missed) and gives little screen time to the standard crew of the other Potter films, but adds in more of Britain's finest actors to the cast, such as Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody and Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter. Michael Gambon, in his second round as Professor Dumbledore, still hasn't brought audiences around to his interpretation of the role he took over after Richard Harris died, but it's a small smudge in an otherwise spotless adaptation. --Ellen A. Kim
Reviews for the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Full Screen Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
List Price: $9.99Price: $6.99You Save: $3 (30%)Monsoon Wedding
Actors: Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty, Vijay Raaz, Tillotama Shome
ASIN : B00006AW0I
Sales Rank : 2870
Director : Mira Nair
Brand : Universal
Studio : Universal Studios
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780783271309
ISBN : 0783271301
UPC : 025192228421
Release Date : December 24, 2002
Publisher : Universal Studios
Manufacturer : Universal Studios
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Universal Studios
Running Time : 114
Product DescriptionTwo families from different cultures come together for an arranged marriage in new delhi during the monsoon season. Between a stressed-out father a bride with a burning passion for someone else and a wedding planner with her own agenda forget the rain itll be a miracle if the wedding happens. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 04/12/2005 Starring: Naseeruddin Shah Parvin Dabas Run time: 114 minutes Rating: R Director: Mira Nair Amazon.comMonsoon Wedding is a return to form for Mira Nair, director of 1988's Salaam Bombay! Nair's gift for observation of the everyday and her love for her characters make for a delightful film, which spins a web of family relationships that knit and break during a wedding at a perfect pace. The excellent performances exceed the often stereotypical roles on offer (including the incomparable Nasiruddin Shah as the harassed father, Kulbhushan Kharbanda as the comic uncle, and Shefali Chaya as the orphaned cousin). Nair's sympathetic eye for the unnoticed and the harassed is at its best with the tender romance between the servant and Dube (Vijay Raaz), the marigold-munching, upwardly mobile wedding coordinator, who brings pathos and humor to the often unseen servant classes. The handheld camera gives a docudrama feel to this celebratory look at the upper-middle-class Hindu Punjabi joint family, while paying tribute to modern Indian public culture of music, television, and, of course, "Bollywood." --Rachel Dwyer
Reviews for the Monsoon Wedding
List Price: $29.98Price: $22.99You Save: $6.99 (23%)The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Second Season
Actors: Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts, Frances Bavier, George Lindsey
ASIN : B0007Y08P6
Sales Rank : 3787
Director : Bob Sweeney
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Paramount
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781415706794
ISBN : 1415706794
UPC : 097360698541
Release Date : December 24, 2005
Publisher : Paramount
Manufacturer : Paramount
Label : Paramount
Running Time : 782
DescriptionTHE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON, is a comedy about a North Carolina widower named Andy Taylor who divides his time between raising his son, Opie (Ron Howard) and being sheriff of the small and virtually crime-free town of Mayberry. With next to no crimes to solve, Andy spends time philosophizing and trying to calm down his cousin, Deputy Barney, played by Don Knotts. Amazon.comThe Andy Griffith Show returns on DVD with its complete second season, a five-disc collector’s set of 31 episodes more memorable than one of Aunt Bee’s "kerosene cucumbers." Set in the small town of Mayberry, the television series (1960-1968) followed the hilarious antics of widower Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith), his son Opie (Ron Howard), and Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts). It has achieved cult status as one of television’s most beloved sitcoms for its stellar cast, pristine comedy, and nostalgic charm. By season two, the series found its tone and tenor, proved by such classic episodes as "The Pickle Story," "The Manicurist," and "Barney and the Choir." After viewers endure (or skip) Paramount’s half dozen promotional trailers at the beginning of disc one, they can bask in 13 hours of restored, uninterrupted, black and white television magic. The season’s parade of guest stars includes Barbara Eden, Buddy Ebsen, Alan Hale Jr., Bill Bixby, and Sterling Holloway. Whereas the first season’s DVD set was without bonus material, this collection features sponsor spots, original commercial advertisements (linked to individual episodes) where the show’s cast members promote brands such as "Sanka" coffee and "Post" breakfast cereals--a guaranteed smile. (All ages) --Lynn Gibson
Reviews for the The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Second Season
List Price: $19.98Price: $14.99You Save: $4.99 (25%)The Namesake
Actors: Kal Penn, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Jacinda Barrett, Zuleikha Robinson
ASIN : B000U2U0E4
Sales Rank : 2015
Director : Mira Nair
Brand : TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543456087
UPC : 024543456087
Release Date : December 27, 2007
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 122
Product DescriptionStudio: Tcfhe Release Date: 10/14/2008 Run time: 114 minutes Rating: Pg13 Amazon.comAdapted by screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala from the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, director Mira Nair's The Nameksake is populated by well-drawn characters and filled with memorable shots and engaging scenes. But in the larger sense, the film is a provocative look at the two sides of immigration: the adjustments faced by a couple who move here from a distant land, and the struggles of their offspring to reconcile their parents' traditional culture with their own distinctly American outlook. The tale begins in the late '70s, when aspiring engineer Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) and his new wife Ashima (the radiant Tabu) move to New York from Calcutta. Life in America is strange, in ways both good (the gas in their apartment stays on 24 hours a day! You can drink water straight from the tap!) and not-so-hot (New York's winters). But for their children, first son Gogol (a standout performance by Kal Penn, heretofore best known for the stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle), nicknamed for his father's favorite author, the Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol, and then daughter Sonia (Sahira Nair), "the American way" is at odds with their folks' more conservative mores. Gogol (who later adopts his more formal first name, Nikhil) smokes dope, calls his parents "you guys," goes to Yale, and hooks up with a preppie white girl (Jacinda Barrett); for her part, Sonia complains that she wants to "go home" when the family returns to India for a visit. Only when tragedy strikes suddenly does the young man realize how totally alienated from his family he has become, prompting some major changes. There's nothing especially original about any of this, and even those who haven't read the book may sense that some of Lahiri's material has been lost on the way to the screen (the treatment of Gogol's marriage to a beautiful Bengali-American girl, played by Zuleikha Robinson, seems oddly truncated). But even while dealing with life's Big Issues (birth and death, marriage and separation, joy and misery), Nair has created a winning, intimate film that reminds us of the strength of family ties and effortlessly persuades us to care. --Sam Graham
Kal Penn Blogs About The Namesake
 Welcome to The Namesake DVD. After touring the festival circuit last year, our film opened globally (including North America) in March of this year, and I’m proud to bring you the DVD!
This is a project that has been close to me from the beginning. I was a big fan of the book ever since John Cho recommended it to me during the first Harold & Kumar shoot. John and I tried to get rights to turn the book into the film, but Mira [Nair, director of Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay] had already acquired them. That began a really aggressive campaign on my part to try to get seen for the role. I’d call Mira’s office, have my manager call – but we had no luck in getting in the door. Luckily, unbeknownst to me, Mira’s son Zohran and her agent’s son Sam were lobbying on my behalf (turns out they are huge Harold and Kumar fans, so they were trying to get their parents to bring me in to read for the part of Gogol). Mira finally agreed, and I got a call saying that I’d be able to audition. I flew out to New York, and luckily things worked out.
There are some similarities between my life and Gogol’s. We are both Americans of Indian descent, both born and raised on the East Coast, both bilingual, and both passionate about our careers. But Gogol is much more subdued than I am; he carries a certain silence (which he gets from his father). His place in the world is one of constant shift -- a byproduct of being single in New York, being passionate about his job, close with his family, and so on.
This film is my favorite to -date. Mira has been a role model of mine since I was very young, Jhumpa [Lahiri, author of The Namesake] is one of my favorite authors, Sooni [Taraporevala, screenwriter for Salaam Bombay] one of my most admired screenwriters, so it’s an honor to have the chance to be part of the screen adaptation of this story.
To me, it’s a very American film. It’s about family, about hope – about how we all got here, through the lens of this particular family. With so much negativity every time I turn on the television, I’m proud to be part of something that hopefully leaves the audience with a tremendous amount of hope, and a connection to the people we love. -- Kal Penn
Reviews for the The Namesake
List Price: $19.98Price: $14.99You Save: $4.99 (25%)Angels in America
Actors: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Patrick Wilson, Mary-Louise Parker
ASIN : B0001I2BUI
Sales Rank : 2863
Director : Mike Nichols
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : HBO Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780783129501
ISBN : 0783129505
UPC : 026359229923
Release Date : December 14, 2004
Publisher : HBO Home Video
Manufacturer : HBO Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : HBO Home Video
Running Time : 352
DescriptionAcademy Award-winners Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson lead an all-star cast in a 6-hour HBO Films Event. Directed by Mike Nichols and written by Tony Kushner based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play: Angels in America. Amazon.comTony Kushner's prize-winning play Angels in America became the defining theatrical event of the 1990s, an astonishing mix of philosophy, politics, and vibrant gay soap opera that summed up the Reagan era for an entire generation of theater-goers. Post-9/11 would seem to be too late for a film version--philosophy and politics don't always age well--but this 2003 HBO adaptation, ably directed by Mike Nichols (The Graduate), provides a time capsule of the '80s and reveals the deep emotional subcurrents that will give the play lasting power. The story centers around Prior Walter (Justin Kirk) and Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman), a gay couple that falls apart when Prior grows ill as a result of AIDS. But cancer is not the only thing invading Prior's life: He begins to have religious visions of an angel (Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility) announcing that he is a prophet. Louis, who doesn't cope well with disease and suggestions of mortality, leaves and starts a relationship with Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a closeted Mormon who works for Roy Cohn (Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon)--the real-life right-wing lawyer, notorious for his ruthless behind-the-scenes machinations. Add in Joe's depressed and hallucinating wife Harper (Mary Louise Parker, Fried Green Tomatoes), his determined but open-minded mother Hannah (Meryl Streep, Adaptation), a fierce drag queen/nurse named Belize (Jeffrey Wright, Basquiat, reprising his celebrated performance from the Broadway production), and you've still only begun to discover the wealth of characters and storylines in Kushner's ambitious work. The powerhouse cast (also featuring James Cromwell, Michael Gambon, and Simon Callow) is uniformly superb. The script has its weaknesses--some of the fantastic elements, including Prior's journey to Heaven towards the end, fall flat--but even what doesn't work is bristling with ideas and a ferocious desire to capture human existence in this time and place. --Bret Fetzer
Reviews for the Angels in America
1
2 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
[...]
|