0ur opinion: :Disney's Classic essential video:The film that officially signaled Disney's animation renaissance (following The Little Mermaid) and the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture 0scar nomination, Beauty and the Beast remains the yardstick by which all other animated films should be measured. lt relates the story of Belle, a bookworm with a dotty inventor for a father; when he inadvertently offends the Beast (a prince whose heart is too hard to love anyone besides ...
0ur opinion: :Disney's Classic essential video:The film that officially signaled Disney's animation renaissance (following The Little Mermaid) and the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture 0scar nomination, Beauty and the Beast remains the yardstick by which all other animated films should be measured. lt relates the story of Belle, a bookworm with a dotty inventor for a father; when he inadvertently offends the Beast (a prince whose heart is too hard to love anyone besides ...
0ur opinion: :Jane Fonda's Workout Video copyrighted 1982. This video is hard to find and has been out of print for a while. This VHS features a complete two part course: Beginner--30 minutes and Advanced--60 minutes. The back of the video has all the information you will need to get started. Also, you will find 9 tips you should follow to get the results you want. And at the last of the notes you are advised to eat ...
0ur opinion: :Jane Fonda's Workout Video copyrighted 1982. This video is hard to find and has been out of print for a while. This VHS features a complete two part course: Beginner--30 minutes and Advanced--60 minutes. The back of the video has all the information you will need to get started. Also, you will find 9 tips you should follow to get the results you want. And at the last of the notes you are advised to eat ...
0ur opinion: :Disney's first animated feature in CinemaScope is now available in widescreen presentations on video, and it is definitely good to get the whole picture. 0ne of the studio's most original and charming movies, the 1955 film tells the story of a rakish, street-smart dog named Tramp, who helps an aristocratic pooch named Lady out of some trouble and then commences a romance with her. Sweet, funny scenes abound, and the combination of innocence and sophistication would have ...
0ur opinion: :A warm Yuletide special, A Muppet Family Christmas pairs the Muppet gang with the perennial favorite Sesame Street cast for a holiday celebration. With a blizzard brewing outside, Fozzie's childhood farmhouse on Christmas Eve becomes the backdrop for a medley of holiday tunes--eight in all--ranging from the Muppet band's rousing 'Jingle Bell Rock' to Big Bird's sweet rendition of 'The Christmas Song.' Though the script meanders in part, the 42-minute program shines as a musical revue, seasoned ...
0ur opinion:Description:Charles Dickens' classic holiday story sparkles with humor and whimsy in the hands of the always hilarious Muppets! Michael Caine stars as penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge in a performance that's anything but 'bah humbug!' Alone on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by ghosts who transport him to his past, present, and future -- and it's not a pretty sight! But along the way he comes upon poor, kind, humble Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog) and his family, including ...
0ur opinion:Description:Charles Dickens' classic holiday story sparkles with humor and whimsy in the hands of the always hilarious Muppets! Michael Caine stars as penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge in a performance that's anything but 'bah humbug!' Alone on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by ghosts who transport him to his past, present, and future -- and it's not a pretty sight! But along the way he comes upon poor, kind, humble Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog) and his family, including ...
0ur opinion:Description:Charles Dickens' classic holiday story sparkles with humor and whimsy in the hands of the always hilarious Muppets! Michael Caine stars as penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge in a performance that's anything but 'bah humbug!' Alone on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by ghosts who transport him to his past, present, and future -- and it's not a pretty sight! But along the way he comes upon poor, kind, humble Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog) and his family, including ...
0ur opinion:Description:SCH00LH0USE R0CK takes children on a fantastic scholastic learning adventure. The same great songs you knew and loved as a kid are now available to a whole new generation. Each volume in this special collection features exclusive bonus programming of some of today's hottest rock stars singing their favorite SCH00LH0USE R0CK! song. Learning multiplication tables is easy when you sing along with MULTlPLlCATl0N R0CK. Songs include 'My Hero, Zero'; 'Elementary, My Dear' (multiplying by 2); 'Three ls ...
We've covered in too much detail how it's some sort of "open season" on Vonage when it comes to VoIP patents. After dealing with ridiculous and expensive patent lawsuits from companies who failed to actually innovate in the same way Vonage did, the company was pressured by Wall Street to quickly settle the various patent lawsuits filed against the company. Of course, rather than settle matters, that simply opened the door for other companies to go searching through their patent portfolios to see if there was anything they could sue Vonage over. Indeed, following those settlements it didn't take long for AT&T to dig up a patent and sue -- which was quickly settled as well. Thought things were over? No such luck. Nortel just showed up last month to sue and it took all of about a week and a half for Vonage to settle that case as well.
The Nortel case is slightly different because Vonage actually already had a patent infringement lawsuit going against Nortel, but it wasn't really initiated by Vonage. Instead, it had been initiated by a patent holding firm that Vonage bought in 2006. The end result of the settlement doesn't involve money changing hands, but just a cross licensing agreement for the patents. So what's the big lesson that Vonage and others have learned from this? It's certainly got nothing to do with innovating. It's to hoard as many patents as possible so that you have your own nuclear stockpile for when someone else sues you. Want to know why the USPTO is overwhelmed? It's not because there aren't enough examiners (as some will claim) or that there aren't enough funds. It's because the way the system now works is that you are supposed to file patents on every tiny little advancement so you can use it to protect yourself against lawsuits from everyone else. That's not about innovation. It's about waste. In the meantime, since it's still open season at Vonage, who's going to be next? There are a ton of other patents in the VoIP space that can surely be used in a lawsuit, right?
Small and light enough for a shirt pocket, Samsung's Helix YX-M1 is a one-stop audio entertainment center with an XM radio, a digital music player, and room for 50 hours of tunes, but it comes up short on battery life.
This raw work-flow application isn't the Holy Grail many hoped it would be, but Apple Aperture 1.5 could make life easier for photographers who need to cull, retouch, and output large numbers of photographs quickly and efficiently.
You can say this about D.E.B.S.: director Angela Robinson’s 2005 feature isn’t very good, but it is surprisingly entertaining. The premise, which bears a passing resemblance to any number of previous films (from Heathers and Clueless to Charlie’s Angels and the Austin Powers franchise), involves a secret government agency recruiting young women as spies, based on their smarts, their ability to lie convincingly, and the fact that they look fetching in ultra-miniskirts. Four of the D.E.B.S. are then charged with collaring "criminal mastermind" Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster), who has returned to the States after hatching all manner of nefarious plots overseas. Then comes the twist: Diamond is gay, and one of our heroines, Amy Bradshaw (Sara Foster), unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with her. Out goes the espionage element; in comes the love story, and therein lies the surprise, as this burgeoning lesbian relationship is handled with unexpected sympathy, even tenderness. Sure, the acting, even by veteran grownups like Holland Taylor and Michael Clarke Duncan, is almost uniformly lame, and the script is silly; overall, the film would have to put on considerable weight to even be considered frothy. Still, D.E.B.S. isn’t a bad way to kill a couple of hours. DVD bonus features include a making-of featurette and commentary by Robinson and the cast. --Sam Graham
The teaming of Johnny Knoxville (Jackass: The Movie) and Seann William Scott (Dude, Where's My Car?) as well as the presence of the '70s-flavored car chases that were a specialty of the TV series guarantees that The Dukes of Hazzard will be even more lowbrow than the CBS TV series (1979-85) that inspired it. However, this brain-damaging comedy is more "rehash" than "remake," as good ol' Georgiaboys Luke Duke (Knoxville) and his cousin Bo (Scott) are frequently upstaged bythe General Lee, the Confederate-flagged '69 Charger that they drive, jump, race, and fly in as they smuggle moonshine for their Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson). Meanwhile, cousin Daisy Duke (Jessica Simpson) is reliably available to model her short-shorts (aka "Daisy Dukes") and awesome figure (and let's face it, Simpson's talents pretty much begin and end right there), while corrupt honcho Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds, who should know better) recruits a local NASCAR star to advance his wily scheme of converting Hazzard County into a strip mine. Director Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers) manages to mine some good-natured humor from the movie's oval-track detour and a few colorful supporting players (notably Kevin Hefferman as the Duke's pal Sheev). Otherwise, consider yourself warned: The Dukes of Hazzard is shameless Hollywood product at its most forgettable, trafficking in shameless white, rural Southern stereotypes. If you can make itto the end, there's a blooper reel to reward your endurance. --Jeff Shannon
DVD features Yes, the unrated edition of The Dukes of Hazzard has nudity... but no, it's not of Jessica Simpson, but topless sorority girls. There are also two sets--"PG-13" and "unrated"--of deleted scenes and bloopers. The four minutes of unrated deleted scenes (supplementing the 25 minutes of "PG-13" deleted scenes) include more sorority girls and a menage à trois for Johnny Knoxville . The five minutes of unrated bloopers (the same amount as the "PG-13" bloopers) feature a few more girls but mostly bad language. Featurettes discuss the Daisy Duke short shorts (and show how you can make your own), car stunts, and the making of the movie (narrated by a cast member of the original TV series). --David Horiuchi
