Great...but could have been MUCH MUCH BETTER!
354915
This CD is great because it is the Osmonds, all together, again, singing their best-know songs with energy and drive and all of the professionalism that is the Osmonds.  The problem is that a live CD by the Osmonds could have been Much, Much, Much better.  In fact, the Osmonds (Jimmy, Wayne, and Jay) released another live CD a year or so back, "Live By Request," that makes this new 50th Anniversary CD look very shabby.  The issue here is that the hits are incomplete, with only small portions of the songs actually sung, and the overall feel of the mix is choppy and disjointed.  It is a collection of live tracks, as opposed to a continuous live concert.  That is a bummer, too!  Also, I question the song selection here.  The 2-DVD set of the 50th Anniversary features many songs not included on the CD, and some are better performances than what we get here.  I do not mean to be critical, for I love The Osmonds and love this CD, yet it is a bunt instead of a homerun.  For the group's 50th year celebration, they could have given us so much more... and drawn more positive attention to their artistry.
3738673
The sound track could have been much better. The music was great.
1751484
This could have been a truly wonderful book!  What made it less so was the borrowing (purposeful or not) of lines, scenerios, and aspects from other works.  In example of this were the twins which echoed closely to the DragonLance works of Weis & Hickman, Statements such as 'An elf will do ... where a dwarf will not...' which is almost a direct lift from Lord of the Rings Triolgy.  The need to go into the evil lands, the corruption of the good wizards and other things also far too similar to Lord of the Rings Trilogy and every time present causes a significant lurch in the stream of the story.

Having said that.  Her lead character is endearing and is well developed.  I truly wish she will or has in her other books relied more on her own imagination than to use others work as I can see some real talent here.
3991027
First, the very opening of the movie is fantastic - almost worth the discounted purchase price by itself.

The special effects are really quite good.

The acting ranges from good to poor but, is generally passable.

The story development and character interactions are OK if one hasn't read the book.

However, if one has read the book there is such a distortion of both characters and their interactions and loss of sophistication and nuance as to be quite maddening.

Ah, for what might have been!
4590331
I was completely pumped for the release of this game since last year...but it came short on many aspects. First off the most obvious is the lack of keyboard or voice communication which ruins the game a bit but does not mean you should not buy this game. Secondly, the load times are very annoying, 15-20 seconds unless you have the almost useless and overpriced HDD. The online seems to be slopped together and although good leaves much to be desired. With these downers there are many ups to this game, it has solid controls (For seasoned RE players that is) and the graphics are superb, in my opnion the best I have seen on the PS2. For anyone who loves the RE games and wants to experience a new view of the storyline and some fun online play should definately pick it up, but for those not familiar with the series should probably not purchase it for it will not turn you onto the series, expecially if you were never a real fan of the series in the first place.
Hardcore RE Fans = MUST BUY!!
2419658
This story had all the hallmarks of a great tale...I enjoyed Bayard's point of view immensely.  But it felt as though, in trying to weave an intricate and mystical story, much was lost by not just coming out and saying it.  The connection between the Madonna in the cavern and the Madonna in the church at Newton Prior left me confused - much might have been done with that.  Speaking of confused, do we admire Godefroi for his love of Flore or loathe him for the rape of Margretta and his village?  What happened in the Range Rover attack in the forest...which of the mystical figures did Alicia see?  Was this a modern day Wild Hunt?  Why couldn't we learn more about the mystical element? Are Eva and Flore one and the same - if so, what becomes of their daughters?  Will Jesse inherit the ancient power of her mothers?  Why was she able to draw the scenes from Bayard's time - when injury left her "mute", and she subconsciously linked past with present?  And who is "she" that Jesse channels during hypnosis?  Why would Eva/Flore be able to speak at all?  Sigh.  The ending felt rushed and cobbled together.  I enjoyed the clarity of  Island House much more, though I am beginning to feel badly for Australian mothers of grown women.
4033909
I feel good when the boys announced the release of this soundtrack CD.
one thing I thought that this could be a great mix & perfect sounds which concern to their 1st 3D movie.
and it could meticulous to make the film goes well in the market.

But yes, there is nothing perfect in the world.

The first impression that make you think that it worth with your money is Packaged,
which I don't need to explain. That's Killer!

The songs, I don't know there could be more than that there still space that they can put more songs on it!
All the songs you might ever heard more than 1,000 times especially they let Master of Puppets before release date. but just supposed that where this song actually they played?
As James sing ... Mexicoohh... during mid solo or it not? anyone please tell me.

And the last song ORION.
Was this song appeared as LIVE? anyone please tell me, what the reason or the boys intention?
8975
Everything about this new series is pretty enjoyable, EXCEPT for two main things...

1) The complete change in dynamics between the characters with the whole "romantic interest" addition.  I really don't understand the point of this... well, I mean I do understand the point, but it just doesn't work, and detracts more than enhances.  They should just let the characters be the friends they've always been, and leave the romance stuff for short storyline stints outside of the normal cast.

2) The complete change in personality of Fred and Velma.  What were they thinking!?!?  I'm certainly not one to mind changes, but they've nearly ruined the very essence of what made these two characters great (not to mention what made them work, and stand the test of time, for over 40 years now).  I think I understand what they were trying to do, but they just went WAY too far with it.  They should have kept both of these characters in the same vein as the "What's New Scooby Doo" series, which I think was a perfect blend of the original characters updated slightly with some more humorous elements.

Unfortunately, those two things make this series a little hard to swallow.  On top of this, about half the episode's storylines are REALLY weak.  The only thing that saves this series is that it's Scooby Doo, and Scooby Doo is awesome!... Scooby is unchanged, Shaggy is great (and Matthew Lillard is great), and there's some really entertaining and witty humor and dialog thrown in here and there throughout all the episodes.  Plus, SOME of the story content is good, and Mister "E" is kind of interesting.  Combined together... despite being personally really disappointed in a show that had huge potential for greatness... the show still manages to maintain itself as an enjoyable watch for me.  I really hope they straighten out some of what they've messed up on here as future episodes unfold. I will definitely be buying this DVD to support the franchise and hope it stays around for a while.

There are in fact a few other things I don't like... other changes they've made from previous Scooby gang incarnations... but I consider them to be minor in comparison, and possibly just my own personal bias... so I'm not going to bother mentioning them here.  I've covered the most important stuff.

Whoever is writing this series, they need to be paying attention to the latest Scooby movies that have been made... Camp Scare and Abracadabra Doo... because both of those were simply brilliant in every way, from characters to storylines.  It's obviously a different set of people that must be working on the movies and the series.
4180877
This CD has some great songs which will instantly remind you of the movie (If I Ever Leave This World Alive, Love You 'Till the End), and others which are great on their own (my personal favourite is P.S. I Love You by Nellie McKay, though this is quite an old song, the lyrics and the melody fit the story so well, it could have been written for this movie). My big complaint is that even though these tracks are enjoyable, I think most of those who saw the movie buy the soundtrack because of some very memorable music moments: Gerry's funeral, the karaoke songs, and one of the best moments of the film: the Galway Girl rendition. And all these tracks are missing!! They are not on the Soundtrack!! I think it is unforgivable not to put the songs sung by the actors when there are so many great and memorable performances, and since these moments are crucial to the story!!

I sadly miss the "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues, which gives such a unique and "smiling-through-our-tears" feeling to Gerry's funeral, Gerard Butler's excellent, sexy and fun Galway Girl and also Hilary Swank's karaoke songs.

I feel these songs are essential to the movie and thus to the soundtrack, it is a shame they were omitted.
1969424
I recently picked this up with high expectations, I thought it would be the next web of shadows with improved gameplay, a great story, and hours of fun!

Meh.

First, let me just say the visuals and sound are just great! As you can probably guess, you've got four Spidey universes to travel around, the Amazing Spiderman universe, the Ultimate universe, Spiderman 2099, and Spiderman Noir. Each universe has their own look and feel to it, each with their own art designs as well as alternate takes on certain Marvel super villains. What about the voice work? Just great. Each Spidey has their own voice actor, and each one of them gives their own spin on the character, and all the while making you chuckle at their wise-cracks (... except for Noir Spiderman... he's more of the Batman-ish one of the group).

The story is... bland. Mysterio steals some magical stone tablet. Spiderman breaks it, every single universe is in danger, and it's up to the four Spidermen to put the stone back together... but, UH-OH! Should a villain get a hold on one of the fragments, they'll develop powers beyond their wildest dreams. Generic, but the writing for the characters is pretty solid. There were just moments where I couldn't stop laughing. So far, everything is going fine... and then we get to the gameplay.

Remember the open world free-roaming that has been dominating consoles for the past couple of years? This is NOTHING like that. Think... Spiderman: the movie, with it's mission themed levels... except even more dumbed down. Each and every character has a set path they must journey through, fight hoards of enemies, then fight the level boss. They run away, another 10 minutes of beating down swarms of enemies and saving random people from sudden death, until you reach the boss once again, who's now jacked up on the power from the stone tablet. Beat them down. Get the piece of the tablet, and then DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN WITH A NEW BOSS AND A NEW SET OF HENCHMEN! Doesn't that sound like the best darned Spiderman game ever? Oh, wait. Each Spiderman has their own skills of course. Amazing Spidey has the basics, Ultimate has the symbiote suite and a rage out mode, 2099 can go super fast and he's the only character with this free-falling segments every once in awhile in his stage, and Noir has a Arkham Asylum inspired "Take down the bad guys without being spotted" thing going on... except, a lot more simplified and just... boring.

Well, what about the lasting appeal? Save for some small achievements you can pull off, buying abillities, and unlocking alternate suites, I doubt anyone will be revisiting this title again.

Overall, I say pass unless you're a dedicated Spiderman fan, or at the very least rent it if you in the slightest bit interested. It will take no time to get through, and with little going on for the gameplay, I doubt you will be back for seconds.
1858929
I had very high expectations for this album after hearing so much about it and being so impressed by Powerslave, and then after hearing The Trooper from a friend, I was convinced that this would be the best album ever.  However, I was quite wrong.  Many of the songs are too plain and lacking, some too slow, some just all-out boring.  However, there are some good spots on this album...
1. Where Eagles Dare: A great intro, but can't quite match up to Aces High.  Still a good, with a superb verse, but the whole song seems too similar.
Rating: B+
2. Revelations: One of my least favorite Iron Maiden songs, and the beginning is well, uh, it shows promises, but yet not.  Then the verse begins, and ugh, too slow and such.  The rest of song is just too bright and happy.
Rating: C-
3. Flight of Icarus: This song will take a while to get used to, as the verse is too plain.  But, the great chorus makes up for that, along with some good solos and the longest note ever held by Bruce at the final chorus.  Awesome chorus.
Rating: B
4. Die With Your Boots: Kicks off with a bang on the intro, and then a speedy bassline comes in to assist the sweet riff.  The song is overall good, a solid song, and the chorus is great too, but the pre-chorus can get a bit annoying.
Rating: B+
5. The Trooper: This is by far the best song on the album, and quite possibly the best Iron Maiden song ever. Just, wow.  The intro is superb and provides a great predecing to one of the best riffs ever.  It is so genious, I just can't describe it.  The verse is great and very fast and displays the perfect message.  This COULD have been my favorite song had Maiden just used the "Ooohhh" part as a break in the verse or pre-chorus, and threw in a good chorus.  Unfortuantely, I can only imagine.  Still an awesome song though.
Rating: A+
6. Still Life: Well, three good songs in a row.  I just love the beginning, and well, the whole song too.  The verse is the highlight with Bruce's eerie voice in this song providing a good setting for a good song.
Rating: B+
7. Quest For Fire: Now the album begins to decline.  The song is just WAY too plain and pointless, along with the horrid chorus.  Definitely not a very good song.
Rating: C
8. Sun and Steel: Better than Quest for Fire, but just way too similar to "quest" in the verse, with the similar style.  Come on, something different or something good!
Rating: C+
9. To Tame A Lad: The second in the Maiden epic songs, and maybe the worst one of the 80s, but still a good song, especially the long, yet very heavy part towards the middle.  But I just can't seem to get into the rest song as much.
Rating: B
I wouldn't reccomend starting with this album, as that belongs to Number of the Beast, either that or Somewhere In Time, one of those.
139598
This book could have easily been the best in the series, right up to the epilogue. I would rather have seen Harry killed off earlier in the book (as was intimated might happen) than to see him living such a banal muggle-like existence. I'm certain the author didn't see it that way, but all we find out about Harry, in the end, is that he survived fighting Lord Voldemort in order that he could get married and make babies.

What? What happened to his desire to become an auror? What happened to Hermione's fight for elf rights? What happened to all of the lessons they learned throughout the series that would have supposedly made them better people? Did they only learn that life was only to be lived and darkness overthrown so that they could snog and have children?

Such a waste.

The rest of the book was brilliant and I absolutely loved it. I just wished I'd never read the Epilogue at all. It should come with a warning:

"If you want a sappy Hollywood ending that tells nothing of what the heroes have discovered, accomplished or even lost in their journey, continue reading. If you do not, stop reading here."
1792094
Its a great use of the stylus but there could have been more to the game. They should have made it more like Trauma Center where you had to learn the steps and then memorize them and apply them to a particular situation. Instead, Cooking mama guides you through each step at a time. That would have been great for just the training mode only. It could have been so much more in depth if they laid out the ingredients and you had to remember the steps involved to prepare it.

And what about an IRON CHEF type cookoff?? Your opponent on the top screen and you on the bottom?? This game could have been so much better. Maybe in the next version!
3436602
It is only because of the wonderful story line and a great movie itself that I give this all 5 stars.  The video quality is excellent.  The audio is well done - no hiss or drop-outs - thanks to Lucas' THX team, I assume.
It is wonderful to be able to look at the detail here.  I was born 5 years after the movie was made.  By the time I was able to read, upon seeing the movie (on B&W TV!) I couldn't read the sign on the boarding house - I assumed it read "room for rent."  In this film, I can now read that sign and I can see the clouds when the ship first lands.  Buildings and other scenes are not white washed of detail.  Again, the audio is great.  One can really appreciate Bernard Herrmann's work here.  It completes the film.  I can't say enough about the film and the story.  Others here have done well so I won't attempt a repeat.
So unworthy of a great film now restored and available (I can remove my copy from my TiVo!), there are two great disappointments with this DVD production.  (I've not yet watched the 70-Minute "Making the Earth Stand Still" Documentary.)
The first disappointment is the missing ending credits.
The most distressing thing about this DVD is the commentary.  Unlike the sentiments of a previous reviewer, I have to say it was very very disappointing.  Nicolas Meyer could barely keep on the topic of the movie.
What was the significance of the address on Harvard Street?  Anything?  Not even a mention of Aunt Bee.  How was that language devised?  Latin?  Over probably the most famous line in science fiction (along with 'live long and prosper'), "Klaatu, barata, nikto" Meyer led Wise down some other random esoteric diatribe.  At one point, Wise started to provide some background about the military base scene (where the 'duce-and-a-half's were assembling) but was cut off by Meyer on some other arcane issue of directing.  I would have liked to hear a little more about the equations on the blackboard....
That ship!!!  What were some of the inspirations for the ship and its inside design - those displays - the inner 'control' room?  Was that center bubble used on the Jupiter 2 ("Lost in Space")?  How did Gort come into being?  What was any thinking behind the cool ray that Gort carried.  Melting the artillery was pretty cool.
I can't say how almost angry I was at this conversation.  I guess my expectations were set by the fine commentary in other DVD's (such as Gladiator!).  If anybody out there is listening, I'd buy another copy with Wise talking to somebody who loved the movie ABOUT the movie.  I did learn a few things such as Wise having no idea of the Christ analogy until well after the film was complete or the DOD not wanting to help in the production.  Rather than a commentary, this was more one director comparing methodologies and practices with another.
My wife and four year old daughter have seen the movie twice on TiVo.  My daughter (her first black and white movie) again sat with me glued to the set to watch the DVD the night it arrived.  When I got my first DVD player, this is the movie I waited for.  I'm glad I have it!
815089
Being a HUGE fan, I couldn't wait to see this when it came out. The TV series was so well produced, and for the mostpart well-written, that I felt it's "theatrical" quality would surely prove to be fantastic on the big screen. Unfortunately, my expectations were met with a letdown, and I left the film feeling jipped. Sure there was still the great characters of Skully and Mulder (the most likeable in recent TV history), but the story was less than inventive and in my mind proved that all Fox wanted to do was pull more non-viewers into the fold.
Last week though, I broke down and purchased the DVD in DTS and went home to watch it. WOW, not only did I enjoy the movie more, but the DVD was of an extremely high quality. The picture was beautiful (better than the Theater), and the sound...absolutely perfect.
I have to say that Chris Carter and his talented team of producers certainly inject great care and attention to detail in their DVDs. I also have the first season set on DVD and the transfers from film are crisp and the audio clear. Definitely worth the money, and one of those series that you can pop-in on rainy day and enjoy it no matter how many times you've seen it.
The movie is cut from the same cloth, high watchable and infinitely enjoyable. Now if they would just get Mulder back everything would be perfect.;-)
892823
I thought "Living In The Material World" presented a fairly good portrait of George Harrison's life, music and philosophy.

Here's what I would have done differently:

-  Less running time devoted to The Beatles and more devoted to George's solo career.  Most of the Beatles stuff was a rehash from "Anthology".

-  More focus on George's guitar playing.  They should have discussed his early country/rockabilly style (influenced by Chet Atkins, Eddie Cochran and others) and his later slide guitar style.  I don't think there was ANY footage of George playing slide!  Some of that should exist in the concert footage; at the very least, they could have shown part of the Dick Cavett clip with George playing slide behind Gary Wright on "Two Faced Man".

-  More video clips.  They should have at least shown a short clip from the Japan tour that George did with Eric and his band in 1991.  An example from that final musical collaboration would have fit in nicely after all the time devoted to the George/Patti/Eric story.

-  More discussion of George's solo albums.  I think they only mentioned two or three of them.  There is some great music in those albums!  I would have at least included a discography in the "DVD Extras", with the track list of each album.

-  More generous DVD extras. I felt those were pretty skimpy.  I was hoping for a more goodies like extended interviews, discography, filmography, sessionography, photos, and videos.

Well, you can't please everyone, and those are my quibbles.  I did enjoy seeing the film, and it stands as a nice tribute to George.
2711536
"There Will be Blood" was a mixed bag for me.  Sorry, but there are moments of greatness and there are just moments.

I will not deny that some of the visual scenes captured by Bob Elswit are some of the most spectacular that are on film.  The oil drilling scenes are simply unparalleled- absolutely some of the best camera work that I have ever seen-VERY memorable.

Jonny Greenwood's dissonant violins are used to great effect, as well as the pizzicato strings, the arpeggiated cello and the triumphant Brahm's Violin Concerto to fit the mood and the action of this film. This was an ideal soundtrack that propelled and energized the film, creating superb tension.

My biggest problem is the screenplay by Paul Anderson.  The attempt is huge, but is so overly focused on Daniel Plainview ( I think the name speaks volumes) that Anderson's attempt to rival Plainview's greed and contemptible behavior with that of the other oilmen and of the opportunist preacher, Eli Sunday, causes the film to be very lopsided in over focusing on a character who refuses to speak about his past and is simply what you see "in plain view" like oil on top of the ground with the underbelly yet to be tapped. Though these characters were well acted, they never become any more than cardboard cut-outs with no heart  revealed.  These characters, even the oil-drillers and the church people have little to no affect in them. In the final scene in the bowling alley, there is a great explosion of temperament, but in the end what is revealed except what is "in plain view."

I absolutely stuck with the film, though I personally felt that the film was very uneven overall.  The film began to unravel  at the 1928 point when H.W marries Mary and the scene shifts to the grand house where Plainview lives.  From that point, what had been a very well calculated film became rushed and ultimately sought to reveal motivation of the main characters which turned out to be nothing shocking at all.  Plainview and Sunday were never anymore than what you ever saw in the film from the very start-opportunists.  The ending???  Not my choice! I felt as though I had just seen the ending of "The Sopranos".  Where is Plainview going from here?: more despicable behavior? more greed? more need to be #1? more killing? more rage with no understanding of inner self? How any lower, humanly speaking, can a character go in morality and still keep rising to the top of the heap?  Is there not a limit to both?

Like I said....a mixed bag for me...a mixed bag!