Movie review: Call of the wild. Amazon early preview. Harrison Ford movie.

I saw this movie as "Early Preview" on Amazon Prime rentals. I enjoyed it. It is a touching story that pulls on your heartstrings. It felt to me a bit like a Disney animation movie because the dog scenes, especially at the very end, were very much like an animated cartoon.  The dog was clearly CGI'ed through the movie, but I enjoyed his clever human-like expressions.  The movie is based on the Jack London novel about the dog named Buck who was stolen from his home in California and sent to the Yukon, where he befriends an old outdoorsman, played by Harrison Ford.

You can buy or rent this movie on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

DVD review: Orchestra of Exiles

When I finished watching this documentary the first time, I immediately restarted and watched it again, I liked it that much!

"Orchestra of Exiles" combines beautiful classical music background and a riveting true story told through archive films, interviews, and re-enactments.

This documentary film tells the story of great Polish violist Brawnislaw Huberman who in 1935 created Palestine Symphony Orchestra from the greatest Jewish musicians from Germany and Eastern Europe. It was clear to Huberman that all these people would be exterminated. By providing them a legal way to emigrate from their countries he saved them from Hitler and a certain death. Between 1935 and 1939 he saved almost 1000 Jews. He knew his selections were not just selections of musicians, he was a judge of who is going to live and who is going to die.

Huberman invited Toscanini, who at the time was a giant figure in music at the time, to be the first conductor of the orchestra. The story of how Toscanini interacted with the orchestra when they did speak the same language was amusing and enlightening. The orchestra was a tremendous success, not only because it brought together great musicians but because it brought peoples a feeling of victory over evil.

The documentary traces the lives of some of the musicians, their children, and grandchildren. It contains interviews, photos, movie clips, as well as re-enactments. Beautiful music is played through out this documentary.

It is a compelling story, which makes you feel proud of the human spirit and the power of music to unite people.

I am grateful to First Run Features for providing me a review copy of this DVD.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: 2 DVD set Les Miserables: 10th Anniversary Dream Cast (2012)

I received this DVD a day after watching the movie "Les Miserable". While the movie was fresh in my mind I was eager to hear the the musical production. I can tell you that I enjoyed the signing on the DVD significantly more than the signing in the movie. This is not all that surprising since the 10th Anniversary Concert features the top stars from both the London and Broadway productions. The concert was performed on October 8, 1995 and brought together over 250 best performers from various worldwide productions. The finale features 17 'Valjeans' from productions around the world singing in their native languages.

This set includes two DVD disks (one with the concert, one with the extras about the process of making the concert), 12 page commemorative booklet which includes several photographs from the concert, and a replica of the ticket to the London after party. I am attaching a collage of two photos which show the DVD set opened with the entire content visible.

I'm very grateful to BBC Worldwide for sending me a sample copy of this DVD for review purposes. The timing of getting it was perfect, it allowed me to enjoy the cinematography of the movie and then to enjoy the music and singing of this DVD even more. I am not compelled to see the movie again, but I already listened to this DVD several times and undoubtedly will enjoy it again.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Movie DVD review: Going for gold, 1948 Olympics, BBC

"Going for gold" takes place in at 1948 Olympics in London and is a story of one of the three gold medals won by the British.  Six weeks before the games the British sculling was burning with the desire to win a gold medal and did not think any of the current teams could do it. They put together a new team of two men who from different worlds - a boat builder's son Bert Bushnell and Oxford educated Richard Burnell. They had different approaching to sculling strategy and life which they had to overcome to win a gold a medal. 

I enjoy watching sports and the premise of the movie sounded interesting to me. I found the movie to be Okay (not bad, but not something I would watch again). I did not find it as compelling as Chariots of Fire which has a similar story line. The conflicts were simple, predicable in both content and resolution. I never felt fully connected and vested in the characters. On the positive side I enjoy watching Olympics and knowing that it is based on a true story made this story interesting.

The DVD comes with the feature film as well as 1948 Olympics Trivia Game, which I really enjoyed even though it ranked me as "Rubbish". It was quite educational and the ranking trully reflected my lack of knowledge of Olympic history of that period.  The movie runs approximately 90 minutes and has optional English subtitles.

I received a review copy of the DVD to write an honest and unbiased review and this review reflects both both pluses and minuses of my experience watching this movie.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆