A tonic

Superb photography but I am not sure about the history. It was the wind not the fire-ships which destroyed the Armada and where are the famed quotes about not making windows into men;s souls and her best lines before the Armada at Tilbury? I do not think this was at all an anti-catholic film. As far as England is concerned, Catholic Spain and its supporters were the enemy. A good tonic for a patriotic Englishman.

Tree hill vs The O.C.

(OR RYAN vs LUCAS) I originally shied away from watching one tree hill as i was an o.c. fan and found the first season of the o.c. to be so engrossing and exciting and heartfelt that to watch tree hill felt like betrayal. But a friend of mine loved both the o.c. and tree hill and told me that tree hill was the better show. Obviously at first i just told myself that 'he didn't know what a good show was'. But after the first season of the o.c. the show never regained the 'whats-gonna happen next?' factor that made the first season so great. After watching all four seasons of the o.c. being sad and glad that it had finished (let's face it the show wasn't giving us anything new) i started watching one tree hill. I did not wan't to like this show as i was an o.c. fan. At first tree hill didn't seem special as the first episode of the o.c. was better than the first epispode of tree hill. Tree hill takes a little bit more time to get into but man it's worth it! Although i would argue the first season of o.c. is the best of any tree hill or other o.c. seasons, Tree hill definitely has a longer life span. The show does not become mediocre after season 1 but only gets stronger. I own tree hill seasons 1 to 3 on dvd and love every season and with each new season tree hill gives viewers something new and takes its characters on a wonderful different journey. Tree hill is definitely overall the better show and i can't wait to purchase seasons 4 and 5 in the future (can't wait).
P.S. Lost is the best show ever!

Very very addictive

Very complex plot - Think it would have been diffcult to enjoy if I had had to wait a week between each episode. Fantastic acting and so many very dark charactors.

The use of broken time lines and fractured story telling is amazing - you think you know the end at the begining but you don't and no matter how many jumps back and foreward in time the director takes you on you are constantly supprised at how the threads come together.

Buy it - Open a bottle of wine and get through as many episodes in one go as you can - this is the perfect"Lost weekend" box set

P.S - I Hate This Film!

Well first off i know i'm not exactly part of the target audience for this film, but i have been known to enjoy the odd"Chick Flick" now and again.
I'd heard that the book was really good and having seen the cast list i decided it would be a nice film to watch with the love of my life on a sunday afternoon...

The credits rolled and the film starts off with Holly (the normally excellent Hillary Swank) and Gerry (Lady eye candy - Gerard Butler) embroiled in a fight..

Awful, terrible and shockingly bad Irish accent from Butler and absolutely no hint of chemistry at all between the two of them.

Anyway we move on, and the obvious happens, the guy dies and we're at the wake. Swanks performance improves from this point and dare i say it the hint of sadness is felt for her character. So it then goes on, the friends and family rally round her for her 30th birthday, and the first letter arrives. The flm picks up a bit and the idea of these letters sent from Holly's recently dead husband from his death bed is very sweet and touching.

Eventually (again fairly predictably) he tells her to go to Ireland, and for me it's at this point that any feelings of sadness or empathy you feel for Swank's Holly totally evaporates into thin air.

She meets a guy in a bar that looks and sounds and feels like her dead husband - and rather than run as far away from this realisation as her legs can carry her she, encouraged by her friends that have accompanied her on the trip, ends up sleeping with him.

Then guess what, he turns out to be a childhood friend of Butler that he hasn't seen for many years.

I could go on and on and on with the massive holes that are in this film but to be honest for my first review i think i've typed too much already.

The other sub plots of men leaving her (Holly) is probably the only redeeming feature of the film, and the only stand out performance for me that comes almost at the very end of the film comes from Kathy Bates.

It's far too long and from what i understand lost all of the charm that the book is supposed to have.

Only"The Happening" another film i watched recently - has come close to beating it to"worst film i have ever seen"

Avoid the film, read the book - and let's hope that the two screenplay writers (LaGravenese & Rogers) don't massacre any other books any time soon.

There will be oscars..and there was

If someone asked me, 'hey, what type of horrors do you reccomend, ya know something edgy, down-beat and terrifying'. right now i would more than likely say 'There will be blood'.
It has an atmosphere of dread and crippling fear throughout and although a few scenes could have been cut out completlely, this is a superb piece of film-making.
It is definatly not for all tastes with its bleeakness but then there is also twisted fun to be had with Day Lewis's performance. The last 45 minutes is a remarkable, scary and darkly amusing set of scenes. the frustration shown on his face when confronted with the salvation is something to behold.
A study in hypocracy and greed and of one mans deterioation. the key element being how time isnyt really a great healer and if you got a bad core then your more than likely going to remain that way. as in magnolia the director asks us what we can forgive, and i believe unless something is so sinful, then forgiveness cen be abundent, but in this film there is no room for forgiveness.
Do not get me wrong alot of melodramas have thier fair share of grief but hereis a film that spreads fear from the word go and doesnt let go. faith is only for those that believe, if you dont believe then you have to believe in yourself and others such as friends and family as the ones to look up to. the grey area is almost impossible to enter but as Day Lewis's charachter shows once trapped, you may just stay trapped

Nothing happens

I started to watch this on BBC4 and the first episode was quite good............. However that was it. Nothing else happened for the rest of the series.

When i first saw it advertised it was being compaired to"The Sopranos" because it was written and directed by Matthew Weiner, the two have nothing at all in common (you may as well compair"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and"James Bond" who were both written by Ian Flemming).

It did however have some good points, the cast and script were good and it was nicly filmed.

If your looking for something where not alot happens and it just plods along then this maybe for you but it really wasn't my sort of thing.

a quiet triumph

The Lives of Others is a quietly mesmerising film that makes you think. Don't expect fireworks or high drama- just a thoughtful exploration of the human spirit.

I won't dwell long on the plot- in East Germany in 1985, a Stasi agent (Ulrich Muhe) is assigned to undertake surveillance on a popular playwright (Sebastian Koch)- purely because an important official wishes to steal his girlfriend, a leading actress (Martina Gedech). As the state security machinery swings into action, each of the main characters makes decisions which have devastating effects.

The drabness of 1980s GDR is wonderfully created and sustained, and there are two exceptional central performances from Muhe and Koch. Muhe expresses so much doing very little as the loyal Stasi agent who comes to realise that as his bosses care less for the state than their careers and love lives, the artist he is spying on is willing to sacrifice all for his beliefs.

The film is not perfect- Martina Gedech overacts in the female role, and I found her role in the denouement unsatisfactory. In fact, women fare particularly badly in the film altogether. And like anything created by 'artists', the film lingers a little too long on the 'woe is me' difficulty of being an 'artist'. However, I found The Lives Of Others an excellent movie with, for me, a satisfying conclusion.

No clever quips, not entertaining & v.poor quality!

I am astonished by how many people have given this series a 5 star rating! I purchased the boxset based on the outstanding reviews here on Amazon and the idea of another potentially great vampire show... unfortunately this really doesn't deliver.

More hard-nosed than BUFFY and perhaps darker than SUPERNATURAL but not as high quality as either. I found myself waiting for sharp witty humour than never came: no satisfying twists or even a few fun fight-scenes I could relish. Quality-wise, if it wasn't for the 15 certification and the dark subject matter, I would say this would slot in quite nicely amongst the lower-budget daytime TV shows we are so accustomed to.

I managed to get this boxset for £9 and since then, the price has gone down even further. I suppose if you can make it past the pilot, there's a few OK episodes in there to look forward to. I agree with the couple of reviewers who point out that this show just recycles ideas from other (much better) TV shows; it doesn't put a new spin on things and any 'action' sequences presented are really low budget. If you're looking for something that deals with supernatural/occult and you've been a fan of things like BUFFY, ANGEL, SUPERNATURAL etc, I recommend buying THE DRESDEN FILES instead - it's the next logical step I guess and a lot smarter, funnier and miles more entertaining than Blood Ties!

Refreshing, funny, and thought provoking. If you like that kind of thing.

I can understand why this film has received such divergent reviews. You probably will either love it or hate it. But I disagree with the criticism that Poppy's character is one dimensional. I'd argue that Poppy can be viewed as one dimensional because of the one-size fits all attitude she takes to life. But, there is devil in the detail, her happy go lucky attitude is severely tested in the film, by her family, friends, and by Eddie. The scene where she meets and talks to the tramp illustrates how her philosophy of trying to see the best in anyone is almost compulsive and unsafe behaviour. Yes a couple of scenes didn't work that well, but I still found this a refreshing, funny and thought provoking film about how we conduct our everyday relationships, up there with Mike Leigh's best.

utter rubbish

Ok there are some slow moving films that build up to something and are intriguing and enjoyable overall but this is just awful tedious rubbish. I would rather watch paint dry than this. It has to be the biggest letdown of the year and one of the worst films I have ever seen.

one tree hill

i love one tree hill. i only started to watch it on tv recently,, so i bought series one and i was hooked, nathan is so nice, i just love him, i have just bought series two, and cant wait until i get it, series three doesnt seem to be out in the uk at the moment, but had better be soon as i will be wanting to watch as soon as i have finished series two

sex and the city movie

i have seen this movie in cinemas and it is possibly one of the best movies ive ever seen. it is by far my favourite and i really would recommend it to anyone.

Oh My GOD!

This film is SO good! The moves are incredible and it is a good follow on from the first film. I went to see this in the cinema twice and still wanted to see it again. I will certainly be buying this dvd when it comes out and when it arrives I will be watching it over and over again!

Trust me, buy this movie - it's incredible.
I LOVED it.
You won't be disappointed.

Hancock

Amazingly entertainment, shame it was no longer, but, non stop action and thrills!
It truly is the best action hero adventure EVER!

You couldn't guess where this goes!!!

Season 6 is absolutely AWESOME. There are fewer episodes, but some of them are longer in length. I think perhaps the Shield being shorter series is maybe one of the things that keeps it so fast paced and fresh. the Saga of Vic and shane, IED, the money train and the death of Lem and Vic keeping his job, just gets deeper. it's gripping stuff - the shield is by far the best drama around at the moment. first class...........

not impressed

No doubt that this will be like the first tudors. it seems strange that henry looks so young but in real life he was red headed. fat and in his late 30's with anne and jane. So are we going to see a fairy story yet again with a young boy. his chest when he was mid 30 was 40"

Emotional, realistic and memorable

This tells the story of two terminally ill men, one a self made billionaire, the other a humble garage mechanic. They find themselves sharing a hospital side room as they undergo treatment for multiple cancer. Both are aware that they will die. They decide to compose a"bucket list" i.e. a list of things they wish to do before they die, or"kick the bucket", hence its title. These things range from sky diving to visiting the pyramids. The extreme wealth of the billionaire helps them live out these dreams.

The film certainly does not pull any punches, and does not take the subject matter lightly. The horrors of cancer treatment are shown in harrowing light. In one scene, the characters are shown vomiting violently in response to chemotherapy, in another, Jack Nicholson examines the scar line in his skull following an attempt to remove a brain tumour. This makes the film much more than just a feel good story, it reminds us that there is a serious subject matter too.

The acting from both Nicholson and Freeman is mesmeric. Furthermore, there is an ingenious and memorable script, that really gets the viewer thinking. There are a number of truly tender moments as well, although these are never over done.

All in all, the film is a wonderful thing to watch. Whilst the ending is fairly predictable, the journey in between is fascinating and uplifting. Strongly recommended.

So far the best I know

As an avid Morse fan - Lewis is even better. Whately brings his Lewis character to full bloom through the series and Fox is developing apace as Hathaway. Their relationship is growing in a believable way. I just love the series. Unfortunately one of the disks in the collection I just bought was faulty - but Amazon is sending me a new one, free. This is good service and ensures my ongoing business with them.

TERRIBLE!!

OH MY GOD THIS FILM IS TOTAL RUBBISH!
I was informed by my mother and sister-in-law this film was"fantastic" and"will make you cry". I cried cause I'd wasted two hours of my life! The story was totally preditable. I didn't like the characters. And there was absolutely no need for the last ten minutes of the film. I would NOT recommend this to anyone.
Its a very long drawn out film, why?! There is nothing meaty to get into at all! The main characters Noah and Allie meet as kids, fall in love, then Allie's parents tell them they can't be together. She moves on, forgets him, goes to college and gets engaged to some smarmy bloke. While Noah is totally consumed by his love for her, and renovates some house she liked. Surprise Surprise, they finally get it together.
Allie wastes loads of time deciding between Noah and the smarmy bloke she is engaged to. Which as she'd taken a weekend off away from the bloke she is engaged to (and didn't tell him why or where she was going), to visit Noah and the house, I would have thought her mind would have been made up... but no!
All in all, its totally CRAP!
Don't waste your life.... don't see it!

What a load of old blarney

I'm not sure what I expected from this film but whatever it was I didn't get it. It started out well, in retrospect the best acting in the entire film can be seen in the first scene. I knew it was a musical - hence lots of music and I liked the music! the music was fine, it was just the rest of it.
The storyline was flimsy at best, the lead character was weak and I found it difficult to comprehend that an ENTIRE film had been made around the plot of girlfriend sleeps with other man, betrayed man then writes lots of songs about hurt, pain etc etc.
Man didn't appear to be in terrible emotional angst about this in fact if czech girl hadn't pointed out how much he must be hurting I think he may have been blissfully unaware.
I'd had a couple of whiskys and it was raining, overcast and dark my concept of time was a bit off I didn't know duration of the film until this morning, when I discovered it was only 84 minutes long - trust me it felt far longer.