DVD Collectors Online

A Great Day in Harlem, a review by Antares

A Great Day in Harlem (1994) 92/100 - I learned more about jazz history in just one hour of this documentary, than in all 19 hours of Ken Burns' bloated and pontificating film on the same subject. The director, Jean Bach, who just passed away the other day at the ripe old age of 94, was a jazz fanatic and celebrated historian of this truly American art form. This was her first film, which documents one of the most famous photographs in history, the gathering of 57 of Jazz music's most famous performers for a group photo on the streets of Harlem in 1958. Thelonius Monk, Lester Young, Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams and Dizzy Gillespie are but a few of the genre's heavyweights who took part in the photo shoot. But it's the attention paid to the lesser known musicians in the photo, that makes this documentary so interesting. Inter cut with segments from old television appearances, these jazz practitioners of long ago, show why they were considered the heart and soul of the African American community from the thirties to the latter fifties. I had never heard of some of these performers, but Bach seems to have found old kinescopes of celebrated performances, which just blew me away with these artist's technical expertise. If you're interested in jazz music, then I recommend you seek this short documentary out. It only lasts a little under an hour, but you'll be rewarded with a plethora of background on the New York Jazz scene over sixty years ago.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on May 30th, 2013)

Léon, a review by Tom

(1994/France) IMDb | Wikipedia Kinowelt Home Entertainment (Germany) Director: Luc Besson Writing: Luc Besson (Writer) Length: 133 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: German: DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1, English: DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1, Music Only: DTS 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: German, Trivia

---

Stars:
Jean Reno as Leon
Gary Oldman as Stansfield
Natalie Portman as Mathilda
Danny Aiello as Tony
Peter Appel as Malky

Plot:
Professional assassin Leon reluctantly takes care of 12-year-old Mathilda, a neighbor whose parents are killed, and teaches her his trade.

Awards:
Nominated:

		Meilleur Acteur (Jean Reno)
		Meilleur Film
		Meilleur Montage (Sylvie Landra)
		Meilleure Photo (Thierry Arbogast)

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Director's Cut: 133 Min.
• Kinofassung: 110 Min.
• Photo Gallery
• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

For some reason, I have never seen this movie before, even if it was on TV countless times.
I have to say that it is a great film. I enjoyed it more than I had anticipated. Great performances all around.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on November 12th, 2010)

NCIS Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

9. TWISTED SISTER
McGee takes matters into his own hands after his teenage sister appears at his door bloodied and confused.

My Thoughts:
This one is a very good episode. One of my favorites. I liked getting to meet McGee's sister... and loved that she let the cat out of the bag about McGee's book.

My Rating:

10. SMOKED
Working in tandem with the FBI, the NCIS team makes a shocking discovery wehn they identify the remains of a serial killer.

My Thoughts:
This is another one I enjoyed quite a bit. Though not quite as much as the previous one. I did like how they put a little twist into the ending of this one.

My Rating:

11. DRIVEN
A highly classified robotic device is sabotaged and kills a Navy lieutenant who was working on an important project for the Department of Defense.

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this one as well. Even though it is somewhat standard... it has some good moments.

My Rating:

12. SUSPICION
A high-level Marine intelligence officer is murdered in a small-town motel room. The NCIS team rushes to the scene of the crime only to discover the local authorities have disrupted the crime scene and performed an autopsy days earlier.

My Thoughts:
This one is alright... but it really didn't impress me too much. I did like the small town forensic scientist though. I would have liked to seen her come back for some more episodes. Unfortunately the rest of the episode was pretty standard... and somewhat slow.

My Rating:

(From NCIS Marathon on December 24th, 2009)