1 comments about The Puppet Masters: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

1. I saw the film that goes with this score a few months ago and ever since, I have been looking for it. Luckily, a couple of nights ago, I found it used for $4 and immediately bought it. Knowing it was done by a semi-no-name composer I didn't expect the sound of Goldsmith or Poledouris to pour out of my speakers and it's a good thing.
   The score starts out with a fairly romantic statement of what we will come to recognize at the very end of the album as the "peace" theme. However, the beautiful strings are quickly blown away by a synthesizer effect. The cue then moves into the mysterious music that should have made up much of the rest of the score. However, this first cue doesn't represent the rest of the score.
   The meat of the score is piano driven action music that starts out nice but sometimes rambles on for far too long and at other times explodes with unmelodic synth dissonances.
   What makes me give this album a three star rating instead of a two is the fact that Towns wrote some beautiful music for this film. The first and last pieces are quite good and not all of the action music is terrible. Just a few (4 at the most) unfortunate cues. "The Visitor Revealed" starts out with dissonances in the synths but moves quickly into a piano driven action frenzy. "Can't Hurt Her . . ." is also very good with an explosive finale.
   All in all, this film is done in the classic style of 50's composers but without the corny effects they used. The style of the piano section of the first cue will immediately remind a listener of classic sci-fi. A good buy for $4.

5 comments about Scarface [Region 2].

1. As a teenager, I was a big fan of Miami Vice: The Complete Series, and I love The Godfather DVD Collection (The Godfather/ The Godfather - Part II/ The Godfather - Part III) so I bought this 2 disk Anniversary edition of Scarface.
   
   At the time I purchased this, I had been listening to many Gangsta Rap and Hip Hop CDs, and I've read that many musicians are inspired by this film. The Special Features explore the music industry's fascination with this classic movie.
   
   This is literally a story of "rags to riches," and this is also a story of becoming power mad. I was completely engaged and mesmerized by his rise to power, but it is sad to see that he let his power become paranoia and he hit his personal stash instead of being a business man. He reminds me of Uncle Sam, right now. Too much power, but not enough Self Control.
   
   America loves (and often votes for) its Gangsters, and this is a great tribute to the ideals of North America. At the risk of being labled a "Turahist," I love this movie and so do most North Americans. Sad ending, but a great film.



2. I heard about this movie for about 20 years before finally deciding to watch it.....And WOW I was missing out! This is my new favorite movie. I can't stop quoting it. Al Pacino is incredible!



3. I Love this collectors edition. Everything in it was brand new and untainted. Love it!



4. Yeah, right, I don't believe it. Almost everyone has seen this movie. If for some strange reason you haven't, well there are 700 some odd reviews to read here that I'm sure go into great detail about the plot, so read theirs. I'm just here to tell you that Pacino's performance is one of the best committed to cinema ever. This film could have easily been just another drug and gangsters movie had it not been Pacino in the lead roll. His portrayal of Tony Montana is electrifying. The supporting actors are fantastic in their own right, but Pacino is the reason to watch this remake.
   
   I saw this movie opening day in New York city back in 1983 and the entire theater cheered during key moments in the film. It was quite an experience then, and it's still an experience now. The Platinum Edition is the way to go. I don't give five stars lightly, as to me five stars means perfect. I think many reviewers on Amazon give out five stars like they're giving candy to Halloween trick or treaters. It is very rare a film I would give a five star review, but if any film is worthy of that rating it's Scarface.



5. My review is based on the picture and sound quality, not the movie itself which I love. Scarface has been reviewed enough since its release and it is a great movie. That's why I am so dissapointed in this release of it twenty years later. If you own a 5.1 sound system like I do, you should wait for a blu-ray to come out cause this edition sounds really bad. The claim of DTS 5.1 is b.s. and even the Dolby Digital sounds bad. The picture quality is alot better and the music sounds alright. The extras are not anything great. Overall it's a mediocre release that is decent when played with a 2.0 system. It really deserves better considering how popular it is.

5 comments about Elmopalooza.

1. Great music - our kids 1-3 have loved loved loved this one (it's their pre-bed time favorite each night for YEARS). They loved it so much we bought a 2nd copy when the first wore out. If Elmo annoys some parents, this is a happy compromise - much less Elmo talk, and more awesome songs.



2. My son watched this movie ALL the time when he was a toddler. So much that we wore the dvd out! Now we purchased another copy for my toddler daughter who is an Elmo fanatic. What a great kid's video! (Entertaining for adults too!)



3. Had I known Rosie O'Donnell was a musical(?) guest on the video, I would never have purchased it.



4. So this was a hit at my house. The 13mo old grooves and claps to most of the songs, and my 5yr old enjoys it too. The 5yr old follows the interim bits, and the baby doesn't need to be so glued. The older one started singing the songs around the house by the second watching. I don't mind the hearing the songs repeatedly in the background either. Rosie O'Donnell's song is the 5yr old's favorite (who's also been a big Jimmy Buffet fan and enjoyed seeing him,) and the baby goes nuts for the Fugees. This is my favorite Elmo simply by virtue of not leaving that awful "Elmo's World" song stuck on repeat in my head.... Elmo loves his goooldfish, his crayon toooo - Ack, I only had to think about it a second for it to happen. I might turn Elmopalooza back on.



5. WE ALL LOVE THIS VIDEO. IT IS NOT ONLY FOR CHILDREN, BUT ADULTS AS WELL. IT IS ONE OF FEW VIDEOS SHE WILL WATCH FOR SHE IS NOT A TV FAN. KEEPS HER ENTERTAINED WHILE I GET DINNER READY. ITS A MUST HAVE IN MY OPINION!!!!

3 comments about Another Lone Nut.

1. I looked around for this title for a while, then one day it hit me, LOOK ONLINE. What do you know, Amazon.com had it! Great! Now I could listen to the wisdom that would spout out of the Belz's mouth when ever I wanted to.

   One problem, the audio quality left much to be desired. The Belz's audio would fluctuate. Sometimes he was loud and other times he was soft. I mean you could still hear everything, but it was not the high quality one hopes for.

   The humor itself was top notch. I swear that he does the best impression of Bob Dylan that I have ever heard.

   If you have read his book on conspiracies and then listen to this album you would find where he got a lot of his material for the book.

   The Belz rules! I am not here to dispute that, but this CD is not the best way to represent the Belz!




2. I hadn't heard Richard Belzer before -- I have a cassette
   version of this -- a very funny man. I have heard half ot it, and would recommend it highly based on that.



3. Richard Belzer's comedy cd, Another Lone Nut, is very funny. Belzer is fascinated in the assassination of JFK, UFOs, and other government conspiracies. This disc is chock-full of them. Richard Belzer is Jewish and makes fun of Jews. On this disc he takes cracks at Elvis, Bob Dylan, Mr. T, Hulk Hogan, Bill Clinton's [...], Gerald Ford, and his own grandfather. This cd is recommended for casual or diehard fans of the Belz, or a comedy lover.

1 comments about Mad Dog And Glory (1993 Film).

1. Elmer Bernstein's musical score to the John McNaughton film "Mad Dog and Glory" is condensed into 5 brief tracks on this soundtrack CD. (The other 2 cuts are classic Louis Prima numbers.) Bernstein's musical flourishes in this film were appropriately subdued, but dense and creepy. This CD captures those qualities, but it's too slight a showcase for what is otherwise a complex and compelling work.

2 comments about Not Of This Earth! The Film Music Of Ronald Stein.

1. Being a big fan of fifties sci-fi movies, and having purchased similar CD's in the past I had high expectations for this CD. What this has is interesting, but not stunning scores to several more obscure horror and sci-fi films (perhaps the most well known is "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman"). There is a nice, informative booklet with the CD, and I found the sound quality to be perfectly fine. I was hoping for a more memorable collection of film scores, but it was interesting to hear the music of these obscure movies.



2. Not memorable? Maybe if you're in the final stages of altzheimer's! Ronald Stein is a genius at creating and sustaining a mood of weird suspense. Even when the movie was a mess, like The Terror or most of Dementia 13, Stein's scores create a very wonderful and melodic sense of menace. The stuff from Spider Baby is why I got this disc, and it's great. Stein's music conjures the film's black humor perfectly. But I was very pleasantly shocked at how good the whole damn disc is!

3 comments about The World's Most Dangerous Party.

1. This is a collection of covers by Paul Shaffer, master of keyboards, plus the world's most dangerous band backing him up. A lot of celebrities join him in making this. Some of them talk over the music and don't add much more than a bit of color. Others really make this worth having: George Clinton's cover of Black Dog is awesome! I liked Burning Down the House and Beds Are Burning a lot too. I think these tracks are pretty hit or miss, but the ones you like will be quite unique!



2. Instrumental cover band at it's best...Paul, Sid, Will and Anton do a fantastic job in covering some good tunes. While I really prefer not having the interaction with his guests, you get the sense of a real rockin' good time. All of the selections are top notch and you truly get a variety of musical styles. My faves are the Bonnie Raitt cover, the Crowded House, the Marley, the Earth Wind and Fire and a cool Booker T. medley...good copies on all tunes!!! In my work at a radio station, I have used this CD as fill in music during sports broadcasts..I get great reaction from play by play announcers who ask.."who, what, where did you get that?" This CD is a rare one and I, myself have purchased a few extras just in case...get yours NOW while they last! Kudos to Todd Rundgren for his producing work on this cool CD. This is a fun collection of stuff and I hope you like it too!



3. I can't even remember how I bought this cd back in the 90's. I've always loved this cd- great cd for putting on in the background at a party- funny thing is... this is a great stand-alone album. They do great covers, the production and sound quality is great and there's little parts inbetween each song where a special guest (Letterman included) stops by to say "hi". You always hear the crowd in the background between songs partying- it's fantastic. No kidding- Paul & the boys really ROCK some of the covers bigtime! It's a great mix of rock, funk, motown & slow songs too. Great fun.

5 comments about Man on the Moon: Music from the Motion Picture.

1. Who knew R.E.M. would be so good at film scores? Thier instrumental work on this album is flawless, especially the orchestral version of their classic song "Man On The Moon",and the gorgeous "Miracle"-possibly the most haunting,enduring music they've ever done.And,of coarse,you get thier great single "The Great Beyond",one of thier best.On top of that,you get goodies like the theme from "Taxi","Kiss You All Over",by Exile(c'mon,you know you love it),The "Mighty Mouse Theme",and a priceless version of "I Will Survive",sung with ally-cat-in-heat grandure by Tony Clifton(Jim Carrey),that may be better than the original.Also,as an added bonus,you also get "One More Song For You",sung by the real Andy Kaufman,just a small reminder of why they did all this in the first place.If you're a fan of Andy's,Jim Carrey's,or R.E.M.,or just good music,this is a sure bet.



2. I love R.E.M., I really do. Therefore I bought `their' score of the brilliant movie Man On The Moon, after hearing their single The Great Beyond. This score also features the classic R.E.M. song Man On The Moon, as well as an orchestral version. A very nice bonus. This Friendly World is another R.E.M. song, a very sweet one with guest vocals by Jim Carrey (as Andy Kaufman and his alter ego Tony Clifton). Sadly, these songs are this score's only highlights. The rest of the album sounds very boring to me. Surely R.E.M. could have done a better job making a score for a brilliant movie like this. Sadly, they failed. But this score is definitely a nice collector's item for R.E.M. fans. If you're not a fan, I recommend to spend your money on something better. (Tip: Try a Radiohead album...)



3. If you are a fan of R.E.M., a fan of Andy Kaufman, or enjoyed watching the movie MAN ON THE MOON, this is a great soundtrack to own. Two of the songs on the album: "The Great Beyond" and "Man on the Moon"; are songs performed by R.E.M. Not only that, but the film's score-much of which is included here-was written by the band as well. For Andy Kaufman fans, the album has a few songs performed by Andy and his alter-ego, Tony Clifton. Well, actually they were performed by Jim Carrey, but Jim Carrey said he actually became Andy while performing the movie, so even though it's him, he (and many others) swear it's Andy (Andy would have loved playing with people like that). Finally, this album has several dialogue clips from the movie. Some suggest that this takes away from the album, but I find it does the exact opposite: the clips enhance the music. And for those of you who aren't R.E.M., Andy Kaufman, or MAN ON THE MOON fans; this is still an enjoyable album to listen to: "The Great Beyond" and "Man on the Moon" are great songs as is the theme from Taxi and the "Mighty Mouse Theme". A real treat.



4. This soundtrack composed of mainly R.E.M. songs stays true to the essence that was Andy Kaufman. R.E.M. fan rejoice. Andy fans rejoice. This album was made especially for you. There are several standout tracks such as "The Great Beyond," "This Friendly World," (which is a duet between Michael Stipe and Jim Carrey) and of course "Man on the Moon." But what truly make this album worthwhile are the little skits performed by various members of the cast in between songs. This is an excellent album a far as soundtracks go. It was not composed of hit songs just to make money. It is a well put together album. I give it 5 stars.



5. This is truly a soundtrack because it contains many soundbites from the movie. The majority of the album is R.E.M., some actual songs by Andy Kaufman and of course the Mighty Mouse Theme.

5 comments about Fame: The Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture.

1. This cd is sweet!!!I don't really have it, but my friend's sister Allison was in the northwest version of fame.On a field trip,my 4th grade class went to see it .I went and saw it again, because it was so good and the music was awesome. Now my friend has the cd from the play, and we listen to it in the car every morning!!!! I will buy it if as soon as I can, and I hope you will too!!!!



2. I grew up on this movie, and watched the TV show religiously. My favorite number from the movie was Hot Lunch Jam. As a H.S. Senior, I managed to work it into our TV Through The Ages production. My younger brother, who is now 16, and was to young to remember anything about the 80's, considers it to be one of the cheesiest he's ever heard, and claims the movie to be boring, and makes no sense. I suppose it would seem that way to a lot of kids who've grown up with some of the highly produced shows.
   I'm an avid collector of all things 80's and would have to say that one of my most beloved pieces is "The Kids From Fame" album w/ "Starmaker", "Step Up To The Mike" and "I Can Do Anything Better Than You Can", amongst others on vinyl. Fame, like Grease is a classic movie, that to me, gets better with age.



3. This soundtrack, like the movie, is a contemporary classic. For those of us who were in high school when it was released, it's a snapshot of that era. Much has already been said here about how good the music on this CD is, and I agree with all of it. Instead, I want to comment on the sound quality of this CD. This recording is BADLY in need of remastering; it's a shame that no one at Polygram picked up on this. I originally bought this album in the cassette format, and played it for years until it literally wore out. When I finally replaced it with the CD version, I couldn't believe the difference in the sonics; the cassette actually sounded better! There is a muffled quality to the CD which is most noticeable on the title track and "I Sing the Body Electric". There's just not enough high end. Oddly enough, we've already had remastered editions of "Flashdance" and "Footloose", both of which came out AFTER this album was released. And just as a footnote; a couple of reviewers have commented on the excellent "Kids from Fame" TV soundtrack album, which featured the songs "Starmaker", "I Still Believe in Me", and "Hi-Fidelity". Well, guess what... it's in print on CD, and can be ordered from the UK version of the Amazon website. (Just use the link at the bottom of the page.) I don't know why the American side doesn't stock it. Anyway, it's a very inexpensive title, and well worth seeking out. (Search "Kids From Fame" when you get to the website.)



4. Hoped to replace my LP with this CD. NOT! Think the record sounds better. The quality is the worst.



5. I gave this 5 stars, because even though I don't like a small percent of this, the rest MORE than makes up for it.
   
   Here are the selections, and what I like and/or dislike about them:
   1. "FAME" - the title track. It's an upbeat, optimistic song, a good opener, no complaints from me.
   2."OUT HERE ON MY OWN" - This beautiful ballad is sung by Irene Cara on a soundstage, broadway piano, and some deep lyrics.
   3."HOT LUNCH JAM" - Kind of silly song, set in the cafeteria of the high school, more effective on film than on your stereo, but not bad.
   4."DOGS IN THE YARD" - Song by and about the Monty character; "Why can't I run crazy, like the dogs in the yard?" We've all felt like this at one time or another. I like it.
   5."RED LIGHT" - This is a difficult one for me; It's a late '70's Disco song, the genre of which I passionately hate, but "Red Light" is a well-made song, good recording, competent singing, I just wish it weren't Disco.
   6."IS IT OK IF I CALL YOU MINE?"- Another song by the Monty character; just him singing, and strumming an acoustic guitar. Nothing fancy, but not bad, either.
   7."NEVER ALONE" - I REALLY LIKE THIS; I've always liked that dry, Broadway piano sound, here, enhanced with a choir, and lots of percussion, it reminds me of a black church revival.
   8."RALPH AND MONTY (dressing room piano)"- It's only some background music for a scene with two of the main characters having a conversation in a dressing room; it's just a little piano motif that grows on you.
   9."I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC."- The graduation sequence. This song is the reason to buy this recording and cherish it. It's also the high point of the film. It has the ability to bring goosebumps on me, even after twenty-five years. The recording of this absolute MASTERPIECE was cleaned up a bit for the soundtrack, and it sounds a little better than what you hear in the film, but either will simply blow you away, every time. There's one line in the film version, where one of the vocalists (Monty again) hits a bum note, and I squirm every time I hear it. But he quickly recovers and ends his part beautifully. It is performed by the entire student body, the dance students doing a fantastic job, the combo, a five or six-piece rock band, some of the singing and acting students singing the leads, the classical students providing the orchestrations, and the rest giving their voices in the most powerful sounding choir you'll ever hear from a bunch of seventeen and eighteen-year-olds. I can't give enough praise to this number, and even if you ignore the rest, you owe it to yourself to experience "I Sing The Body Electric," as performed by the cast of "Fame."
   You will NOT be disappointed.

5 comments about Elmopalooza!.

1. Great music - our kids 1-3 have loved loved loved this one (it's their pre-bed time favorite each night for YEARS). They loved it so much we bought a 2nd copy when the first wore out. If Elmo annoys some parents, this is a happy compromise - much less Elmo talk, and more awesome songs.



2. My son watched this movie ALL the time when he was a toddler. So much that we wore the dvd out! Now we purchased another copy for my toddler daughter who is an Elmo fanatic. What a great kid's video! (Entertaining for adults too!)



3. Had I known Rosie O'Donnell was a musical(?) guest on the video, I would never have purchased it.



4. So this was a hit at my house. The 13mo old grooves and claps to most of the songs, and my 5yr old enjoys it too. The 5yr old follows the interim bits, and the baby doesn't need to be so glued. The older one started singing the songs around the house by the second watching. I don't mind the hearing the songs repeatedly in the background either. Rosie O'Donnell's song is the 5yr old's favorite (who's also been a big Jimmy Buffet fan and enjoyed seeing him,) and the baby goes nuts for the Fugees. This is my favorite Elmo simply by virtue of not leaving that awful "Elmo's World" song stuck on repeat in my head.... Elmo loves his goooldfish, his crayon toooo - Ack, I only had to think about it a second for it to happen. I might turn Elmopalooza back on.



5. WE ALL LOVE THIS VIDEO. IT IS NOT ONLY FOR CHILDREN, BUT ADULTS AS WELL. IT IS ONE OF FEW VIDEOS SHE WILL WATCH FOR SHE IS NOT A TV FAN. KEEPS HER ENTERTAINED WHILE I GET DINNER READY. ITS A MUST HAVE IN MY OPINION!!!!