2 comments about Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Season 1 - Episode 11: Japan.

1. Bourdain is the best host out there. This is the only travel show I watch because it is not typical. He is witty, intelligent and funny. He tries to connect to the people he is meeting not just show the most popular spots.
   
   If you like this read any of his books



2. I searched for a long time to find this "No Reservations" episode. The Discovery Channel and Travel Channel websites do not have this episode for sale. The Anthony Bourdain DVD Collections do not have this episode either. Thank you Amazon for offering this for sale.

5 comments about Moon 44.

1. I first saw this film in 1991, after exhausting the sci-fi section at my local Blockbuster. A straight-to-video release (as I recall) I thought it a decent outer-space adventure. Grim, gritty, raw, it tries to be a combination of several genres: space opera, hardboiled detective novel, war movie. It succeeds at none of these, but taken as a whole is enjoyable weekend popcorn fare. Pare does a good job as our disaffected intellectual tough-guy hero, while other B and C list names show up for decent turns. Leon Rippy especially is fun as the failed, proud, bull-dogged Sergeant Sykes, while Malcom McDowell appears as the military commander whom you just know in your heart is up to no good, right from the start. Because, hey, it's Malcolm McDowell! Roscoe Lee Browne is also worth mentioning as the slick, coniving corporate boss. The special effects are of the limited-budget variety, and it's a shame Emmerich didn't have access to either CGI, or more money, as he has in later, better-known movies. But I think this movie is worth watching, and even owning, if you want to see solid early work from a director who has since tackled some of the highest-profile and biggest profit-reaping films in the industry.



2. THIS IS MOVIE IS A MUST SEE FOR ANY SCI-FICTION FAN,THE STORY IS GOOD,THE SPECIAL EFFECTS ARE GREAT,THEY DID IT THE OLD FASHIONED WAY, WITH MODELS, REAL EXPLOSIONS,HAND BLUIT MINIATURE LANDSCAPES,AND IT ALL LOOKS GREAT!. THE CAST IS ALSO PRETTY GOOD, YOU HAVE MALCOLM MCDOWELL AND MICHAEL PARE, THEY BOTH GIVE A DECENT PREFORMANCE IN THIS MOVIE,BUT?, ANYONE WHO WENT TOO THIS MOVIE WAS THERE TO SEE THE VERY NEET ATTACK HELICOPTERS. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT LITTLE MOVIE,WHICH DID SHOW IN A LOT OF MAJOR THEATRES IN (1989),AT THE VERY LEAST, THIS MOVIE IS WAY,WAY BETTER THAN ROLAND EMMERICH'S "GODAWFUL GODZILLA " MOVIE ,WHICH WAS A VERY, VERY ,BAD MOVIE!,INDEED.



3. I've seen hundreds of Sci Fi movies over the years. This is one of those you'll wonder whether you've watched it or not a few years down the road. You just can't remember.
   
   All in all, I figure it's still better to watch a so-so Sci Fi movie than "Dances With Wolves" or "Evita". This movie will end up being non-memorable, but it's preferable to being in a coma.



4. We have a very mixed bag here. On the one end you have a poorly executed plot rife with clichés and stereotypes. On the other hand you get an excellent back-story that far outshines the main one. Moon 44 is not your average B-movie fare. You get an interesting mix of good and bad that ultimately makes the movie worth watching… if you keep in mind certain things.
   
   The first thing you need to keep in mind is the main plot can almost be completely discarded. It’s way too stereotypical and ultimately does nothing but give the good guys a reason to chase the bad guys and the bad guys a reason to be bad. This, more than anything else, makes Moon 44 no better than any other B-movie. Now that you have this in mind you can pave the way to see the excellent background story developing here. There are a couple of little sub-plots that really make the script shine. For instance there is a conflict between the pilot/convicts and their youthful navigators. This kind of storytelling makes for great drama and this is what’s pulled off perfectly. Other little things are going on in the back-story as well like the rivalry that turns into respect between Stone (Michael Pare) and one of the pilots Jake O’Neal (Brian Thompson) as well as several other tidbits. The great background characters and storylines are what save this movie from being just another clichéd B-Film.
   
   The acting is also a mixed bag. Michael Pare doesn’t bring anything different to the table here with his tough-guy special operative role and Malcolm McDowell’s performance didn’t really give anything fresh to the movie either. I can’t really blame Pare and McDowell too much as their roles are a victim of a canned script. Dean Devlin however gives a brilliant performance as Tyler, the good-natured navigator who comes to terms with hard realities. I always enjoy seeing Brian Thompson in a film and I believe he is often an underrated talent. Other notable performances come from Leon Rippy and a quirky yet heartfelt performance by Stephen Geoffreys. As far as the rest of the supporting cast you do get some great performances. Overall the acting is quite good, save for a few standard performances
   
   The sets look like this movie comes out of the Alien universe, which means they look cool and functional. You don’t get many dark and eerie Sci-Fi sets like that those anymore. The design for the gun ships is pretty cool even though they are still just helicopters. The robot attackers look cool, but you would think they would have had robot ships and not robots flying ships. I guess you can explain that away for various reasons, but it still sits odd with me. The special effects are serviceable considering this is a low budget movie. Probably the model work will be the thing that is most evident of a limited budget. Still I prefer to take all things into account and can easily forgive the limitations as the model work still looks reasonably realistic, and compared to other B-movies it’s downright excellent.
   
   Moon 44 is a B-Movie. No doubt about it. However it’s one of the better B-Movies out there. If it wasn’t for the weak main plot and script that followed it you would have a truly great movie. As it stands the film is saved by very strong character development, great acting, well executed sub-plots, and better than average special effects. You will get a good movie if you can get past the main storyline, which isn’t too hard, as it seems to only be there to move events forward. If you’re just out for flashy effects and lots of action then I suppose you won’t find this movie as interesting as I did. For those of you driven by story and character development I say with Moon 44 you will find a diamond in the rough.



5. What were they thinking? I like Michael Pare, but I haven't seen him in awhile. Is this movie the reason? Okay I'm a big fan of SciFi, but something is missing here. The effects are pretty good in parts, and pretty bad in others. Some of the stuff looks like it could have been used in "Alien", and others look like plastic diorama models hung in a kids bedroom on a string. The acting is a bit disappointing but passable, but the dialogue is what hurts this movie the most. I think with a decent screenwriter this movie would have made a good showing despite the special effects and any other flaws in my humble opinion.
   
   When Pare is sent to Moon 44 as an undercover agent, he is unaware the corporation he is working for doesn't care about the humans dying on the other moons that have been attacked and destroyed. They only care about their shuttles used for mining. They are so hard up for pilots they use convicts to pilot helicopter fighters to protect the moon. They are teamed with kids at the base in order to be guided through foggy ravines with rock columns. Kids are brutalized by convicts, shuttles are stolen by internal management, robot fighters kill all moons in their path, but Pare is there to save the day. Can he save this movie? No, but it isn't his fault.

No comments about Weird U.S., Vol. 2 (History Channel).

1 comments about Memories of Puerto Rico.

1. This DVD presents awesome uptoday photos and video slideshows of Puerto Rico's like, tourist places and folklore events. Slideshows with professional "cuatro" instrument as soundtrack.
   
   The DVD is revised at least every year and has menus and descriptions in English and Spanish. Includes 6 galleries of different subjects about the Island.
   
   Highly recommended. I have seen other similar products but this one is the best and with the endorsement of the Tourism Department of PR!

1 comments about The Pirates of Tortuga - Under the Black Flag.

1. My four year old loves pirates. He watches this one over and over. We own just about all others available......this is his favorite.

No comments about Wild America.

1 comments about Weird U.S., Vol. 1 (History Channel).

1. Two shows here: "Strange But True"& "Road To Weirdsville". The first show has, I think, four stories. I won't waste time giving a synopses of each one. I'll just say that the worst episode of "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" or any other show of that nature would tower above this. The stories are not strange and are not particularly interesting. In the second show, hosts Mark & Mark travel to various cities in the U.S. in search of the weird. I don't think that anything they found can qualify as weird. Whatever they found that was of any interest such as the miniature White House in Florida or archival film footage and history of Coney Island was completely ruined by the incompetence of Mark & Mark. Just when I was getting interested in the subject matter, there pops up one or the other making lame quips and mugging for the camera.

1 comments about Rick Steves' Eastern Europe, 2000-2007.

1. Has there ever been another travel guide more amiable, more informative, more eclectic and just plain likeable than Rick Steves? This somewhat nerdish but pleasant looking fellow will immediately win the viewer over with his charm, humor and smoothing, layback manner. However what will keep you watching program after program is his consummate knowledge of the sites and people he visits.
   
   While each journey is only 30 minutes in length Rick has a unique talent of synthesizing the many facets that make up a people and place. He leaves no stone unturned in his analysis; historical background, spiritual heritage, cultural underpinnings and political legacy are all equally touched upon to give the audience a fuller understanding of the rural and urban landscape.
   
   However not not an individual to dwell too much on the past, he provides a delightful tour of the markets, music, restaurants and nightlife. The kind of information would really want to know if you're out for a good time.
   
   The production values are also wonderful offering fanstastic visuals that are worth watching even if there where no commentary. Traveling with Rick Steves' is the next best thing to being there.
   
   This particular DVD contains five episodes, thirty minutes in length. Enjoy two and one half hours traveling through Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, better get started!

No comments about Globe Trekker: New Zealand 2.

2 comments about Globe Trekker: Turkey.

1. A GREAT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT TURKEY, ANYONE WHOM IS PLANNING TO GO ON A VACATION MUST SEE IT BEFORE DECIDING FOR THE PLACE



2. Justine Shapiro, an unattractive spoiled young woman goes to a country with some of the greatest archeological sites in the world, and ends up producing a video featuring (what else?) herself involved in a series of trivial activities. She spends only a few moments in Ephesus because (surprise, surprise) it's too crowded, but spends a lot of time on living in a tree house youth hostel on Mt. Olympus, races through the tunnels of Cappadocia being oh-so-cute, the same with a peasant wedding. And all interspersed with poorly focused and faded footage of the Anatolian plateau taken from bus windows. But if you do buy this bomb, you'll get to see lots of pictures of (what else) Justine Shapiro.
   
   Justine appears, by the way, in a green dress with a hem so high that it barely covers her Thunder Thighs, a curious choice in a country where conservative dress is appreciated.
   
   I've been to Turkey, and it's a fascinating country, but you'll never know it from watching this stinker.
   
   A much better quality video on the same topic is: Biblical Treasures of Turkey