Like Crazy [HD]

BLU RAY UPDATE: 4 1/2 stars for an honest depiction of young romance
There have many films over the years about long distance romance including 2010's cute romantic comedy "Going the Distance." In that film it involves one person in New York and the other in L. A. The characters are put in circumstances that bring a chuckle or two. That way, the angst of the difficult romance is lessened. In this film whose title comes from a line "I love you `like crazy'" our lovers have more obstacles including distance. Jacob (Anton Yelchin) is a teaching assistant at a Los Angeles college where Anna (newcomer Felicity Jones) is a student from England. She has eyes for Jacob and leaves him a rather lengthy note on his car windshield. We only see glimpses of the note, but Jacob appreciates the effort and the humor of the contents. They go out and begin dating and eventually fall in love. During this section of the film we of course get to witness what I refer to as the "falling in love part". That is, running on the beach, eating ice cream, riding bumper...
Some of this movie just doesn't make sense...
Okay, let's start with Jacob's plywood chair company. Every time he started to draw a new plywood chair idea on a napkin, I had to laugh. Leave the plywood chairs to IKEA and other mass manufacturers.
I found some moments in this movie compelling, but for the most part it was agonizing to watch Anna and Jacob torture each other and their other partners with the ebb and flow of living together and living apart. Jennifer Lawrence does an admirable job portraying Jacob's other very admirable love interest. Felicity Jones' Anna seems to take the reins much of the time to keep whatever is left of their relationship from fading into the past. Anton Yelchin's Jacob is a limp, malleable character who goes with the flow probably more than he should.

SPOILER ALERT Ultimately the two have legal rights to live together in the US. When Anna receives the call from her parents' friend Harry (who has toiled for months to get approval for Anna to be able legally be in the US),...
Silence speaks volumes
I loved this movie! It is raw, emotional, and cuts to the very core of how distance and time affect a relationship. It is a movie directed by emotions and feelings, by silences and music rather than words. Watch it with an open mind and an open heart.
Click to Editorial Reviews

Treme: The Complete Third Season

It's All Connected
'Treme', the third season, brought the characters, Hurricane Katrina, the plot lines of each person together to show the connections. We started out in season one with the after affects of Katrina, up close and personal. The hurricane smashed the city, the families, and lives of it's inhabitants. Season one told their stories, season two told of their efforts to reclaim, and, now, season three shows us how they are all connected.

Treme is a series based on New Orleans musicians. It brings us a series of characters who are musicians or work with them, or have a place where musicians congregate. Music is the basis of the parade. When I think of New Orleans, I think of the parades, and 'Treme' three is a parade. A journalist shows up to help a lawyer follow the leads to a murderer, a down and out former addict musician finds his way to sobriety, a chef moves back from New York to her own restaurant, a bar owner tries to find her rapist, a young student wants to find her...
Fantastic
I will not include any spoilers in this.
The third season continues the excellence of this show.
Anyone who saw The Wire and enjoyed it must see Treme, not only because it shares many of the same production crew and some actors, but because it is better than The Wire.
It draws together different strands of society and interweaves them in an intelligent, exciting and poignant storyline about post-Katrina New Orleans.
Slicker, more sophisticated and better acted than so much of what else is about.
The (Jazz and Folk) music is first class too.
O Yeah!
I have followed Treme from the first season til the third. I have enjoyed the touching storyline that is told from person to another. It is amazing how the people of New Orleans have managed to work through their problems, trials, disappointments, and tragedies. They have tried to overcome many obstacles and adversities. That is what some of the people have tried to do since their devasting ordeal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The cast in this series are extremely talented in their craft as they have tried to portray the good, the bad, the pain, and the up and down struggles of some of the residents of New Orleans. Bravo cast and crew. Press on citizens of New Orleans, change is gonna come.
Click to Editorial Reviews

Dealin With Idiots

Hilarious Improv work
Jeff Garlin's newest film, "Dealin' With Idiots" is a hilarious, improvised look at crazy parents. When Max decides he wants to research the parents on his kid's little league team, he gets way more than he was interested in. We get to hear Coach Jimbo (Bob Odenkirk) rant about the brother that stole the girl of his dreams, see Coach Ted (JB Smoove) give a tour of his Compound, and a host of other nuts do nutty things. I saw Jeff do a Q&A after this premiered at the amazing Music Box in Chicago and he talked about how the entire movie was improvised. He and his co-writer Peter Murrieta were the only 2 that saw the brief script. There is some hilarious improv work in the film and the actors and actresses are all at the top of their game. This movie is a blast and you should watch it rather than some other crappy movie.
High Expectations
First, let me say that I LOVE Jeff Garlin. I am a huge Curb Your Enthusiasm fan. I heard him on the NPR show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! over the weekend and promptly rented the film because I couldn't wait to see it. It was timely because my husband had just had a 'difference of opinion' with some insane soccer parents from our 10 year old's team and we thought this film would bring comic relief. Perhaps our expectations were too high, but we thought it fell a bit flat. The premise is funny, Jeff Garlin is funny, the cast is amazingly funny and talented, but somehow, all together, it didn't quite gel in our opinion. We fell asleep about 45 minutes into it. The next day we finished it because we had paid $6.99 to rent it, and our opinion wasn't any different. Don't get me wrong, there are many funny moments. Overall I would recommend waiting until it is free to Prime members; just my opinion.

'
Dealing With A Winner!
A hilarious look at our times. The perfect cast doing a perfect job. Another winner from Jeff Garlin. Each time I watch Dealing With Idiots, I find new insights and new reasons to laugh.
Click to Editorial Reviews

Burning Love: Complete First Season

Will You Accept My Hose? A Brilliant Web Comedy That Skewers Everything You Love And Hate About Reality TV
Note: "Burning Love" was a web series designed and showcased for Yahoo, so its contents were originally free to everyone. Most episodes ranged anywhere from 8-13 minutes (roughly) and the listed running time is a compilation that puts these various episodes together.

In truth, I watch too much reality television. It's a difficult genre to parody because it's already become a parody of itself! That why the web series "Burning Love" is so spot-on hilarious. Executive produced by Ben Stiller and loaded with familiar faces, this spoof of "The Bachelor" hits every note correctly and demonstrates an inherent silliness that is as outrageous as it is truthful. The show has had three real seasons so far (and two others that are mentioned in the shows but aren't so real). The second series was a take on "The Bacholorette" and the third "Bachelor Pad." "Burning Love" was the year of Mark Orlando (a perfect Ken Marino). Orlando is a studly firefighter played with a clueless charm and...


Click to Editorial Reviews

Silk: Season One

Six Episodes Of Cutthroat Courtroom Competition: A Solid, If Not Spectacular, Legal Drama From Britain
Television has been populated by so many legal dramas through the years, it has become increasingly difficult to make the genre seem fresh and exciting. "Silk" is just the latest affair from the BBC. Premiering in 2011, the show is ramping up for the debut of its third season later this year in Britain after having its second season nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Program. Unlike comparable American programming, British television tends to be served up in much smaller doses. Therefore, Season One of "Silk" is defined by only six hour long episodes. The show is based around a group of ambitious barristers (led by Maxine Peake as Martha Costello) who all seek advancement within the legal field. The next step up the career ladder is to appointed to the Queen's Council (QC) and that honor is referred to as "taking silk" due to the gowns worn at that level. As this is a merit based appointment, it is imperative to be noticed as a winner. So "Silk," while episodic in...
Very Good but not Terrific like Comparable BBC fare
There are so many outstanding UK law and crime shows that one can't help compare them to one another. This is another entry and it is a very good one but I can't say it knocks me out like so many of the UK series do. We first saw this setting in RUMPOLE, of the trying of cases by barristers and their all trying to advance themselves in the Inns of Court. Becoming QC is paramount, called "wearing silk" and hence the title. That is exactly what two barristers are trying to do, get the silk being dangled in front of them. So we watch them try cases while they go about this. There is no humor, like there was in Rumpole though, which is a big loss. Also, these cases are not riveting drama like THE ACCUSED, another UK law series which is absolutely fantastic. Nor is JUDGE DEED which had the absolutely splendid Martin Shaw hearing these cases as the judge. However, these are well written dramas about interesting cases. I would rent these, not buy them. I can't imagine watching them...
Six Episodes Of Cutthroat Courtroom Competition: A Solid, If Not Spectacular, Legal Drama From Britain
Television has been populated by so many legal dramas through the years, it has become increasingly difficult to make the genre seem fresh and exciting. "Silk" is just the latest affair from the BBC. Premiering in 2011, the show is ramping up for the debut of its third season later this year in Britain after having its second season nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Program. Unlike comparable American programming, British television tends to be served up in much smaller doses. Therefore, Season One of "Silk" is defined by only six hour long episodes. The show is based around a group of ambitious barristers (led by Maxine Peake as Martha Costello) who all seek advancement within the legal field. The next step up the career ladder is to appointed to the Queen's Council (QC) and that honor is referred to as "taking silk" due to the gowns worn at that level. As this is a merit based appointment, it is imperative to be noticed as a winner. So "Silk," while episodic in nature,...
Click to Editorial Reviews

Maken-Ki: Complete Series (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Putting this on My Wish List!
YES! IT'S HERE! This is gonna be GREAT uncensored. I think there might be a season two comign at some point as well. I ADORE fanservice anime, so i HAVE to collect this later. I'm thrilled!!
Finally came out
I'm just gonna say, I buy series with fanservice, and this one has a lot. It's a must buy.

Finally it came out.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation

So So
Historically relevant, but slow, boring and disappointing. Shame, because this is a such a great topic. The film producers squandered a terrific opportunity due to poor editing. Very slow-paced.
This wasn't very interesting and it could have been!
The editors of this documentary made some odd choices about the music videos they chose to include in this somewhat boring film, namely some one-hit wonders mixed in with The Weavers, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, etc., which was too bad and puzzling. Some of the interviewees lost all credibility with me, especially the guy who said that the Village was responsible for a lot of the momentum behind the civil rights movement, the feminist movement and the anti-war movement. This statement was overblown, even for a baby boomer lost in his hazy, pot-smoke-tinged reveries of the past, especially given his white man privilege. Seriously, bro? Step down, son, shut up and do some reading. Um, Rosa Parks? Betty Friedan? I believe that Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in 1902, so I don't think she was hanging out in the Village in the '60s. Also, the SDS was founded in Ann Arbor. These people clearly suffer from San Francisco Bay Area-special-snowflake disease and I say that with love as a native.
Really enjoyed it!!!
Loved the history, the music, loved the accuracy of the information, the historical black and white footage, loved it all...
Click to Editorial Reviews