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Tess Of The D'Urbervilles [1998]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Justine Waddell, Jason Flemyng, Oliver Milburn, John McEnery, Lesley Dunlop
directed by: Ian Sharp

February 19, 2007
A wonderful adaptation of the original novel. The sets are authentic and the characters are well-done. There were some differences between the this film version and the book, of course; it would be almost impossible to have a perfect match to a novel that is so subtle and heart wrenching; but this version comes very close.

Highly recommended.

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Doctor Who - The Complete BBC Series 1 Box Set [2005]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Billie Piper, Christopher Eccleston, Camille Coduri, Noel Clarke, John Barrowman

November 21, 2005
series 1 started off everything(makes sense)but seriously if it weren't for the success of this series then the show wouldn't have survived...thanks to the amazing writers and crew behind it and some fab actors.
eppy guide-
Rose-4/5-the start...and what a great start it is too...Billie Piper CAN act as the great Rose Tyler and the Autons are very creepy.
The end of the world-4/5-very good all round episode tht boasts some amazing visuals.
the unquiet dead-4/5-very scary episode with some terrifying zombies...and the doctor meets Charles Dickens.
Aliens of London-2/5-a decent episode but not fantastical...contains the infamous big ben crash scene...but not much else.
World War Three-2.5/5-slightly better but the ... Read More:

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Family Guy Season 6 [2007]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
by: Seth MacFarlane
starring: Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green

October 15, 2007
I'm a big fan of the show, but series 4 and 5 were really quite disappointing. Series 6 is much more consistent - each episode contains several genuinely funny gags, plenty of crude humour and even a little quality satire. Still not as well observed as the first three series but a decent return to form.

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Eastern Promises [2007]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl
directed by: David Cronenberg

February 25, 2008
A brilliant film, quite dark which keeps you guessing to the end. The best bit of acting Viggo has done, well worth his stay in Russian to learn the accent and the story of the tattoos. A pity he didn't get the Awards he deserved. Scary to think that this sort of thing probably does go on in this country!

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Tiger - Spy in the Jungle [2008]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: David Attenborough

June 09, 2008
This DVD (from the BBC series) is truly stunning. It grabs your heart from the first minute and doesn't let go until the end and beyond. It is the story of a female tiger in India and her 4 cubs (2 girls, 2 boys) from when they are 10 days old and we follow them through babyhood, adolesence and watch them as they make their first steps to becoming independent. Most of the filming is done by "trunkcam" which are log shaped cameras that elephants carry on their trunks as they wander through the jungle. The cubs don't seem at all phased by them and indeed are sometimes so intrigued that they get so close that one trunkcam ends up submerged in the pool and being tossed around by an over excited tiger cub!

The DVD is a story, narrated by David Attenborough, ... Read More:

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Firefly - The Complete Series [2003]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite

April 19, 2004
i am about half way through the series and it is just bloody brilliant. i got into Firefly after watching Serenity on dvd, which is also an excellent purchase. Firefly starts out good and then just gets better and better, i try to enthuse how good it is to my friends but they have never heard of it so it is lost on them. By the time you get to Jaynestown you have built up such a relationship with the characters that you laugh throughout the entire episode. The next episode Out of Gas is totally different with a much more serious episode. Joss Whedon has created a fantastic series that should have had a handful of series and deserves so much more than the one series it got. the acting is excellent and the relationships between characters is absolutly genuine. Nathan Fillion ... Read More:

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Desperate Housewives: Season 3

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman

November 05, 2007
I am a MASSIVE fan of Desperate Housewives, but this was the poorest series out of the four they have done so far. I watched every episode and purchased the DVD and still re-watch them, but I wouldn't say it was a particularly strong series.

I'd say the first 8 episodes were particularly strong, not forgetting the sensational episode 'Bang!'. Despite it being in the midst of a weak series, it's by far one of the best ever episodes and gives me goosebumps at the end every time. But yes, the first third of the series looked particularly promising but from about Episode 10 - 20 it just went downhill for me.

I thought the seasons mystery was lacking the particular oomph the others had. Season 1 was just a huge puzzle, Season 2 finished with the unexpected ... 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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Rambo [Blu-ray] [2008]

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Jake LaBotz, Julie Benz, Tim Kang, Graham McTavish, Ken Howard
directed by: Sylvester Stallone

June 23, 2008
The name Rambo is synonymous with violence. So with Rambo 4, John Rambo or whatever you want to call it. They were determined to make this the most violent Rambo to date. Taking the setting to Burma to give the mainstream audience a view on how violent parts of Burma are, Rambo is revived in a triumphant massacre. This time, he's not alone.

After being approached by a group of Christian Aid Workers, Rambo takes them up the river and into Burma. He starts to fall for one of the aid workers by the name of Sarah (Julie Benz) but they are both two very different people. Whilst on their aid trip in a small village, the village is attacked by the armed militia and the aid workers are kidnapped along with Sarah. Rambo, having left the workers behind, is approached 10 days later to help track ... Read More:

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In The Night Garden - Who's Here?

Childrens Toy Shop > DVD > DVD
starring: Derek Jacobi

September 10, 2007
What age is this extraordinary programme aimed at, I wonder ? Some of the reviews indicate that older children of 5 or 6 love it, as well as pre-schoolers (at which it is aimed) and adults. Ben Bold has his own agenda which made me smile...see his review.

All I can say is that it has a particular quality of excellence that you associate with something of timeless appeal. My 2 year old grandson, his father and mother and I all watch in a state of almost helpless fascination.
It is calming, very surreal, mysterious almost zen-like. Maybe, in the Night Garden, we all return to the old Garden from where we all came.........