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Losing Isaiah

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, David Strathairn, Cuba Gooding Jr., Daisy Eagan
directed by: Stephen Gyllenhaal

June 01, 1999
Seeing this movie for the second time, twice on television, the story is about a an African-American baby abandoned by his mother, Khaila Richars, who was strung out on crack, and his foster mother, Margaret Lewin, a social worker who raises him. The first three years of the boy's life, he is nurtured and cared for by the Lewin family while his mother goes through rehab and getting herself a job and a place to stay. She learns of the child she abandons and wants to claim custody of him.
I felt that Khaila needed more time be an adult rather than trying to claim her son back. For one thing, she abandoned a baby and got hooked on drugs. And another, she needs to know how to be a more responsible adult. Although she got rid of her married ... Read More:

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Now, Voyager

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville
directed by: Irving Rapper

September 01, 1998
Based on Live Prouty's novel, this Hal Wallis production is one of the best films the studio system produced. The story, improbably romantic though it is(the novel at least makes some effort to provide some motivation for the romance)" moves along smartly, the setting are sumptuous, the writing deft. Now Voyager is one of those magical movies than can be watched over and over. One of my top ten favorites.

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Das Versprechen

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Corinna Harfouch, Meret Becker, August Zirner, Ulrike Krumbiegel, Steffen Pietsch
directed by: Margarethe von Trotta


Based on Live Prouty's novel, this Hal Wallis production is one of the best films the studio system produced. The story, improbably romantic though it is(the novel at least makes some effort to provide some motivation for the romance)" moves along smartly, the setting are sumptuous, the writing deft. Now Voyager is one of those magical movies than can be watched over and over. One of my top ten favorites.

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Two for the Seesaw

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Robert Mitchum, Shirley MacLaine, Edmon Ryan, Elisabeth Fraser, Eddie Firestone
directed by: Robert Wise

December 11, 1992
Unfortunately for viewers, this is a bad adaption of a brilliant play. This two-character relationship drama, William Gibson's first play, works extraordinarily well on the stage, with the two characters originally performed by Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft on Broadway.
However, the drama onstage is lost onscreen; it flounders, and leaves the audience with a bad taste in their mouth.
The theatrical "trick" of a two character play is that it brings the audience close to the characters in a way that many larger plays cannot and most films do. As a film, then, the two character drama seem an artistic conceit rather than dramatic device.
Moreover, some of the better concepts of the play are lost in the film format. Despite the excellent ... Read More:

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Walking Tall

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Bo Svenson, David Adams, Forrest Tucker, Bruce Glover, Robert Phillips
directed by: Jack Starrett

February 01, 2000
The first film in the series was very effective, despite its obviously low budget, and pretty much told the Pusser story. The sequel, filmed by a different studio with a different cast, was vastly inferior to its predecessor, and had nothing new or interesting to show. This brings us to the "Final Chapter," which is nothing more than an exercise in desperation, one more attempt to milk the formula for a few more bucks. Bo Svenson sleepwalks his way through another typically unconvincing performance, and the supporting cast is just as bad. Even seasoned character actors like Forrest Tucker, Morgan Woodward, and Lurene Tuttle appear awkward in this piece of junk. With no story left to tell, the script is predictably thin, and the direction is remarkably hackneyed, even for ... Read More:

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Sheik, the

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Rudolph Valentino, Agnes Ayres, Ruth Miller, George Waggner, Frank Butler
directed by: George Melford

April 28, 1993
I've always been "in love" with the "older" male movie stars, those who are no longer around. I am twenty-seven years old but I love such actors as Tyrone Powers, Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, to name a few.Now added to my favorite men is Rudolph Valentino! I've heard of him and how he was a sex symbol of his time, the silent film era. Curious, I bought this DVD, "The Sheik/The Son of the Sheik" At first I thought the story corny, and the music was more like elevator music. I really thought I couldn't go through with a silent film. Then...BOOM! I see Rudolph Valentino, his eyes, his face....I got shivers watching him. I didn't need to hear his voice, although I wish I could! He is sooooo sexy and soooo...I don't know what to call it, I guess he's just got "IT"! Sex appeal? ... Read More:

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Threshold (1981)

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama

November 11, 1998
I've always been "in love" with the "older" male movie stars, those who are no longer around. I am twenty-seven years old but I love such actors as Tyrone Powers, Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, to name a few.Now added to my favorite men is Rudolph Valentino! I've heard of him and how he was a sex symbol of his time, the silent film era. Curious, I bought this DVD, "The Sheik/The Son of the Sheik" At first I thought the story corny, and the music was more like elevator music. I really thought I couldn't go through with a silent film. Then...BOOM! I see Rudolph Valentino, his eyes, his face....I got shivers watching him. I didn't need to hear his voice, although I wish I could! He is sooooo sexy and soooo...I don't know what to call it, I guess he's just got "IT"! Sex appeal? ... Read More:

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Clouds of Witness

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Ian Carmichael, Malcolm Hayes, Kenneth Benda, Merelina Kendall, Glyn Houston
directed by: Hugh David (II)

July 31, 2001
Dorothy L. Sayers writes many non-fiction books however among her best is the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I came to this series sort of though the back door. My first taste was the BBC productions with Petherbridge as Lord Peter that can now be found on DVD ASIN: B000062XDX. So I read all of Dorothy's books containing the relationship of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Now it is time to go through the whole series.

Now I watch the one I missed in PBS. The first thing I notices was that Ian Carmichael talks much faster than Petherbridge. And all the people seem older. Of course Peter was supposed to be older when he met Harriet.

Lord Peter returns from Corsica. To find his older brother the Duke of Denver (David Langton) practically accused of murder. ... Read More:

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Beckett - Peter Otoole

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Donald Wolfit, Felix Aylmer
directed by: Peter Glenville

April 29, 1997
What a wonderful movie buta horrific version on VHS. Some of the scenes are so dark you have to really stretch to even make out basic facial features. It's sad indeed, with one of the best films by both Burton and O'Toole.

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Magic Moments

Childrens Toy Shop > VHS > Drama
starring: Stephen Hoye, John Abbott (II), Laura Sadler, Pepe Yepes, John Shea
directed by: Lawrence Gordon Clark

November 11, 1998
What a wonderful movie buta horrific version on VHS. Some of the scenes are so dark you have to really stretch to even make out basic facial features. It's sad indeed, with one of the best films by both Burton and O'Toole.