Stone Temple Pilots: Alive in the Windy City [Blu-ray]

A Fine Showing
I thought the overall performance was excellent. They seemed to generally recreate the sound from the albums, which is just fine for me. Scott Weiland, in particular, seemed to keep to the script of the original studio tracks with minimal nonsense. Thanks for that, Scott. I wish "Big Bang Baby" had been included in the setlist but I won't cry about it. I love live concerts shot in theaters of this size. The sound and direction always seems to benefit from it. The band was tight and Scott's voice was in fine form. I can't recall an instance of him lowering the key because he couldn't hit the note. (That's always an epic disappointment for me) I think fans of STP, both devoted and casual, will enjoy this.

Legendary!
I come from Paris and I will try to explain how I feel about this DVD.

First of all I was waiting for a Stone Temple Pilot DVD to be released a long time ago, they are the last "grunge" band (are they really?) of our time, they survived the 2000's.

Why Scott Weiland always surprises me? I mean you could swear that his voice and performance will suck big time after all he went trough but like always he surprises me again and again:

Very nice intro, nice lights and background. They did make lots of effort on that point and results are beautiful. A big screen with waves during Creep, Circles during Plush...beautiful set up and different in EVERY single song.

Apparently Dean DeLeo added some effect on his guitar that really shines his playing. It does some amazing solos to end the songs, lots of personality in his playing and more depth than before. A guitar player will learn a thing or two.

Robert has a nice voice that you will have...

STP for life
Great dvd! I forgot how much I loved STP back in my high school days. Seen STP on tour back in 1996, this dvd took me back to some great times. I would recommend any fan of rock to check this dvd out.

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Don Giovanni [Blu-ray]

A MIXED BAG WITH SOME REAL PLUSES & MINUSES
This is not going to be a easy review. This new DON GIOVANNI has many real strengths and weaknesses and often in the same performer. This is going to take some very detailed analyse. The Blu-ray production also has some issues and inconsistencies.
1) The sound is a mixed bag. Orchestra sound and clarity is excellent; however, vocal sound changes from character to character and starts muddled and improves as the First Act progresses. The Don himself has the worst sound field i.e. cavernous and many times without focus. Some of the problem is his own vocal production. More on this later.
2) The sound from the pit is excellent with Mark Wigglesworth conducting a magnificent account of this wonderful score. Tempi and balances are ideal; and all rhythmns are ideally articulated. Try the overture's opening chords; many conductors don't get this right... Weighty yet distinct and clear. Wigglesworth is a great Mozartian!
3) Opera Australia seems to take the rehearsal...

College level performance
I chose this disc based on the favorable reviews I read. I'm sorry to say that I was very disappointed on several levels. The vocal performances were mediocre at best. The set design didn't work very well and the camera work was amateurish and only highlighted the limitations of the performers. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone familiar with the opera or looking for quality vocal performances.

If viagra could sing it would sound like Teddy Tahu Rhodes
Don Giovanni is one of those operas I have almost every video performance issued, simply because I haven't found any that I truly like. The search stops with this blu-ray. The reason is Teddy Tahu Rhodes. I have no interest in this production or in any of the singers except for him. What is it about him? Does he sing the Don better than anyone else? I don't know, I can't even analyze it in musical terms. It's that voice (it's not just his good looks). If viagra could sing it would sound like him. Opera Australia have a star here and a gold mine they would be foolish not to make full use of. I am buying anything with the name Teddy Tahu Rhodes on it. I got the Opera Australia Marriage of Figaro only for him and did not regret it. They should hurry up and create a production of Boito's Mefistofele especially for him - he is a godsent devil.

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Love & Passion & Deceit Classic Opera

Already owned.
Unforunately I already owned all if these operas. When I ordered this I mwas not told what the operas were but for someone who does not have them it is an excelltnt buy of some outstanding productions.





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Damages: The Complete Fourth Season

Still the Best Drama on TV
While neutral about the season 3 (I thought it was too short and disjointed), I found season 4 to be just as smart, suspenseful, superbly plotted, and expertly acted as ever. It's the best season since its debut, and still one of the most relevant-to-the-times dramas on television.

Our heroine Ellen and anti-heroine Patty take on High Star, a private defense contractor integral in illegal interrogation and extraction activities in Afghanistan. One botched mission serves as platform for a lawsuit. The true purpose of that mission is an underlying mystery known to only one character, which is revealed bit by bit. This is not your typical wartime terrorism, and solving this mystery is essential to the plot so trust that the battlefield flashbacks are relevant and not just filler. Because the CIA is in bed with High Star, it's also not your typical corporate corruption. The stakes to protect the guilty are the highest and most dangerous they've ever been. Ellen and Patty...

Down in the dumps over Damages
I concur, Damages is the best! How could it be so off the radar? With all the junk on network tv, how could this gem of a program be regulated to Direct TV- whatever that is..please this program should be on a major network...wait, they don't know whats good...but cable channels like AMC or USA..come on , this is a great series!

Definitley one of the weaker seasons, but still one of the best TV shows
Season 4 of Damages was more as a set up for the 5th and final season. Everything you loved about the previous 3 seasons (crazy plot twists, and great characterization) is still there. The only thing that I felt wrong with this season was that it seemed a little rushed. (The writers were cut 3 episodes with the move to DirectTV). Although the season is a little rushed, it's edgier and more realistic than the previous 3 seasons. The "R" rated language, they were allowed to get away with, definitely brought depth to some of the military characters. Damages has always been a gritty show, but now, it's even grittier and darker than ever. This season set up the final season perfectly,(SPOILER, setting up an Ellen vs Patty arc). I'm very excited to see where the Kessler bothers & Zelman are going to take us for the final act.

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Frontline: The Real CSI

Surprising -
I thought this documentary would contain cases solved with new scientific techniques - instead, it told of how forensic 'science' is more subjective than objective, that 'experts' in the field could be certified as such on-line with very little preparation, and that its not true that every person's fingerprints are different. One study even found that 80% of fingerprint experts participating changed their conclusion from 'a match' to 'no match' after being told a different background story about the potential culprit. Bite mark evidence was identified as one of, if not the least reliable sources of physical evidence - consistent with a recent case in Phoenix that sent an innocent man to spend several years on death row before being exonerated by DNA evidence.

DNA evidence, it turns out, is the one solid piece of evidence - experts can objectively quantify the likelihood of someone being a match or not a match; not something we can now do with even fingerprint evidence...

Interesting and informative.
I teach a forensic psychology class- this is full of segments that can be used to generate class discussions and critical thinking. A good counter to those who only know what's on the CSI and other media programming. Better for teachers than for sheer viewing enjoyment. (That's not a bad thing- it's what I bought it for). I didn't give it five stars because it isn't quite as good as the NOVA DVD- still it's quite good.

Can we trust forensic evidence??
XXXXX

"Forensic science is everywhere. On T.V., it's used to arrest and convict. But what we thought was science, may not be. Like the science of fingerprints. In fact, there is no national standard for any forensic testimony. And what about getting certified in forensics? You can do that online. [This program is an] investigation of one of the increasingly controversial tools of the criminal justice system: forensic science."

The above is what the narrator says in the introduction of this revealing documentary.

This program was first broadcast on PBS on April 17, 2012. It is a production of the popular investigative reporting show "Frontline."

This episode of Frontline specifically looks into:

(1) fingerprints
(2) a report on forensics by the National Academy of Sciences
(3) the Casey Anthony case
(4) forensic certification

Finally, to get its point across, this program has comments from real CSI...

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Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: The Complete Series - all 30 uncut episodes

Fighting crime in the (fictional) borough of Isola
NBC-TV's 87TH PRECINCT's one-season run may have been the result of having to compete against CBS's THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW and its spinoff, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. Thirty episodes of "87th" aired between 9/25/61 and 4/30/62. Reruns continued until September and then it vanished, seemingly forever. This DVD release of such an obscurity is quite astonishing, and it gives us TV cop show fans a chance to see what might've been: a long, successful run, if only...

Based on the novels of Evan Hunter (aka Ed McBain), the precinct is located in an area of a fictional town that's much like Manhattan. Regular cast members: Robert Lansing (Det. Steve Carella), Ron Harper (Det. Bert Kling), Norman Fell (Det. Meyer Meyer) and Gregory Walcott (Det. Roger Havilland).

GUEST STAR TRIVIA--
Dawn Wells (#18) played Mary Ann on GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. Alvy Moore (#14, #25) was scatterbrained Hank Kimball on...

Another Outstanding Police Drama from the 1960s
I was happy to read about the upcoming release of the "87th. Precinct" tv series, one of the many outstanding b/w, noirish police dramas from that period. This well-done series was based on the series of books by "Ed McBain," the pseudonym of novelist/screenwriter Evan Hunter. (I met McBain/Hunter at a signing for a new 87th. Precinct novel years ago. I don't think most of the people there knew of the writer's double-identity. While most asked him about the new book, I asked him why the birds attacked Bodega Bay, since Hunter was the screenwriter for my favorite Hitchcock film: "The Birds" He seemed amused by my question.)
87th. Precinct ran for one season, (1961-1962,) Monday nights at 9 on NBC. It was prematurely cancelled by NBC the same day as the show that followed it: the classic Boris Karloff-hosted suspense drama: "Thriller." Too bad, as they were two excellent series.
87th Precinct had an excellent cast that went on to bigger things. Three years later the...

If you're a fan of Ed McBain, you'll really enjoy this!
Never mind that it's in black and white, from the early 1960s, with no special effects to speak of. It follows some of the McBain novels pretty closely and gives a nice feel for the gritty city which was a character in his 87th Precinct series. The cast is better than average; quite a few went on to notable careers. Robert Lansing is a bit more macho than the Steve Carella portrayed in the books, but it works well enough. There is some of the snarky humor, toned down for the censors but present to leaven the grim tales of murder and the like. Similarly, gruesome details are edited out - a very pleasant change from today's guaranteed bloodbaths and forensic details. If you haven't read any of the police procedurals, though, this series might not hold you in its grip, compared with later gems like "Hill Street Blues". If you're already familiar with the 87th Precinct, especially the earliest books in the series, you will really enjoy these DVDs.

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LASSIE'S BIRTHDAY SURPRISE

Great Family Fare
Three tales - two in b/w and one in color, from the beloved tv series.

In the first episode (1955), Jeff and his pal Porky come close to being blown to pieces by dynamite while picking flowers for Gramps's surprise birthday party.

In the second episode (1956), Ellen and Jeff gather friends and neighbors together to make the Calverton telephone operator's birthday a special one.

The third episode (1971, color) is set on the Holden Ranch where an emotionally withdrawn boy is surprised with a special birthday gift from his Holden Ranch family. This episode was from the final two syndicated years of the show and features "CHiPS" star Larry Wilcox.

I was a mite disappointed the collection didn't include a Jon Provost/June Lockhart episode but I can't complain with the episodes offered here: the stories are absolutely delightful! The dvd is of excellent visual and audio quality and will be enjoyed by viewers of all ages.

76 wonderful minutes tender stories
Lassie's Birthday Surprise is a nicely selection of two Jeff time tales and one in the Garth Holden Ranch. In all of them Lassie helps giving love and happiness to Gramp's, to Jenny -the town operator- and to the orphaned Mike Bishop who doesn't even know when his birthday is. We can pass 76 wonderful minutes watching these tender stories.

What an Odd Title!
The common denominator of all these stories is that (surprise!) a birthday is celebrated. Two of the stories are from the Jeff era, the 1950's tale "Gramps' Birthday" and "Party Line," which is about the entire town of Calverton not knowing it's the birthday of Jenny the town telephone operator. The third episode is from 1971, in the Holden ranch sequence of episodes: the new foster son of Garth Holden has been so neglected he doesn't even know his birthday. Of course the Holdens do something about that immediately.

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