Dances & Waves: Schoenbrunn 2012 Night Concert

Well Worth 91 Minutes of Your Time
This is one of the better DVDs I have purchased recently. Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Vienna Phil with zest and no score, his usual practice. The dance sequences are well produced with the La Mer ballet being sensational. Following my first viewing, I have played the disc as I would a CD to continue enjoying the creative combination of musical selections. I highly recommend this DVD.

Only good
I just filed this dvd altogether with the others I will watch occasionally.
The concert is well recorded, but it is just another concert.
-- -- --
This is a second opinion from viewing (re-re-viewing) the concert again.

I would rate it 2,3 stars...
Really not impressive.
Goes to the 3rd shelf with the others I'll watch ocasionally.

And I have quite a few from Gergiev - all of the top shelf.

Summer night
It makes you really want to be there. Video captures both the details and the big picture of that evening.

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NCIS: The Complete Ninth Season

Still Going Strong...
"NCIS" returns for a ninth season as network television's highest ranked drama, featuring its terrific blend of criminal case-of-the-week excitement and the equally entertaining interaction among the members of a well-chosen cast. Mark Harmon returns as crusty Senior Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, still feuding with his boss, the Director of NCIS, and still closely managing his team, who he treats as a second family.

As the new season opens, Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), on special assignment for a new "Sec-Nav", searches for a supposed traitor within the ranks of NCIS. Tony barely survives the assignment, leaving behind an unsolved mystery and doubts about the relationship between the new Secretary of the Navy and Director Vance (Rocky Carroll). The mystery, and Tony's assailant, will eventually resurface, while the assignment will haunt Tony, causing him to reexamine his career and life (and yes, his relationship with Ziva). Gibbs will have his own appointment...

NCIS Seasonal DVDs
I've been a fan of this show since the first episode; & I have not been disappointed ever with the DVD collections that have followed from it. Production standards are high and bonus material is excellent. I never hesitate to preorder the next season's DVDs as soon as possible. I just realized I'm reviewing season 9 which hasn't even finished or shipped (I have preordered it!) yet. My comments stand for all 8 seasons so far; and I am confident that they will hold true for this one as well.

NCIS Season started slow but strengthened
It's NCIS and not the LA version.
Writing a review for a show such as this is difficult because it has to be clear without spoiling the plots by giving too much detail.
Suffice it to say that if you have enjoyed NCIS in the past, this season as a whole will not dissapoint.

There's been little bad to say about the series in past years, but the first episodes of this season left a little to be desired in the terms of credibility. The overall impression was that the screenwriters were looking to find their feet and unsure exactly how to do that, but episode three the characters had begun again to settle back into the human dynamics and interpersonal cameraderie that has made this series an ongoing hit for so many years.

After the midpoint of the season the episodes really have a tendancy to go from strength to strength and pull the veiwer along just like in previous years as each builds upon the case before and allows full involvement with the unfolding...

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The Gallant Men: Complete Collection

A Pleasant Surprise from Warner Bros.
I used to like to play tv trivia online. One of my favorite questions was "What was the other WWII infantry program that started the same year as Combat on ABC but only lasted 1 year to Combat's 5. The answer is The Gallant Men.
The Gallant Men premiered on ABC in 1962 at 7:30 Friday nights. Combat premiered the same year on the same network on Tuesday night at 7:30. They both were good shows, but Combat was better.
Combat concerned an infantry squad slogging through France, The Gallant Men concerned a squad slogging through Italy. The Gallant Men was produced by Warner Bros. It starred a Warner contract player, Robert McQueeney as an Ernie Pyle-type war correspondent, Conley Wright. The war is seen through his eyes. William Reynolds also starred as Capt. Jim Benedict. (After this series, Reynolds replaced Stephen Brooks as Efrem Zimbalist's partner on The FBI. Then like Brooks, he stupidly left the series early himself.) The rest of the cast included ex-boxer...

Good Show - Questionable DVD Quality
I bought three different titles of these manufactured-on-demand (MOD) products: "The Gallant Men", "Benson" (season 2) and "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (season 1). All sets have been burned on DVD-R's just as you would burn a CD or DVD on your computer. Who knows what the quality of the DVD R disk is?

What you get are a set of disks that may or may not play on your DVD player. A couple of disks in each set may play on some players, but I struggled to find a complete set that would play on both of my players. I had to return these sets several times to collect disks that would play.

Essentially, the studio is so paranoid about copy protection that they won't let these be played on many players. The interesting thing is that I had no trouble creating back-up copies!! In other words; they have succeeded in frustrating people that want to play what they bought, but can't prevent people from copying! I backed-up all of these sets onto my own DVD's and can now...

The Gallant Men of Leisure
Who ever said this is no Combat was right!!!! These GI's do more singing than shooting. A better title would be a soldiers life of R&R.
I did not know you could fire a BAR without your finger on the trigger or that the M1 carbine was fully automatic!!! The same village is used over and over, along
with same footage of town battle scenes. The actors (if you want to be kind) do not act or move like soldiers. The only one who does a good job is Rob Mcqueeney and
he's not a soldier but a war correspondent. The saving grace is the guest stars and all the WWII war film footage. I was 12 when this show aired and thats why it
appealed to me, as most shows of my youth hold fond memories (especislly westerns) I didn't have much memory of this show. Now I know why!!!

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Jersey Shore: Season Five (Uncensored)

Hit and miss
I'm a huge fan of this show, I've watched Seasons 1-4 countless times. But there was something about Season 5 that I really didn't like. The episodes seem to be all about discord, and the one plotline I truly hate (Nicole smushed me! claims the Situation) dominated the season. We dont see a lot of fun moments in this one, its all about UTIs, failed relationships and the Sitch and his creepy friend. I will watch the spinoffs and future seasons, but I dont think I will be watching this one again.

Jersey Shore: Season Five (Uncensored)
1. Hurricane Situation
2. One Man Down
3. Dropping Like Flies
4. Free Vinny
5. Nothing But Nice
6. The Follow Game
7. Love At The Jersey Shore
8. Sharp Objects
9. The Truth Will Set You Free
10. One Meatball Stands Alone
11. We Are Family

I can't believe this was rated lower than season 4....
I can't believe this season was rated lower than season 4. Season 4 was the absolute worst, but the best seasons were 1 & 3. Season 5 was okay. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't the best. Frankly, anything was a step up from season 4.

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American Experience: The Presidents

2008 Collection Updated to include Bill Clinton. A must for history lovers.
This collection of 17 DVDS (grouped in 3 DVD cases in a slipcase) is an updated version of the 2008 PBS Home Video set, which only went through President George H.W. Bush to include the addition of the program on President Bill Clinton. (To my knowledge there were no American Experience documentaries on the later President Bush - W - and President Obama is just ending his first term.).

The earliest subject is Theodore Roosevelt ( a program originally aired in 1998 along with 5 of the others) and now covers 11 consecutive Presidents (with one exception - Eisenhower! - will they ever get around to him?) Though packaged together until the "umbrella title" of "American Experience" these show were produced and directed by different people but all appear to be well balanced and objective. I've seen a few of these stories on either TV broadcast or on individual volumes over the years. There is almost 39 hours (!) of material in this set, so I'm still working my way through...

Great coverage of history
I haven't even finished the series yet, but I am learning so much through the first couple of episodes. The videos provide great information on the successes, failures, qualities and flaw of former POTUSes.

Please bring it back to Prime!!
I watched four episodes of this series before leaving for vacation and then was looking forward to watching the remainder when I returned, but it is no longer offered by Amazon Prime. Please bring it back!! It is wonderfully engaging and humanize a the people in the White House. Wonderful!!

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Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Second Season

HBO's Atlantic City Hit Raises The Drama, Tension, And Betrayal In A Season That Redefines Major Characters And Relationships
Certainly one of the most admired shows on the 2010 television schedule, HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" boasted the year's most impressive pedigree with Martin Scorsese taking a production credit and even directing the pilot episode (for which he won an Emmy). This brain child of Terrence Winter, a primary creative force and writer for "The Sopranos," adapted the Nelson Johnson non-fiction work chronicling the sordid history of Atlantic City into a masterful blend of fact and fantasy. Embraced by mainstream critics and viewers alike, "Boardwalk Empire" picked up a Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Program and acting honors for lead Steve Buscemi at both the Globes and the SAG awards for its debut season. And yet, if I'm being completely honest, while I issued my highest recommendation for the artistry of Season One--it always connected more with my intellectual side, but never quite my heart. Season Two, however, became my passion in 2011. With richer characterizations, plot developments...

WOW!
So, I pre-ordered this, with the rest of my TV, months ago. No clue that this was going to be as big a set as this was. The series and season are good, they're excellent, but I'll let others describe those. Me? I'm going to focus on the actual product here instead.

This box comes with 3 Blu-Ray discs, packaged by themselves. At the price paid for it, you'd think that would be all you get, considering it's a pretty standard price. HBO goes the extra mile though, by far. This set ALSO comes with (separately packaged) 2 double sided DVD's with all 12 episodes.. But wait, THERE'S MORE!!! HBO also throws in one code that allows you to download ALL episodes, PLUS 3 special features, ALL in HD off of iTunes.

I've got, in my collection, probably 30, 40 television shows, most with multiple seasons. NONE of them have given out this much for this little. I think the closest I've seen was Chuck and Grimm with Ultraviolet digital copies (which aren't horrible, but they're not...

HBO's Atlantic City Hit Raises The Drama, Tension, And Betrayal In A Season That Redefines Major Characters And Relationships
Certainly one of the most admired shows on the 2010 television schedule, HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" boasted the year's most impressive pedigree with Martin Scorsese taking a production credit and even directing the pilot episode (for which he won an Emmy). This brain child of Terrence Winter, a primary creative force and writer for "The Sopranos," adapted the Nelson Johnson non-fiction work chronicling the sordid history of Atlantic City into a masterful blend of fact and fantasy. Embraced by mainstream critics and viewers alike, "Boardwalk Empire" picked up a Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Program and acting honors for lead Steve Buscemi at both the Globes and the SAG awards for its debut season. And yet, if I'm being completely honest, while I issued my highest recommendation for the artistry of Season One--it always connected more with my intellectual side, but never quite my heart. Season Two, however, became my passion in 2011. With richer characterizations, plot developments...

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