"The Kennedys" TV Mini Series

I highly recommend the TV mini series. now out on DVD, about the Kennedy family. It has the quality of the HBO series on John Adams. Greg Kinnear as JFK is great. There were times I had to keep telling myself it wasn't JFK. My start as a political junkie was during the Kennedy/Nixon campaign of 1960 so have some experience with the real JFK. Tom Wilkinson brings "old Joe" Kennedy to life. I have read many books about the Kennedy's but this movie brings it all to life. It starts from when "old Joe" was U.S. Ambassador to Great Briton before World War II and takes us through the assassination of Bobbie in 1968. This movie is more than a greatest hits type of movie but gets into the personality of the family members. The Kennedy family tried to suppress this movie because it doesn't sugar coat JFK's "skirt chasing" or other issues but in the end it is a sympathetic story of a family that faced many tragedies. As someone who always knew "Camelot" was a fraud I grew to like them more after watching this mini series. It shows two sons, Bobby and Jack, driven by their father and who always sought his approval. If you like history and politics this is a must see! It's available from Netflix both streaming and on DVD. I give it 5 stars !

Weekend

Had a good weekend. Went to the South Medford vs. Grants Pass football game Friday night and watched South Medford run over the Cavemen from Grants Pass. Saturday morning woke up in time to watch ESPN Game Day live from the University of Oregon. Then, that afternoon took a charter bus from Medford to the Oregon vs Arizona State night game in Eugene. My friend Bob and I were the "Bus Captains" and had a good time keeping the other fans happy with food and games on the trip North. The game was on ESPN and started at 7:30 pm and so we didn't get back to Medford till 2:30 am Sunday morning. It was a roller coaster of a game but the Ducks won in the end. Had a record crowd at Autzen of over 60,000. Slept in on Sunday and talked to both kids on the phone. Watched the movie "Ghost Writer" which was a far leftist "we* dream" directed by fugitive from justice Roman Polanski. Technically it was Ok but our CIA was the villain. Had a happy ending in the same way Easy Rider had a happy ending. Ended the weekend by watching the TV show Pan Am.

Gettysburg & Gods & Generals on Blu- ray

This last weekend I did something I have been wanting to do for some time I watched in chronological order the movies Gods & Generals (2003) followed by Gettysburg (1993) both in blu-ray. The movies were actually made in reverse order. I have had Gods & Generals for some time in blu-ray but just recently bought Gettysburg in blu-ray as soon as it was released. I have owned it in VHS, DVD and now blu- ray. I never tire of watching it.

Both movies were financed by Ted Turner and if for nothing else America owes Ted a big thanks. The movies are based upon a three book trilogy of the American Civil War written by Michale Shaara. The three books are Gods and Generals, The Killer Angels (Gettysburg)and The Last Full Measure. Jeff Shaara, Michael's son, completed "The Last Full Measure" after his father died. The third book has not yet been made into a movie but the IMDB shows that it is "in production"; however, Jeff Shaara says it is not true on his web site!

The blu ray on Gettysburg is fantastic ! I loved it. The night scenes with the soldiers gathered around their campfires are fantastic. The campfires seem so real. You also see much more detail in the large battle scenes and see more expression in the faces of the actors. Blu-ray was made for these kinds of movies with casts of thousands.After watching both movies together I believe Gettysburg is the better movie.

BIG UPDATE:

After spending the weekend watching both of these movie the only disappointment I felt was the fact so much was cut out of "Gods & Generals" before it's theatrical release.
The movie was 6 hours long and had to be cut to 3 for release to theaters. The battle of Antietam was cut from the movie and left a big gap in the continuity of the movie. Other than Gettysburg, Antietam was the most important battle of the American Civil War. It was Lee's first invasion of the North (Gettysburg was the second) and was the single most bloody day of the war. Gettysburg was three days. Filming it and cutting it out left many civil war buffs heartbroken. There was also a plot line involving John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln and Shakespeare that was edited out of the movie. None of this was in my blu-ray I purchased several years ago.

Then, Monday night I had to drive to Shady Cove to preform a wedding ceremony and on my way back my wife and I stopped at my favorite Wall-Mart in Eagle Point. I always stop there to look at their blu-ray movies because they have a large selection at good prices. To my big surprise they had the "Extended Director's Cut" of Gods & Generals in blu-ray. It adds an entire HOUR to the movie including the battle of Antietam and the John Wikes Booth story line. I couldn't believe it..... I was holding it in my hand ! I didn't know it existed. I pointed it out to my wife but her enthusiasm was muted ! I bought it! It was only $15.00 but I would have paid twice that. The following is a description from Wikipedia on Gods & Generals Extended Directors Cut:

The Director's Cut was released for Blu-ray Disc on May 24, 2011. It runs 280 minutes. For the theatrical release, almost two and a half hours of footage were removed to get the length down to approximately 3 hours, 39 minutes.

Among the footage edited includes a sub-plot which follows John Wilkes Booth, the famous actor who would eventually become the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. One scene towards the end of the extended cut of the film features Chamberlain and his wife, Fanny, attending a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in which Booth plays Brutus. Chamberlain and his wife have a conversation with Booth and his fellow actors following the end of the play. Another scene cut from the film features a performance in Washington, D.C. in which Booth plays the role of Macbeth, which is being seen by President Lincoln. When he gives the famous "dagger of the mind" soliloquy, he looks directly at Lincoln while reciting it. Later, when Booth is offered the chance to meet with Lincoln, he refuses.

One scene that historians were sad to see removed from the film was the sequence dealing with the Battle of Antietam. The battle was seen mostly from the perspectives of Jackson (who played a major strategic role in the battle) and Chamberlain (whose brigade was held in reserve). A few minutes of footage from this scene were available online, but since appears to have been removed. In the Director's Cut the entire sequence at Antietam is shown.

I hope now that the Shakespeare, Lincoln and Booth plot line has been added our son, the historian, will like the movie better. He has even published an article on Lincoln and Shakespeare and how Shakespeare influenced Lincoln. He hates the movie for it's sympathetic portrayal of the South. He even went so far as to time the segments allocated to the North and the South to prove his point. I must admit the "lost cause" sympathies are there. I can empathise with my son because for many years I refused to watch Gone With the Wind for the same reason. I hope this new cut of the movie will somewhat correct it. Now I need to find 5 hours to watch the new cut without interruption.

For a much more detailed review of the changes to the movie click on the title for a link.

Goodby" Foyles War"

Last night I watched the last show of the British TV series "Foyles War". Thanks to my Netflix account and the Jackson County Library I have this summer watched all 7 seasons of the show ending with "The Hide" episode last night. The end left me wanting more as the now retired Detective Foyle left for "unfinished business" in the United States. In addition, the script writer left us hanging on whether Foyle was the father of a World War II British Spy who he may have fathered as a young man near the end of World War I with a married nurse while he was recovering from his war injuries.? I hope there is a season 8 ? Watching the last show was like saying goodbye to an old friend.

New Blu-ray Set: "America Lost and Found"

On November 23, 2010 there will be a Criterion Blu-ray DVD release of 7 movies in a set called "America Lost and Found." The movies all theatrically released in the late 1960's and early 1970's are examples of "counterculture" movies of that period. The movies are: "Easy Rider","Head","Five Easy Pieces", "Drive He Said", "The Last Picture Show", "A Safe Place" and "The King of Marvin Gardens". I already own DVD's of "Easy Rider", "Five Easy Pieces" and "The Last Picture Show" but it will be nice to have them on blu-ray.

The one movie I am most excited about is "Drive He Said" directed by Jack Nicholson AND filmed at the University of Oregon, Eugene and Mac Court. The move is about a college basketball player who suffers from the stress of playing college basketball and the turbulent 60's. Nicholson does not star in the movie but directed it in Eugene after he had stared in "Five Easy Pieces" in which the famous restaurant scene, where he gets in an argument with a waitress, was filmed at the Denny's on I-5 just south of Eugene.

I saw "Drive He Said" at a theater in Eugene while I was in law school and loved it. It's been on my wish list, for years, of movies I want released on DVD and now it is coming out on Blu-ray just in time for Christmas ! I just put it on my Amazon "wish list."

Click on the title for more on this Blu-ray DVD set.

Best Buy comes to Medford, Oregon

Good news for this DVD addict. According to the Mail Tribune newspaper, Best Buy will open a store here in Medford on Friday August 20, 2010 at 9:54 a.m. It will be located at the old G.I. Joe's store at the Poplar Square shopping center.Since Circuit City closed in the winter of 2009 the Medford area has been without a consumer electronics store. No more trips to Eugene/Springield to the nearest Best Buy. I bet they will have CD's too !

(Click on the title for a link to the Mail Tribune news story)

Braveheart on Blu-Ray DVD

This weekend I was able to watch one of my favorite movies, Braveheart with Mel Gibson, on Blu-ray DVD. Braveheart was one of the first movies I bought when I first got a DVD player and it looks great on Blu-ray. The battle scenes really pop out in high definition. You forget what a really fine movie this is. I must admit that the movie is full of testosterone.There is a reason football coaches like to show the movie to their team before big games.

One of my favorite quotes from the movie are when William Wallace is getting his men ready for the battle of Sterling:

William Wallace:I *am* William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men... and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?

Veteran: Fight? Against that? No! We will run. And we will live.

William Wallace: Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!
[Scottish army cheers]

However, yesterday while watching the movie I found out that William Wallace was a "tea party" demonstrator when he tells the Scottish Parliament nobles:

William Wallace:There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.

Liberals would call him a "teabag er"

I bought the movie at Wall-Mart and the studio has a great promotion going on. If you already own the movie on regular DVD they will send you a $10.00 mail in rebate if you send them in the proof of purchase ( on the back of the DVD) for both the regular and blu-ray movies. I know there are a lot of people like me who have the regular DVD and are hesitant to buy it again in blu-ray and this gives them an added incentive over and above the great picture. They are also doing it for "Gladiator" and will do it for "It's a Wonderful Life" when it is released in blu-ray.

"Directed By John Ford" (1973) (2006)*****

Wednesday night I watch a Netflix DVD of the Peter Bogdanovich Documentary,"Directed by John Ford", on movie director John Ford and it brought tears to my eyes. This documentary narrated by Orson Welles was originally released in 1973 and I first saw it in the late 1970's/ early 1980's when I recorded it on VHS off a PBS broadcast. It was updated by Bodganovich in 2006 and has just been released on DVD.It is by far the best documentary ever made on John Ford. I own almost every book written about the Director and have almost all of his movies released on DVD. The original 1973 version had John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda each separately telling funny stories about the man. I have heard these stories many times but re watching these segments of the documentary were special because they were recorded near the end of all three actors lives. The new 2006 version of the documentary has added extended comments by Maureen O'Hara, Harry Carey Jr, Walter Hill, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood. The famous directors talk about how John Ford influenced them and about their first experiences watching his movies such as "The Searchers." There are two new sections to the documentary that were very special. First, an aging but still beautiful, Maureen O'Hara is showed reading something she wrote about John Ford recently and at the end she breaks down crying.The second, is Bogdanovich exploring John Ford's love relationship with Katheryn Hepburn. In 1936 Ford and Hepburn worked together when she stared in "Mary Queen of Scots" directed by Ford.They fell in love. As a Catholic, Ford would not leave his wife and the affair ended.For the rest of his life Ford and his movies were influenced by this real story of "love lost." This was before her affair with another Irishman, Spencer Tracey. Bagdanovich plays a 1973 tape recording made by Ford's grandson and biographer, Dan Ford, when Hepburn visited John Ford as he was dieing of cancer at his home near Palm Springs. At one point Dan "accidentally" leaves the tape recorder on an goes out to his car to get something. John Ford and Katheryn Hepburn thinking they are alone express love for each other and more.(see You Tube video of Bagdanovich's introduction (Part 1) and recorded conversation (Part II) Too bad the tape runs out because I wanted more. Watch and hear it yourself below.







In John Ford's most personal movie "The Quiet Man" (1952) John Wayne's character is named "Sean" which was John Ford's real first name. In the movie Wayne fell in love with Maureen O'Hara, whose character's name is "Mary Kate." Mary was the first name of John Ford's wife and "Kate" was Katherine Hepburn's nick name.


In the end the best part of the documentary is the clips from John Ford's movies which will be watched long after we are gone.Some of my favorites:

Stagecoach 1939
Young Mr Lincoln 1939
Drums along the Mohawk 1939
The Grapes of Wrath 1940
How Green Was My Valley 1941
The Battle of Midway 1942
They Were Expendable 1945
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Fort Apache (1958)
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949
Rio Grande (1950)
The Quiet Man (1952)
The Searchers (1956)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

The documentary explores the themes that run through many of John Ford movies. Themes such as the family and the break up of the family by modern society; that death is not the end; and, the importance of rituals to society. Orson Welles points out that history is important in John Ford movies. "The personal story is always shown in perspective with the flow of history behind.... one man's vision of the world and the past."

"Victory in defeat. John Ford's history is filled with defeats, failure, last stands... their tragedy also their peculiar glory.... his hero's have most often been a man alone silhouetted against the moving backdrop of history"

Orson Welles

Lest We Forget

John Wayne died 30 years ago today on June 11, 1979. I still remember where I was when I heard the news. My bother in law called and told my wife while I was mowing the front lawn. She called out to me with the news.Has it really been 30 years!

NEW ON DVD THIS MONTH

Two of my favorite movies of all time have been released this month on DVD:

NORTH WEST FRONTIER(1960)

(Also known as "Flame over India" in the United States). A rousing English made colonial adventure about the British in India in 1905 trying to keep the peace between the Muslims and the Hindus with a a good cast that includes Lauren Bacall and Kenneth More. Bacall is the American governess of a young Hindu prince who Muslim rebels are trying to kill. (Somethings never change) Kenneth More is a "stiff upper lip" British officer trying to protect the prince and they end up on a long train trip to escape the Muslims. In some ways a rehash of John Ford's Stagecoach,and originally written by John Ford associates including John Wayne's son Patrick Wayne! I love British Colonial movies.Liberals hate this movie because it is not politically correct.( British are the good guys and the Muslims play the part of American Indians to carry through the Stagecoach analogy)

REVOLUTION REVISITED(1985)

Director Hugh Hudson and Al Pacino reedit their 1985 tale of a woodsman and his son drafted into the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The British don't come off as well in this movie! With Nastassja Kinski and Donald Sutherland (mean British officer). One of the best movies of the American Revolution ever made. Unfortunately there have been few modern movies made of this important historical event. The movie bombed at the box office in 1985. Ted Marhar, the movie reviewer of the Oregonian newspaper at the time, was one of the few reviewers that liked this movie. I love it. It is very realistic. For DVD the movie has been re cut with about 10 minutes removed and a voice over narration added by Pacino. The movie takes you to Valley Forge and some of the important battles of the Revolutionary War including Brooklyn Heights. However the war is as seen through the eyes of a father and his young son.

(Some of the descriptions of the moves are from Internet sources).

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

What better day to write about the soundtrack to Director John Ford's movie, The Quiet Man, which he made as a tribute to his ancestral home of Ireland.Of all the movie he made this is the one he loved and fought hardest to make. No one though it would be a hit and he had to agree to make another John Wayne western , Rio Grande,to compensate Republic Pictures Studios for the cost of the Quiet Man. Before production started on The Quiet Man he made Rio Grande with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara to test them out for their parts in The Quiet Man. They were magic together in both movies. In The Quiet Man, Wayne and O'Hara star in this movie of an American Boxer who returns to his family's home in Ireland and falls in love with an Irish lass.The soundtrack is available on CD and was recorded in Ireland by "The Dublin Screen Orchestra."A great soundtrack to a John Wayne movie.The movie was made in Ireland in the summer of 1951. John Ford won the Best Director Oscar for his direction and it also won a Best Cinematography Oscar.The Soundtrack was written by Victor Young. Ford insisted that the music aptly reflect the lush Irish locale and is full of Irish folk tunes.I played it on the way to work this morning.

If you watch Rio Grande, you will also note he tested some of the music for The Quiet Man in in that movie as well.

Now, we just need a restored copy of The Quiet Man on DVD because the present one is a poor transfer of the movie. In some ways the old VHS copy of the movie are better.

I can still remember watching this movie, for the first time, with my parent and sister, in the 1950's from the back seat of my parents car at a drive in theater. My dad liked the big fight at the end of the movie. I can still hear his laugh.

UPDATE: I'm not the only one thinking about The Quiet Man today. From National Reviews Blog "The Corner:

And if you really want to get in the spirit of the occasion, here's the fight scene from The Quiet Man.

Click on the title above for a link.

Movie: "Anne of Green Gables"*****

Christmas before last our daughter gave her mother and I a trial subscription to Netflix. We liked it so much we continued our subscription which allows us to rent two movies at a time. We get about two movies each week and we try to get one movie I like and one my wife likes. This week my choice was the Blu-ray copy of "A Bridge Too Far" a World War II movie about the failed "Market Garden" plan by the Allies to capture a bridge across the Rhine River and strike into the heart of Nazi German and end the war by Christmas. A very good movie on blu-ray but the movie I want to write about is "Anne of Green Gables" a CBS miniseries from 1986 my wife picked. The miniseries is based upon the book by Canadian writer L.M Montgomery and is based upon her experience in growing up in rural Prince Edward Island, Canada in the late half of the 1800's. I was expecting a "chick flick" but was moved by the movie. The main charcter, Anne ("with an e")Shirley, reminds me a lot of some one I know....they might be "kindred spirits"

The IMDB gives the following synopsis of the movie:

At the turn of the century on Prince Edward Island, Matthew Cuthbert( Richard Farnsworth) and his sister Marilla(Colleen Dewhurst) decide to take on an orphan boy as help for their farm. But they get an unexpected jolt when they're mistakenly sent a girl instead: Anne Shirley. Anne's a dreamer with an unusual point of view, far removed from Marilla's pragmatic ways, and it's only on trial that Marilla agrees to keep Anne...if Anne can keep out of trouble, only Anne has a positive genius for it. As Anne falls into a series of scrapes (and off a roof), makes a bosom friend, searches (and finds) several kindred spirits, Matthew and Marilla discover that their lives have become a great deal richer, now that Anne is at Green Gables.

I started off watching because I like Colleen Dewhurst, she was in some of John Wayne's last movies, and Richard Farnsworth who was a stuntman form Hollywood's Golden Era. However, the character Anne Shirley captivated me. I now know why the series of "Anne of Green Gables" books were a favorite of someone I know and why she still has the books on a bookshelf in her old room.

I would highly recommend the book and movie to mothers and fathers with young daughters. It's a fine antidote to the junk the mass media is targeting to our children.It teaches important values and it demonstrates that young girls can aspire to be more than the next Hanna Montana! They just need to find their "kindred spirits."

DVD Wish List

The following list are movies not available on DVD which I hope will be released in the DVD format in 2009:

55 Days at Peking (Charlton Heston)

The African Queen (Bogey & Hepburn)

The Alamo (John Wayne's Directors Cut) (Blu-ray ? Oh, please)

The Barbarian and the Geisha (John Wayne)

The Buccaneer (1958)Charlton Heston as Andy Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans)

Circus World (John Wayne)

Drive He Said (filmed at the University of Oregon- Directed by Jack Nicholson)

The Egyptian (Large spectacle of my youth)

The Gallant Hours ( James Cagney as Admiral Bull Halsey in WWII in the Pacific)

Getting Straight (Coming February 3 from Sony) Filmed in Eugene Oregon with Eliot Gould & young Candice Bergen)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) (Coming January 27 from Warners)

The Group (Candice Bergen)

John Paul Jones (1959) (Robert Stack as Jones)

The Last Wagon (Directed by John Ford)

Morgan the Pirate (Staring Steve Reeves and Valerie Lagranage... guilty pleasure)

Parrish (Coming January 27 from Warners)

Pete 'n' Tilly(Walter Matthau & Carol Burnett)

Pursuit of the Graf Spee (Battle of the River Platte)(Great WWII navel battle movie)

The Quiet Man (remaster- present DVD transfer is terrible)

Raintree County (Elizabeth Taylor in Northern "Gone With the Wind")

Sometimes A Great Notion (Filmed on the Oregon Coast)

Song of the South (Disney)

South Pacific (Musical ...to be released in blu ray March 31)

Stars and Stripes Forever (bio of John Phillip Sousa)

The Sterile Cuckoo (Song: "Come Saturday Morning" by The Sandpipers)

Two Rode Together (Jimmy Stewart, Director John Ford)

Under 10 Flags (WWII German ship attacks Allied ships in Atlantic posing as a merchant ship)

Young Winston (bio Winston Churchill)

Two Wild and Crazy Guys! Part II

As posted below our son and I have been "batching it" for the last few days because my wife has been visiting our daughter in Washington DC. Friday night we went by The Colonel and got a barrel of chicken. I must be getting old because it gave me heat burn.
We than spent much of Friday night and Saturday watching the 13 hour "Adams Chronicles" mini series on DVD. I had already watched once but our son, the history grad student, wanted to watch it and I enjoyed watching it again. On Saturday I cleaned up the house and went to Jacksonville and did some shopping.

On Sunday I became the proud owner of a Play Station 3 Blu Ray player. Ever since "Blu Ray" beat out "HD-DVD" in the high definition format wars I have been wanting a Blu Ray player to play Blu Ray movies. To complicate matters they keep updating the Blu Ray players from profile 1 to profile 1.1 to 2. The advantage of the Play Station 3 is that it is like a computer that you can update the software on the Internet so as they improve blu ray players it can stay up to date. It also is one of the least expensive blue ray players on the market and it has an excellent picture. For weeks I have been tempted to buy one and this week Wal-Mart had a special deal which is unusual for a Play Station 3. The deal was if you buy one this week Wal-Mart would give you a $100. gift Certificate.So we were able to get a remote and some Blu Ray movies ("The Patriot", "Black Hawk Down" "We were Soldiers" and the latest James bond movie "Casino Royale") We also found a game for our son, NCAA Football 2008. So early Sunday morning we headed to Wal-Mart and got it and the movies. It was like "old times" when our son was 10 and we were in search of a special football card for one of our favorite players. He was excited because he likes to play games and I was excited because of it's ability to play Blu Ray movies. We first went to the Medford Wal-Mart where we got the machine. We then went to the Eagle Point Super Wal-Mart because they had a larger selection of Blu Ray movies. From there we went to the Rogue Valley Mall in search of the game. They didn't have it and we found a used one at a Bear Creek Plaza game store. We then got a milk shake and a "take and bake" pizza and headed home victorious. We then had to set it up and update it's memory. It took our collective intelligence? to set it up and figure a way to down load updates from the Internet. We also had to figure where to put it as we also have a VHS player, sound system and regular DVD player connected to the high definition TV. Good thing our son was home because the had a "flash card" to download the updates off our Internet computer and then transfer the data to the Play Station 3 which is in another room from the computer. I then did some yard work while our son played his football game. Later after we had the pizza we tried out both Blu Ray movies and regular DVD movies (it plays both)and the picture was outstanding on both but better on the Ble Ray movies. I have the latest "Casino Royale" on both Blu Ray and regular DVD and we compared scenes and you could tell the difference! There was one scene in a large library in the English Parliament building where there are thousands of books on shelves that are two stories high. With Blu Ray you could see the individual books clearly defined. It was like some one cleaned my glasses and the colors were so vivid. We even watched the final chapters of the "Adams Chronicles" on the Blu Ray player and it was a very good picture for a 1970's TV show. Better than on my regular DVD player. We ended the day with a glass of wine and watched some of the large battle scenes from "The Patriot" and also did comparisons between my regular DVD of it and the Blu Ray DVD . Yes, two wild and crazy guys!

The Adams Chronicles

Before there was the HBO Series on John Adams, before there was the book "John Adams" by David McCullough, there was the 13 hour 1976 PBS mini series the " The Adams Chronicles." The series ran as part of Americas Bicentennial celebration. Back in 1976 I faithfully watched all 13 hours on TV. This was back in the "old days" before consumer VCR's, so I didn't record the series. Between last night and today I watched all 13 hour of the mini series for the first time since 1976 and it is still wonderful. I had plans this three day weekend to stain the decks around our house but what with the rainy weather those plans were scraped. The min series came out on DVD a few weeks ago and my daughter gave me the DVD set for my birthday. The series covers four generations of the Adams family including the two US Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. If you love American history this mini series will take you from the American Revolution up through the 1890's. It tells how the Adams family sacrificed their own self interest in service of their country. There are love stories,tragedies, sadness, happiness, accomplishments and it is all true. Watching four generations come and go gives you a great perspective on your own mortality and you realise that some things you think are important at the moment are not important at all. I had a great day! Yes, I will get the HBO series when it comes out on DVD in a few weeks and I have read David McCullough's book. Thanks for the present.

(To read more about the mini-series click on the title for a link to it's IMDB page)

John Wayne Film Collection

To celebrate John Wayne's 100th birthday the movie studios are releasing or re releasing a number of his movies on DVD. The one set I am most excited about is the above set of 5 movies that have not previously been issued on DVD. The movies are: Without Reservations (1946), Allegheny Uprising (1939), Tycoon (1947), Reunion in France (1942), Big Jim McLain (1952), Trouble Along the Way (1953). None of these are great John Wayne movies but if you are attempting to collect all of John Wayne's movies since 1939 (year he became a star in Stagecoach) these are welcome additions to the collection. I particularly like Trouble Along the Way with Donna Reed. Wayne plays a football coach at a small poor Catholic College that has scheduled Nortre Dame and has to put together a team that can win. He also has custody of a little girl and has to deal with social worker Reed.... you know how it ends.(hint he is not married)Big Jim McLain is not a very well done movie but it is an anti communist flick that drives the Liberals up the wall and it is good for that reason alone.The set will be release on May 22 and you can pre order them on Amazon.com. No, this is not a Fathers Day hint to my kids as I have already pre orderd the movies.

April Love

This is a re write of a posting I did last April. The Movie "April Love" came out in 1957 and I can still remember watching Pat Boone walk down a country lane singing the song near the beginning of the movie. As a young kid, growing up in the 1950's in a small town in Southern Oregon, I though Boone looked so sophisticated,( ha). I saw it at a Saturday matinee .( In those days grade school children could go to movies themselves in small towns like Roseburg) Every April I think of that movie and song. The Lyrics are as follows:

"April love is for the very young Every star's a wishing star that shines for you April love is all the seven wonders One little kiss can tell you this is true Sometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers Rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet But April love can slip right through your fingers So if she's the one don't let her run away[Instrumental Interlude] Sometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers Rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet But April love can slip right through your fingers So if she's the one don't let her run away"

Pat Boone plays a JD (juvenile delinquent) who is sent to live with his relatives who own a farm. He meets Shirley Jones and there is car racing and lots of singing . It is a sweet movie in glorious color. Everyone in the movie is nice and it's is a happy movie like a walk in a park on a sunny day. I wish they would put it out on DVD. It's not great cinema but it left an impression on me. Click on the title above for a link to the IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base) page on the movie.

Rules for getting the best deals on DVD Movies

If you buy as many DVD Movies as I do you develop certain "rules" on how to get the best deals and where to locate hard to find movies. These rules are based upon the fact I live in Medford Oregon and there are a limited number of places to find and purchase DVD Movies. My rules are as follows:

1. Never purchase from Sun Coast at your local mall. Because they are located, for the most part, in malls they have high overhead and as a result their prices are very high. They often have a good selection but I only buy there if I can't find the DVD any place else and I have to have it now. If you can only find the DVD at Sun Coast and or on the Internet at Amazon.com or Deepdiscount.com (DVD) consider not only the price comparison but also shipping. Sun Coast also has used DVD's but many times they are as high as new ones someplace else.

2. For DVD's just released of new movies (movies in theaters 2 months or so before release on DVD) wait at least two months after the release on DVD. Most new released movies on DVD start out at $19.98 or so when first released. If you wait a few months you can get them in many cases for under $10.00.For example "Flyboys" was in theaters last fall (2006) and was released on DVD in January 2007 for $19.98. I bought it yesterday at Target for $9.98.

3. The best stores in Medford, Oregon, price wise, are Bi-Mart,Cosco Fred Meyer, Target, Walmart, and Circuit City. Unfortunately Bi-Mart and Cosco have a very limited selection. Circuit City is crowded and the movies are displayed in racks like they used to display records making it hard to see all the movies available.In other words you have to "Paw" threw them to See what is available.

4. The $5.50 Bargain Bin at Walmart is great. Only draw back is you may find a DVD you payed $19.98 for a few months before.

5. Buy used DVD's at Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. For new released DVD's these rental stores buy a lot for rental. After the rental market has cooled they try and sell the extras at discount prices such as 4 for $20.00. This works for new releases but they almost never have used "Classic" movies for sale.

6. Watch the Sunday Newspaper supplement ads for Target, Fred Meyer and Circuit City(Best Buy if you have one in your town) as they have good prices on DVD sold at bargain prices.

7. MGM DVD's are often sold at big discounts at Fred Meyer, in special racks near Customer Service.

8. If you have to buy a new release as soon as it comes out on DVD check out Target as they sometimes have special deals for the first week for a couple of dollars off.

9. When in Eugene Oregon,or other cities, check out Best Buy and Borders Books for a good selection of DVD's. Their prices are high but if you don't want to get them off the Internet they have a good selection.

10. Always check out Amazon.com and Deepdiscount.com (DVD) on the Internet.You can preorder before release at good prices and they are delivered on or near the release date.

11. If a box collection is released such as the Ronald Reagan Collection or the Jimmy Stewart Collection and you want more than two movies in the set buy the set. It will always be less than trying to buy the movies separately.

12 Check out the DVDtalk.com forum "DVD Bargains". People will post reports on sales and will often have the DVD prices for the Sunday newspaper advertising supplements for Target etc days before they show up in your Sunday newspaper. They will often show a comparison chart for DVD's released that week at the various retail sources. They also have a "price Search" Engine for Internet sites that sell DVD's.

Happy hunting!

To see my DVD collection click on the title above for a link to an Internet listing.

Interesting Fact on DVDs

40% of DVD's sold in the United States are sold at Walmart. One of my guilty plesures is the $5.50 DVD Bin at Walmart. All of the DVD's piled in a one large bin. It's like digging for gold.