CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman - The Movies (The Movie aka Revelations / The Heart Within)

starring: Jane Seymour, Joe Lando, Jessica Bowman, Brandon Douglas, Una Kay
directed by: Jerry London, James Keach

Release Date June 27, 2006
Package was delivered in a timely fashion. Only complaint is the quality of the DVD, it has a grainy picture. Could be issues with the manufacturer.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Deathtrap

starring: Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon, Irene Worth, Henry Jones
directed by: Sidney Lumet

Release Date July 27, 1999
"What's the point of owning a mace, if you don't use it?" - playwright Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) in DEATHTRAP

...You'll stop laughing only long enough to gasp in surprise. The stars are terrific. The atmosphere is thick. The sets are marvelous. The score is wonderful and story is to die for!

The only thing missing is a special edition (that is anamorphic widescreen) with a running commentary from surviving director and stars - Lumet, Caine and Cannon.

DEATHTRAP, a wickedly, stylish, sneaky, cat-and-mouse movie, is a terrific companion piece for anyone who loved the "original version" of SLEUTH.

See it... applaud it... adore it! It is everything you heard and much more.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story

starring: Mario López, Michael Murphy, Rosemary Dunsmore, Jeffrey Meek, Megan Leitch
directed by: Steven Hilliard Stern

Release Date December 23, 2003
tHIS MOVIE WHILE VERY SAD AND EMOTIONAL IS SUPER SUPERB. MARIO LOPEZ IS PERFECT AT EVERY GIVEN MOMENT IN EVER FRAME. YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE YOU ARE WATCHING GREGG NOT MARIO. MR. LOPEZ IS AN UDERATED ACTOR - SAW HIM IN A CHORUS LINE AND HE STOLE THE SHOW. HE HAS THE RARE ABIITY NOT TO BE MARIO LOPEZ - BUT- TO BE THE PERSON HE IS PLAYING. GREAT GREAT GREAT.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Grand Tour - Disaster in Time

starring: Jeff Daniels, Ariana Richards, Emilia Crow, Jim Haynie, Marilyn Lightstone
directed by: David Twohy

Release Date November 19, 2002
By now David Twohy should be a trademark. A kind of Spielberg for B movies. But it isn't. Not yet at least. This man has been directing consistently good genre films for some years now ("The Arrival", "Pitch Black", "Below", "Chronicles of Riddick") so when I found that its first one was still there unwatched, I immediately took to find the piece and give it a go.
What a nice story! Full of logical holes if you have mastered your Doc Brown technique, but what a nice tale nevertheless! Jeff Daniels plays an Inn owner that receives the visit of tourists from a strange place, that came just to be witness to a big event. That's enough information for you. Enjoy the tone of the story, its little town that looks from Capra seen by Spielberg or Dante, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Turbulence

starring: Ray Liotta, Lauren Holly, Brendan Gleeson, Hector Elizondo, Rachel Ticotin
directed by: Robert Butler

Release Date June 25, 1997
The film open on a city street. A man walks along the street, he is being watched by the police. Is he a suspect in a murder case? [Why the delay in the arrest?] He will be transported by air back to Los Angeles. Conversations tell about the flight personnel, and the passengers. The weather ahead is bad, the flight will change course. But something will happen to add drama to this story. Can everything that can go wrong happen? What if something happens to the pilot? What if a clever criminal gains control of the airplane? Will he be driven to kill again to increase the drama? [Even if it does not fit his profile?] Weaver's conversation adds more drama. "Do not open the door!"

The empty airplane has an eerie spooky atmosphere [added drama]. Weaver's ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Downtown

starring: Anthony Edwards, Forest Whitaker, Penelope Ann Miller, Joe Pantoliano, David Clennon
directed by: Richard Benjamin

Release Date January 25, 2005

"Downtown" is a box office crash & burn from 1990. Basically it is yet another unsuccessful attempt to follow-up on the success of "Beverly Hills Cop" (without the benefit of Eddie Murphy). These inter-racial, buddy picture, cop movie, comedy-action features simply don't work without a talented comic and Anthony Edwards of "Revenge of the Nerds" fame is only mildly funny. Add to this a more serious group of themes than Murphy had to deal with and the incongruity of mixing these conflicting genres makes the whole a lot less than the sum of its parts.

Yet "Downtown" is more entertaining than its "bomb at the box office" reputation would lead you to believe. The production design, filming, and editing are first class. Although the action scenes are ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Mozart - Idomeneo

starring: Magdalena Kozena, Anja Harteros, Ekaterina Siurina, Ramon Vargas, Jeffrey Francis
directed by: Roger Norrington

Release Date February 13, 2007
Before I begin, I want to mention that I don't think there is any problem with the sound in this video, and that occasionally I have put in one of these modern dvds, thought the sound was terribly full of ambience, and then I chose a better sound track for my antique system, and everything sounded much better.

Anyway, the singing in this video is quite good, particularly Kozena as Idamante, Vargas as Idomeneo, and the Ilia was also very good. The Arbace was also quite enjoyable, but I am pretty sure that one of his arias was cut, the way I am used to hearing this opera. I have only watched this once and would have to go back and check to make sure of that. The Elettra was beautiful but the role seemed just a bit bigger than the voice. I thought she really ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Rudy - The Rudy Giuliani Story

starring: James Woods, Penelope Ann Miller, Michelle Nolden, John Bourgeois, Kirsten Bishop
directed by: Robert Dornhelm

Release Date September 02, 2003
I recall meeting Rudy Giuliani at a book signing. The bookstore employees warned us several times that Giuliani will be unable to speak with us or personalize the signatures because the turnout was much greater than expected. When we got there, he very pleasantly asked us how we were, what our names were, gave us a personalized signature and wished us a good day. He struck me as someone who, generally, would be a decent person to work with. I realize he is a politician and politicians know its wise to be pleasant in public, but this side of Giuliani was missing from this documentary. The Giuliani of this documentary is an egomaniac who's abrasive 100% of the time. This documentary definitely gives you the feeling that you have to be obnoxious to get ahead.

The flashbacks ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

That Riviera Touch

starring: Alexandra Bastedo, Paul Danquah, Michael Forest, Peter Jeffrey, Gerald Lawson

Release Date March 18, 2008
I recall meeting Rudy Giuliani at a book signing. The bookstore employees warned us several times that Giuliani will be unable to speak with us or personalize the signatures because the turnout was much greater than expected. When we got there, he very pleasantly asked us how we were, what our names were, gave us a personalized signature and wished us a good day. He struck me as someone who, generally, would be a decent person to work with. I realize he is a politician and politicians know its wise to be pleasant in public, but this side of Giuliani was missing from this documentary. The Giuliani of this documentary is an egomaniac who's abrasive 100% of the time. This documentary definitely gives you the feeling that you have to be obnoxious to get ahead.

The flashbacks ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

In the Grip of Evil

starring: Dustin Lawyer, Joe Kelly, Debs Szymkowiak, Tony Colavito, Ellen Strauss
directed by: Charles Vanderpool

Release Date March 23, 1999
I have the VHS and most of the facts are correct, as far as I can tell. It isn't supposed to be a "sensationalized" effort. In fact, from all I have seen of the video, it's presented in a very matter-of-fact way.

They're not looking to make "believers" out of people, but present what happened along with a critique from both sides of the issue.

Granted, I wouldn't be watching this for the same purpose as I would the Exorcist. The Exorcist was meant to scare the bejeezers out of you, and this seems to be designed to inform. All in all, well worth the money they charge.