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Davina McCall - High Energy Five [2007]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Davina McCall

December 03, 2007
This is my 3rd Davina DVD. I already have Power of 3 which is great if you have an hour to spare. I also have her 3 x 30min workouts which are great for during the week when I don't have an hour to spare. I was wondering what I would get from this latest DVD.
First the music is a big improvement on the other DVDs. Secondly I like the 5 different options. I can mix & match sections depending on my humour. As usual the set is excellent - clean, no distractions.
In all you get 120 mins of workout so that is good value.
Overall I'm very happy with all the Davina DVDs.

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Torchwood: Complete BBC Series 1 Box Set [2006]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: John Barrowman, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori
directed by: Brian Kelly, Colin Teague

November 19, 2007
I came late and backwards to Torchwood; I watched the first episode before I'd ever watched any of the relaunch Doctor Who episodes. I quite liked it but mainly I wanted to watch what they'd done to Doctor Who. The revamped Who was so great that it kept me busy until I saw all of it, then I went back to watch Torchwood.

It's a great idea for a series but unfortunately, the writing remains very inconsistent. To my mind, the show is at its weakest when there's a lot of running around after scaly-skinned beasties, and at its best when it stops to think a bit. The series finale, for example, is a disaster - overblown, humourless and silly, it's redeemed only by some subtle acting, mostly from John Barrowman and Eve Myles. However, only ... Read More:

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Frasier - Season 8

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: John Mahoney, Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin

February 04, 2008
Season 8 is the first season of Frasier that didn't quite reach perfection. Daphne and Niles are now together and although the show handles it very well in general it does take an edge of their characters. Jane Leeves who plays Daphne fell pregnant during this series and an overeating story line develops until about half way through when Daphne goes to the "fat farm" to seek help. While in real life Jane Leeves gave birth and she returns later in the season. We don't have the wonderful character of Bulldog anymore but instead we have the return of Lana. A lover of Frasier in the previous series and now a friend who has you in stitches the same way Bulldog did.

I would rate seasons 1-7 at 10/10. However, season 8 drops to 9/10. It's ... Read More:

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The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended Edition Box Set)

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin
directed by: Peter Jackson

December 10, 2004
This Lord Of The Rings Extended Edition Trilogy DVD set is the litmus test for which all future DVD sets should be compared to. As well as the longer versions of each film, there are literally dozens of hours of extras, from historical accounts of Tolkien's life, to production design, to story drafts, actor interviews, special effects, art design, you name it, it's here. This set is as epic as the movies.

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Far From The Madding Crowd [1998]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Nathanial Parker, Nigel Terry, Jonathan Firth, Paloma Baeza
directed by: Nicholas Renton

February 19, 2007
This is really a great adaptation of the novel - true to not only the plot but as often as possible to Hardy's very conversations. The actors are uniformly excellent, assisted by the subtle, well-paced script, gorgeous scenery and involving plot. I don't think a better version of FFTMC will ever be made and absolutely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Hardy - or of just sitting in front of an absorbing, fascinating, passionate and sexy costume drama for a few hours!

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Rambo - The Complete Collection (1-4 Box Set) [1982]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna

June 23, 2008
Once again sony pictures have released another mess. they have mislabelled the set, rambo 3 is NOT 5.1, it is in fact the same disc that appeared in a previous set that i also own. first set i bought had a faulty rambo 2 disc so i took it back and now i find that the 3rd film is NOT what it is claimed to be. Be totally aware of what you are buying.

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Brothers And Sisters - Series 1 [2006]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Dave Annable, John Pyper-Ferguson, Kerris Dorsey, Rob Lowe, Maxwell Cotton
directed by: Matt Shakeman, Michael Schultz, David Paymer, Michael Lange, Ken Olin

February 25, 2008
I originally got this on rental as I had just finished watching Ally McBeal and wanted to see what Calista Flockhart got up to next. I hadn't realised that this was a drama and so was initially disappointed to see her in such a different role, but the characters were all so well written and so honest about themselves, and the change in pace for someone like Flockhart was great. My only criticism was that it was just a little too real, drama could do with taking a leaf out of Shakespeare and include some real comedy motif to prevent the mood from being too overwhelming and sadly I didn't find that the script gave enough in this area to enable me to watch it continually.

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Step Up 2 The Streets [2008]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Briana Evigan, Will Kemp, Robert Hoffman, Channing Tatum
directed by: Jon M. Chu

July 14, 2008
LOVE LOVE LOVE this film! saw it twice at cinema and have been waiting for it to come out on dvd! if you like films like honey, stomp the yard, save the last dance etc. you will love this and you'll wana keep watching it like i will be!

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Bill Bailey - The Classic Collection : Part Troll / Bewilderness / Cosmic Jam (3 Disc Box Set)

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
by: Bill Bailey

November 27, 2006
I love it all- the only downside was that Bewilderness and Cosmic Jam had the wrong titles written on the disc and thus did not correspond with the films they actually were! Oh well :) Charming little quirk perhaps...

Excellent purchase though!

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Battlestar Galactica : Complete Seasons 1-3 (16 Disc Box Set) [2004]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis

October 22, 2007
I was never a fan of the original, but this re imagined version hooked me right form the start. Its structured as a complete story with lots of strong and flawed characters and plenty of action. There are interesting relationships and B5 fans will undoubtedly appreciate the who-you-are / what-you-are implications of the story.

Acting, CGI special effects, and production are all excellent.

Highly recommended.