kinsmed

I have waited a very long time, but at last I am the owner of Season 1 of "All Creatures Great and Small", the well-told tale of a young rural veterinarian freshly indoctrinated into the pre-war pastoral setting of the lush and rugged Yorkshire Dales, England. A PBS hallmark series that originated on the BBC over a generation ago, the show aptly kicks off the saga immediately prior to the advent of medical advances for livestock and the technological revolution that changed a way of life that had endured for thousands of years. Assistant Veterinary Surgeon James Herriott witnesses the crushing tragedies and soaring miracles that profoundly affect the simple Yorkshire folk as they seek but to carve out an existence for themselves and their families. Like the book, each episode contains several tales of the animals that Herriott comes into contact with. All Creatures Great and Small is my favorite book and to see these rich characters and settings brought to life does no injustice to that book. Every step across the sweeping fells by Herriott is a step I take as well. The collective experience makes me yearn to go back to a place to which I have never been.

A generation has grown and introduced it's favorite 'robots in disguise' to the next generation.

Director Micheal Bay gave us such summer family films as "Armaggedon", "The Rock", and "Bad Boys". Here he turns his attention to lovingly updating a childhood classic that earned only moderate acclaim in it's own time.

Don't get me wrong, I was one of the kids that have followed the evolution of the Autobots and Decepticons as well as the Insecticons and the Constructicons and whatever those silly human-sized robots were.

Even as an adult, I have an Autobot decal on the side of my car (that has been there two years) and am wearing the Transformers shirt I have owned for several years as well.

So I approach the movie understanding many will have different interpretations on a fondly remembered favorite. Further, Bay had his doubts about helming what he perceived to be a children's movie.

All this considered, you will approach the first half as a uniquely fun little romp as "Sam" contends with a car that seems to cause him nothing but trouble. As the movie progresses, a Bay-style gritty fight for survival emerges, pitting Decepticon metal against human mettle as a squad of elite soldiers join Sam and his newfound interest in holding off the red-eyed bad guys to help Optimus Prime and the Autobots. Their ensuing battle decimates a downtown.

As a side-note, the product placement division was hard at work, but enticingly vague, leading you to think more subliminally about what you saw. Without divulging too much, a fleeting example involves a machine that shoots cans of soda. If we must endure placement, execs take heed, this is the way to do it.

I value that some distribution exec somewhere saw fit to allow a preview of it to military theaters, but they would tear their hair out if could have anticipated even half of the abysmal screening conditions at the Ft Lewis movie theater;

-the movie is stopped several seconds in so the projectionist could threaten the audience.

-the second reel was loaded backwards and had to be stopped and reloaded.

-the projector lens pops out more than once and needs to be refocused each time.

-the light level seems to waver throughout the movie.

While the screening conditions were deplorable, you cannot beat a military crowd and it's family for cheering and gasping at all the right places.

Great news; James Earl Jones has been signed to voice and discussions are underway for a sequel in two years. For Transformers fans, this sensation is 'more than meets the eye'.

I would list this movie as one of the reasons I am grateful you can buy DVDs of your favorite movies. If I could only have 10 movies in my video library, this would be one of them. Some of the biggest screen stars of the day were featured in this last gasp of glasnost. Sean Connery, Brian Keith,, Martin Landau, Henry Fonda, Natalie Wood (who is coincidentally cast as a Russian translator when she herself was born to Russian parents). The screenplay adds lots of nice realistic touches that draw you into the panic of a world on the uncontrollable brink of annihilation. It is gratifying to see Sean Connery unfettered and free to curse and rail. Part of the appeal is to see high-level bureaucrats at each others throats and to see how there is a rest of the world and that they are affected as well. It is eerie to see that the very first American landmark struck is the World Trade Center towers. It should be noted that the screenplay was written by those whose having a great deal of war movie screenplay experience, such as "Patton", "Sink The Bismarck", and "The Day The Earth Stood Still". The orchestration aptly relays the gravity of the moments where dialog is not possible.

Set in a faltering Utopia, the governor's son, Freder, is drawn to seek out the underpinnings of his existence. He descends into an abysmal underworld of man-eating machinery that is nearly indistinguishable from his fevered hallucinations.

Despite the film's hyper-drama and viciously precise arm movement, it is a riveting study that compellingly mirrors the French Revolution and yet eerily foretells the rise of Fascism. It invokes distinctly Germanic art styles as we see Freder become a black-uniformed living transistor, fully 20 years before transistors were invented.

No movement, no lighting change is extemporaneous; in legendary Teutonic vision, every frame is set exactly as it must be. As an example of the film's relentless angst, the governor, Joh Fredersen, beholds his son breathtakingly idolizing a Joan of Arc character, Maria, to the revolutionary strains of La Marseillaise. Maria's gaze is mesmerizing.

To regain his son and control a worker's revolt, the governor beseeches an old nemesis to turn the first robot into a Maria automaton, but a Lorelei-type emissary. Joh's desperation is Freder's undoing and, later, his own. As the great city begins to hemorrhage, a fight for the future of the republic ensues.

It will be impossible not to see Metropolis' incomparable flavor within dozens of other movies, not the least- George Lucas' entire Star Wars saga.

Despite issues inherent to early movies and having lost a large portion of its substance to fledgling Hollywood meddling, Metropolis is the watershed cinematic experience that every dedicated film-maker must acknowledge.

Not since "Born Free" has a movie given such breadth, such tension and hope.

We are privileged to following the breathless perils of Suki and Linus, a precocious pair of lion cubs as they continually get in trouble with every conceivable danger surrounding them- they encounter enough adventures to fuel a series!

As Suki grows, children learn to understand the process of their own development and the courage and curse of their own individuality.

Seamless digital compositing provides a fascinating portrayal that is fun and engaging for adults, and yet compelling and educational for children.

Boasting the vocal talents of Britain's finest personalities coupled with the majestic sweep of the African savanna, "Pride" will easily become a classic that parents will want to use to introduce their children to the beauty and drama of the wilder side of nature.

Perhaps the perfect family movie!

From Broadway to the home screen, finally a story that inspires child and parents alike. Researched from numerous sources, we are privileged to see the members of the 2nd Continental Congress as they grapple with a world empire, an encroaching war, and each other 'to bring forth a new republic'. A "Who's Who" of then-upcoming talent, it features Ken Howard ("White Shadow", "Dynasty", "Crossing Jordan"), William Daniels ("St. Elsewhere", "Knight Rider", "Boy Meets World"), Blythe Danner ("Meet The Parents", "Presidio Med") and John Cullum ("Northern Exposure").

The more you learn about this movie, the more fascinated you become with American history and its cast of portrayers.

American family, meet American history.

I discovered Dave Barry in a Reader's Digest article titled "The Martian Death Flu". That short story inaugurated a fascination for all things Barry and "Big Trouble" is a faithful depiction of the mind of this Miami madman. This Pulitzer-prize winning columnist meets the director of "Men In Black" and TV's The Tick.

Sonnenfeld's touch and a good soundtrack contribute to this madcap misadventure where a hallucinogenic toad, a sub-compact car, and a 'garbage disposal' bomb make for an outrageous race to save a corporate embezzler's step-daughter.

An immaculate cast certifies the action will be riveting and breath-taking viewing after viewing. Thanks, Dave!