Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation

So So
Historically relevant, but slow, boring and disappointing. Shame, because this is a such a great topic. The film producers squandered a terrific opportunity due to poor editing. Very slow-paced.

This wasn't very interesting and it could have been!
The editors of this documentary made some odd choices about the music videos they chose to include in this somewhat boring film, namely some one-hit wonders mixed in with The Weavers, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, etc., which was too bad and puzzling. Some of the interviewees lost all credibility with me, especially the guy who said that the Village was responsible for a lot of the momentum behind the civil rights movement, the feminist movement and the anti-war movement. This statement was overblown, even for a baby boomer lost in his hazy, pot-smoke-tinged reveries of the past, especially given his white man privilege. Seriously, bro? Step down, son, shut up and do some reading. Um, Rosa Parks? Betty Friedan? I believe that Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in 1902, so I don't think she was hanging out in the Village in the '60s. Also, the SDS was founded in Ann Arbor. These people clearly suffer from San Francisco Bay Area-special-snowflake disease and I say that with love as a native.

Really enjoyed it!!!
Loved the history, the music, loved the accuracy of the information, the historical black and white footage, loved it all...

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Dear Dumb Diary

All around enjoyable family movie
I watched this movie with my 8 y/o niece, and was actually paying attention to most of it. The movie's highlight was Emily Alyn Lind's acting (From the movie "Won't Back Down"). The musical numbers were unexpected but made the movie fun. Also, the part of the aunt, played by Laura Bell Bundy, was very good too. Overall, this would be great movie to watch with your kids. It's a lot better than the oversaturation of Pixar films which are rampant these days.

Sure To Charm Your School-Aged Kids
If you enjoy comedy mixed with great musical numbers then you will love "Dear Dumb Diary." "Dear Dumb Diary" is about a girl named Jamie Kelly who attends Mackeral Middle School and dreams of being popular and of having the boy of her dreams, Hudson, love her. She writes all of her secrets and dreams in her diary. She is jealous of a beautiful girl named Angeline who she feels gets more attention from Hudson than Jamie feels she deserves.

My favorite character in the movie is Jamie Kelly (Emily Alyn Lind). She is easy to relate to as most teenagers have insecurities and lots of dreams of how their life could be better. Jamie keeps her room really messy and only cleans it when she wants to find her missing diary. She is funny and has a great sense of humor. Emily is a very talented girl and does a wonderful job of acting, singing and dancing in this movie.

The musical numbers in "Dear Dumb Diary" are well choreographed and very entertaining. They add a...

My kids love this movie & so do I.
When I first put this DVD in I thought oh no...I was seriously worried I just wasted $13 when I picked this up at Wal-Mart. Boy was I wrong! When I actually sat down and watched it I absolutely loved it. The musicals in it completely make the movie and I love the choreography. When I put this on my kids are glued to it.

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Burning Love: Complete First Season

Will You Accept My Hose? A Brilliant Web Comedy That Skewers Everything You Love And Hate About Reality TV
Note: "Burning Love" was a web series designed and showcased for Yahoo, so its contents were originally free to everyone. Most episodes ranged anywhere from 8-13 minutes (roughly) and the listed running time is a compilation that puts these various episodes together.

In truth, I watch too much reality television. It's a difficult genre to parody because it's already become a parody of itself! That why the web series "Burning Love" is so spot-on hilarious. Executive produced by Ben Stiller and loaded with familiar faces, this spoof of "The Bachelor" hits every note correctly and demonstrates an inherent silliness that is as outrageous as it is truthful. The show has had three real seasons so far (and two others that are mentioned in the shows but aren't so real). The second series was a take on "The Bacholorette" and the third "Bachelor Pad." "Burning Love" was the year of Mark Orlando (a perfect Ken Marino). Orlando is a studly firefighter played with a clueless charm and...





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Treme: The Complete Third Season

It's All Connected
'Treme', the third season, brought the characters, Hurricane Katrina, the plot lines of each person together to show the connections. We started out in season one with the after affects of Katrina, up close and personal. The hurricane smashed the city, the families, and lives of it's inhabitants. Season one told their stories, season two told of their efforts to reclaim, and, now, season three shows us how they are all connected.

Treme is a series based on New Orleans musicians. It brings us a series of characters who are musicians or work with them, or have a place where musicians congregate. Music is the basis of the parade. When I think of New Orleans, I think of the parades, and 'Treme' three is a parade. A journalist shows up to help a lawyer follow the leads to a murderer, a down and out former addict musician finds his way to sobriety, a chef moves back from New York to her own restaurant, a bar owner tries to find her rapist, a young student wants to find her...

O Yeah!
I have followed Treme from the first season til the third. I have enjoyed the touching storyline that is told from person to another. It is amazing how the people of New Orleans have managed to work through their problems, trials, disappointments, and tragedies. They have tried to overcome many obstacles and adversities. That is what some of the people have tried to do since their devasting ordeal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The cast in this series are extremely talented in their craft as they have tried to portray the good, the bad, the pain, and the up and down struggles of some of the residents of New Orleans. Bravo cast and crew. Press on citizens of New Orleans, change is gonna come.

Fantastic
I will not include any spoilers in this.
The third season continues the excellence of this show.
Anyone who saw The Wire and enjoyed it must see Treme, not only because it shares many of the same production crew and some actors, but because it is better than The Wire.
It draws together different strands of society and interweaves them in an intelligent, exciting and poignant storyline about post-Katrina New Orleans.
Slicker, more sophisticated and better acted than so much of what else is about.
The (Jazz and Folk) music is first class too.

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2 Guns (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD with UltraViolet)

Fun and Involving
So these two guys are gonna rob a bank...This is sort of a Spy vs Spy, as two undercover agents from two different government organizations, neither of whom knows of the other's link to his real employer, rob a bank together, only to discover they have been set up...plus there is waaaaay more money than they expect. $43.125M!

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur ("The Deep" one of my favorites from the 2013 Seattle International Film Festival) and written by Blake Masters (Lots of TV) based on Boom Studio's graphic novels, this is fun all the way, with enough comedy to keep ME happy and enough action to entertain the screening audience.

We enjoy:
* Denzel Washington ("Flight") is Bobby, the steady, focused DEA guy whose patience is sorely taxed by his gabby sidekick.
* Mark Wahlberg ("Broken City") is Stig, an ebullient (and very funny) Naval Intelligence officer...plus he's a GREAT shot!
* Paula Patton ("Disconnect") plays Deb, the beauty...

Entertaining buddy movie and action flick
"2 Guns" (2013 release; 109 min.) reunites director Baltasar Kormákur with Mark Wahlberg (they previously teamed up on another enjoyable crime action movie called "Contraband"), and for good measure Denzel Washington is brought along to co-star. The plot is pretty convoluted, and I don't spoil anything when I simply say that you shouldn't accept anyone being who they say they are. Apart from that, everyone is chasing $41.125 million in drug money.

Several comments: first, once in a while I need to see a great action movie, and this one certainly lives up to its billing. As the movie opens we see the characters played by Washington and Wahlberg observing a bank which they've decided to rob, from across the street in a diner. Some funny back-and-forth banter between the two ensues but before you know it we are in the middle of the hold-up, and its aftermath. Second, almost more important than the actual plot is the writing of the movie. The script is sharp from that...

This Will Rock You!
Fun, action, laughs and good times role in 2 GUNS. Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg are mesmerizing in this buddy movie extravaganza. There is never a dull moment. 2 GUNS truly rocks. Director Baltasar Kormákur gave us Mark Wahlberg in CONTRABAND in awesome sleeper of a movie. Kormákur outdoes himself here with Washington and Wahlberg. They seem like naturals in this film. Yes, I recommend it. This will rock you!

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Dealin With Idiots

Hilarious Improv work
Jeff Garlin's newest film, "Dealin' With Idiots" is a hilarious, improvised look at crazy parents. When Max decides he wants to research the parents on his kid's little league team, he gets way more than he was interested in. We get to hear Coach Jimbo (Bob Odenkirk) rant about the brother that stole the girl of his dreams, see Coach Ted (JB Smoove) give a tour of his Compound, and a host of other nuts do nutty things. I saw Jeff do a Q&A after this premiered at the amazing Music Box in Chicago and he talked about how the entire movie was improvised. He and his co-writer Peter Murrieta were the only 2 that saw the brief script. There is some hilarious improv work in the film and the actors and actresses are all at the top of their game. This movie is a blast and you should watch it rather than some other crappy movie.

funny movie
funny movie, very funny! highly recommended this movie, its pretty funny and just a great little indy movie, 2 thumbs up!

High Expectations
First, let me say that I LOVE Jeff Garlin. I am a huge Curb Your Enthusiasm fan. I heard him on the NPR show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! over the weekend and promptly rented the film because I couldn't wait to see it. It was timely because my husband had just had a 'difference of opinion' with some insane soccer parents from our 10 year old's team and we thought this film would bring comic relief. Perhaps our expectations were too high, but we thought it fell a bit flat. The premise is funny, Jeff Garlin is funny, the cast is amazingly funny and talented, but somehow, all together, it didn't quite gel in our opinion. We fell asleep about 45 minutes into it. The next day we finished it because we had paid $6.99 to rent it, and our opinion wasn't any different. Don't get me wrong, there are many funny moments. Overall I would recommend waiting until it is free to Prime members; just my opinion.

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Silk: Season One

Six Episodes Of Cutthroat Courtroom Competition: A Solid, If Not Spectacular, Legal Drama From Britain
Television has been populated by so many legal dramas through the years, it has become increasingly difficult to make the genre seem fresh and exciting. "Silk" is just the latest affair from the BBC. Premiering in 2011, the show is ramping up for the debut of its third season later this year in Britain after having its second season nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Program. Unlike comparable American programming, British television tends to be served up in much smaller doses. Therefore, Season One of "Silk" is defined by only six hour long episodes. The show is based around a group of ambitious barristers (led by Maxine Peake as Martha Costello) who all seek advancement within the legal field. The next step up the career ladder is to appointed to the Queen's Council (QC) and that honor is referred to as "taking silk" due to the gowns worn at that level. As this is a merit based appointment, it is imperative to be noticed as a winner. So "Silk," while episodic in...

Very Good but not Terrific like Comparable BBC fare
There are so many outstanding UK law and crime shows that one can't help compare them to one another. This is another entry and it is a very good one but I can't say it knocks me out like so many of the UK series do. We first saw this setting in RUMPOLE, of the trying of cases by barristers and their all trying to advance themselves in the Inns of Court. Becoming QC is paramount, called "wearing silk" and hence the title. That is exactly what two barristers are trying to do, get the silk being dangled in front of them. So we watch them try cases while they go about this. There is no humor, like there was in Rumpole though, which is a big loss. Also, these cases are not riveting drama like THE ACCUSED, another UK law series which is absolutely fantastic. Nor is JUDGE DEED which had the absolutely splendid Martin Shaw hearing these cases as the judge. However, these are well written dramas about interesting cases. I would rent these, not buy them. I can't imagine watching them...

Superb Drama
Seasons one and two of Silk are extraordinary, splendidly written and splendidly acted drama. Yes, Silk is a "legal drama," but somehow that category seems quite inadequate. Although the characters' "home lives" are implied they are virtually never dramatized. On the other hand the rivalries and tensions of their work lives are vivid, believable and fascinating. And although the courtroom battles are perforce conducted verbally, each one turns out to reveal so much more about the various cases assigned to the barristers that it seems fair to call them both mysteries and thrillers. My husband and I watched these side by side, and at times we were convulsed with laughter, at times in tears, and most of the time we were simply riveted. In fact we found Silk too exciting to watch directly before bedtime. But do be very clear about this: these dramas are for the many reviewers here who hunger for highly intelligent television and bemoan the swift cancelation of excellent shows in favor of...

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