No comments about Heart of the Canyon Country: Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Natural Bridge.

No comments about Madeline: Winter Vacation.

5 comments about Little Drummer Boy Book 2.

1. Loved all three videos. Mainly bought them cause I had recorded them from tv. yrs. ago and tapes were wearing out. Enjoyed them just the same. Would recommend.



2. The tax collecter song is AWESOME!!! i rewind this movie over
   and over again just to watch that song. Aaron also sings the reprise of the song. i have to admit, there is probbally a diffrent actor for Aaron in this one. his voice sounds higher.



3. It's So Awesome. The Movie Starts When We See The Little Drummer Boy Named Arron Playing His Drum To The Baby Jesus. Then One Of The Three Wise Men Named Melchior Told Him That He Was Going To See A Friend Of His A Man Named Simeon. Then We See Simeon At His House Looking At The Little Cute Silver Bells. Then He Looked At The Big Silver Bells. Then There Was A Knock On The Door. And It's The Tax Collecter. And He Demanded Simeon To Pay His Tax's. Until He Discovered The Silver Bells. Then The Tax Collecter And His Men Took The Bells Away. Then We See Arron With The Donkey And The Cute Little Lamb And The Camle. And One Of The Wise Men Melchior Is Riding On The Camle. Then Simeon Told Them That The Tax Collecter And His Men Have Taking The Bells. Then The Three Of Them Were Comming Up With A Plan To Get The Silver Bells. So If You Want To Know What Happens Next. Then You Should Buy This Movie. It's A Great Christmas Present For Your Little One.



4. Rankin/Bass studios hardly ever made sequels of any of their holiday specials, but this 3 pack has two sequels! First is the sequel to the Drummer Boy that plays every Christmas, but the sequel is harder to find. At the time I wrtie this, I do not think this has been on DVD yet. Next up is the true Frosty sequel, which is pretty rare as well. There is another awful show made by another studio that gets added to some tapes with the original Frosty, but THIS one is the true Frosty sequel, made by the same studio and producers as the first one. Last we have Pinnochios Christmas, made years later than most of the studio's Christmas shows. It is worth seeing to see how far their stop motion skills had come by then. Get this set while you can, it is worth every penny.
   
   Rankin/Bass Studio. Their studio has brought us such memorable holiday classics such as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Year without a Santa Claus, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, Mad Monster Party, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mouse on the Mayflower, Here Comes Peter Cottontail, Cricket on the Hearth, the Stingiest Man in Town, Jack Frost, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, the First Easter Bunny. They also made non-holiday films such as the Hobbit, Flight of Dragons, the Last Unicorn. It is incredible that one company is responsible for all those TV specials, 95% of the ones we see every year. Their work includes standard animation, stop-motion animagic, and live action.
   
   I hope this comes out on a restored DVD soon, I have bought all the other Rankin/Bass that have been released on DVD.



5. This followup show to the original is very well thought out and carries on the Christian theme of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

No comments about Lonely Planet Six Degrees Series 1: Sydney.

5 comments about Peace on Earth.

1. I really enjoyed this one by Kitaro. The interesting style all his own mixed with the traditional Christmas hymns all together makes for one beautiful album. Kitaro is a man with an unusual talent, and it is so cool to relax to the soothing sounds of Christmas music.Especially KITARO style.



2. I mean, as such. Look, a lot of electronic, instrumental prog, "space" music--what evurrr!--artists got lumped into this New Age category once the term was invented. Veteran artists like Vangelis and Kitaro, for example. It was a convenient way to pigeonhole them so that people knew what you were talking about--I did it, you did it, we all did it, right? The trouble was that it got them associated with the spiritual kitsch of New Age, a form of philosophical repudiation of the "stress" of the world, along with a mistrust of religion to help the soul. So a whole bunch of Christians, Jews and Muslims decided that the messed-up way their brethren approached the issue of the spiritual meant their faiths themselves were no longer valid. Geez, Islam has these fundamentalist extremists, Christianity has the Klan and David Koresh, yadda-yadda. Errnngh! Wrong answer. But hey, don't get me started. And when it comes to music, both Vangelis and Kitaro got their starts in early prog bands in their native lands, and decided that a look outside their native cultures would help them in a creative sense. They made that decision as musicians, hear what I'm saying? If Kitaro has always seemed "other-worldly" to the Westerner in the themes he uses, that's because he's Japanese, okay? On his other albums, listen to those synth lines and picture them done on shamisen or koto. And that cultural flavoring comes through on this Christmas album. Behind the signature Kitaro phrasing, these Holiday classics are basically played straight, as composed. That's not so unusual--look at the Harry Simeone treatment of "Little Drummer Boy" as contrasted with two different versions of it by Johnny Mathis. And now we have one by Kitaro. And there's an international flavor to this album overall. Kitaro reminds us of one thing we've forgotten--that our Holiday favorites are of diverse national origins. And he underscores that by organizing an international children's choir to do the vocals. It wouldn't be too shabby an idea for him to re-do this as a TV special the way he did with "One Enchanted Evening"--that one was a huge PBS hit. And that, my friends, is how a so-called "New Age" artist can do a Christmas album. He does it as a musician, not a philosophical zealot.



3. Only kitaro can play and compose beutiful music like this,very relaxing and peaceful.releases all your tensions in your body and helps you to relax.



4. the track list is correct
   but the cd cover is wrong
   i own peace on earth



5. I absolutely loved the CD Peace on Earth. One of my all time favorite holiday CD's in fact. However, none of the other reviews gave the whole picture of what I was getting.
   I was quite surprised when I first watched the DVD and realized there would be no performance footage. There were some really nice still shots of footage that appeared to be Colorado "ish" in the winter time. Somehow, this really should have been mentioned. Also I admit to be disappointed that Great Spirit was not included in this collection.
   I still love the music, but this DVD is basically a "video fireplace" to have on the big screen during the holiday season. I still give it 4 stars becuse it is the best of its kind. I got this DVD on Amazon marketplace for $7.20. Had I paid full price, I probably wouldn't have been as generous with the number of stars.

1 comments about Raggs Kids Club Band "Holiday Jam".

1. This is an awesome flick. My kids just loved every minute of it. The skiing scenes are really cute. It is a true rock 'n' roll band for kids but one I can feel safe allowing my children to watch. I would highly recommend it. The music is great too.

1 comments about Handel - Messiah / Brown, Kallisch, Sacca, Miles, Rilling, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart.

1. This DVD is actually titled, correctly, 'Der Messias,' as this is a performance sung in German of Mozart's 1789 arrangement of the work. Between 1788 and 1790, Mozart's sometime patron Baron van Swieten contributed to Mozart's welfare by having him arrange for private performance several works by Handel, including Acis and Galatea (K566, November 1788), Messiah (K572, March 1789) and Alexander's Feast and the Ode for St Cecilia's Day (K591 and 592, both July 1790). For 'Messiah' Mozart added winds and percussion and composed new inner voices in places, enough that this work has its own designation, as noted above, in the Köchel catalog. I am old enough to have heard this arrangement in live performance but in the last thirty years there have been very few performances of it as the tide of musical taste has dictated a return to Handel's original orchestration and arrangement of the numbers (although, as many people know, there are questions even yet as to what should be considered Handel's final thoughts about some of the individual numbers; at least one number in the oratorio had seven different arrangements from Handel's own hand!). Still, if one wants to see and hear Mozart's arrangement one would certainly need go no further than this DVD. Helmut Rilling and his Bach-Collegium and Kantorei of Stuttgart are old hands at this sort of music. The Bach-Collegium is a modern-instrument group who nonetheless play using some of the historically-informed performance practice from the baroque and classical eras. The Kantorei, a forty-voice group that has recorded all of the Bach cantatas, is well-versed in baroque vocal music. The four soloists--the Canadian soprano Donna Brown, German mezzo Cornelia Kallisch, Italian tenor Roberto Saccà, and British basso Alastair Miles--acquit themselves admirably. I was particularly impressed with young Signor Saccà whose light tenor falls sweetly on the ear.
   
   One more versed than I could tell you the differences between this version of 'Messiah' and the one we generally hear. The most noticeable, of course, is the use of a German text. 'Messiah' was set to King James Version biblical verses chosen and arranged by Charles Jennens, and it is in English that most people reading this review will know the work. It is a bit unsettling to hear 'Every valley' as 'Alle Tale,' and 'Glory to God in the Highest!' as 'Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe!,' for example. It also seems strange to hear the male chorus's 'And peace on Earth' intoned to martial timpani or to hear clarinets tootling countermelodies. One other oddity that I noticed is that 'For unto us' ('Uns ist zum Heil ein Kind geboren') is arranged as a solo vocal quartet rather than sung by the whole chorus who come in only at the end at 'Wonderful, Counselor.'
   
   Although it is not stated anywhere in the DVD's booklet or case, I discovered by going to ArtHaus's website that this is a performance from 1991. It was filmed in the small baroque Stadtkirche in the Palatinate city of Ellwangen. Sound is reasonably good, videography is a bit frenetic at times, sometimes cutting away from soloists for no obvious reason. This is not really objectionable but it does get one's attention. Also, opening and closing credits are scrolled for each of the oratorio's three parts; one suspects this DVD was put together from three separate TV presentations, one for each part.
   
   The bottom line on this release is this: If you are interested in hearing Mozart's arrangement of 'Messiah,' or if you are a big fan of Rilling's performances of baroque music, then this one might be for you. Otherwise, be warned and read the fine print: This is not the usual 'Messiah.'
   
   TT=136min.
   
   Scott Morrison

1 comments about Enchanted Christmas ~ David Niven Starring in "The Answer" ~.

1. With all of the debates and international conferences going on and peace movements (which are sometimes very viloent)...and the books written about World Peace...This simple little film provide and a simple but dynamic Answer....Enchanted Christmas deserves to be right up there with It's A Wonderful Life and The Bishops Wife... It will touch your heart and warm your spirit

No comments about Winter in Yellowstone.

2 comments about Sleazy Slashers 4 Movie Pack.

1. I am a fan of horror movies but these has to be the worst horror movies ever created. Horrible acting("I Hate your brother!, let's get him"), horrible special effects(The CGI is SO bad that the planets have visible sides, SIDES!!!), horrible directing. AHH!!!! everything about these movies is bad.



2. CONTENTS of SLEAZY SLASHERS 4 Movie Pack:
   
   BACK WOODS-- Perhaps the only movie to ever star a grossly obese crossdressing redneck retardo-genius mass murderer. After witnessing his mother's brutal killing, a hillbilly lad goes on a death spree of his own. Includes such unforgettable characters as Cannonball Boy, Deke, Leroy and "Itself."
   
   DWELLER-- Typical Polonia family "classic." A UFO crashes downstream from a woodland cabin where three violent bank robbers are hiding out.
   
   NIGHT THIRST-- More Polonia balonia.... An anthology of four short horror stories, rendered by the usual cast of characters and family members. Segments: "Terror," "Tag," "Demon Forest," "Christmas in July."
   
   PSYCHO SCARECROW-- Pumpkin-headed scarecrow goes on a bloody rampage! There's more to the plot but, why bother? Ludicrous stuff.
   
   
   EVEN WORSE THAN EVIL is another in this unusual series of "Bad Taste Theater" horror flicks.
   
   
   BRENTWOOD's 4-fers are nicely priced movie bundles. Video and sound quality of these digitally unrestored public domain films is generally fine. Discs are dual-side recorded.
   
   .
   Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
   
   (2.8) Back Woods (2001) - David C. Hayes/Jim Edberg/Greg Elder/David Lawrence/Mangina (as "Itself")
   
   (2.4) Dweller (2002) - Jon McBride/Leslie Culton/Jeff Dylan Graham/Matt Satterly/John Polonia
   
   (2.9) Night Thirst (2002) - Jon McBride/Leslie Culton/Jeff Dylan Graham/Bob Dennis/John Polonia
   
   (2.5) Psycho Scarecrow (2000) - Tracy Rankin/Joe Parro/Tim Vince/Lee Ann Simms/Richard Lee