Showing posts with label acorn-media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acorn-media. Show all posts

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Pie in the Sky Complete Collection



Series 1-5, a COMPLETE way to DINE with CRIME
The twist of discovering crimes while being chef at his restaurant Pie In The Sky, brings a fresh new/delicious plot concept. Perhaps 5 season of DI Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths-`Harry Potter') is not enough. But beware, DVDs come with NO recipes. Maggie Steed (`Clatterford') is wife Margaret and prominent, often getting involved in Henry's cases. Malcolm Sinclair as ACC Fisher, always in Crabbe's face, never allows Crabbe to retire. Nick Raggett (Henderson the restaurant's veggie grower and kitchen help) & Nicholas Lamont (Chef Gary) are well done, excuse the food pun. DS Sophia Cambridge (Bella Enahoro) is Crabbe's assigned aide in crime fighting, and beautiful waitress Nicola (Samantha Womack-"EastEnders") is the best looking dish in the restaurant. Guest stars too, like Michael Kitchen (`Foyle's War') to mention only one of many.

All 40 episodes have SUBTITLES and multiple plots with crime and restaurant action. Sit back and enjoy the humor, detective work,...

I love PIE
While watching Doc Martin DVDs my husband and I saw the ad for the "Pie in the Sky" series. Without having seen even one episode we took a chance and bought this collection. At this point in time we've watched approximately 10 of the episodes and are completely smitten with Henry, Margaret and the rest of the cast. Wonderful characters and plots. I now have a fantasy of having my own chicken coop, complete with music loving hens, in my backyard.

Absolutely Delicious!
As I stated in my Amazon UK review, I originally ordered a region free DVD player so I could get this series! Now it is available in the USA, AND with sub-titles for us folk who have difficulty with English accents. (Why can't the English learn to speak...?)

Seriously, this is a refreshing series and I fully and whole-heartedly(and stomachly) agree with the previous reviewers. This splendid series makes you want to open a specialty restaurant, solve a crime and raise chickens all at once! If you read this while Amazon is giving a 64% discount and do not buy this set- then shame on you!

Terrific cast! Is anyone more adorable than Richard Griffiths? I THINK NOT!
And Maggie Steed and everybody else is just wonderful. Lightweight fun and worth watching over and over again. Make sure you have some tasty snacks on hand.

Signed
An enthralled viewer of all things British(Benny Hill excluded).
PS What's this thing Henry has with "The Chicken"??

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Saturday, October 12, 2013

Brideshead Revisited: 30th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray]



The finest film made for television that I have ever seen.
Brideshead Revisited is the finest film made for television that I have ever seen. It is true to Evelyn Waugh's great novel. After watching this movie I bought the book and liked it as much as the videos. For those viewers who like to read, if you enjoyed the film you are almost certain to love the book.

After reading the novel, I viewed the tapes a second time and discovered that the movie was even better than I first thought.

What makes this video series great? The performances by a top flight cast are superb and the story is compelling. Jeremy Irons plays the part of Charles Ryder, an artist in search of his soul. His paintings are technially brilliant, but something is missing from them. An eccentric friend characterizes Ryder's work as full of "charm," and this evaluation is true -- the paintings are stylish, but soulless.

Anthony Andrews brings to life Ryder's Oxford college friend, Lord Sebastian Flyte, a spoiled aristocrat trying to...

No Improvement Over 2002 Acorn DVD Release
The only difference between this set and the original Acorn DVD release of 2002 (which was beautifully done) is the addition of the "Revisiting Brideshead" documentary and outtakes. The documentary is awful; the kind of thing that trivializes the work by superficial, self-inflated explanation from literary and media "experts" of things perfectly obvious to anyone who watches the series. I don't need a media critique telling me how perfect Anthony Andrews' performance was--I watched the series and saw so myself. I don't need to be instructed about the religious and sexual tension in the story--its there if you watch it. I was hoping the documentary would be conversation from the actors and crew about the filming, but I guess that would have been too simple. In fact, the several screens of text in the original DVD release that tell the story of the filming are much more interesting. This documentary is depressing, condescending and just stupid--I would skip it altogether.

As...

The Brideshead DVD Box Set is Excellent...
Through my own connections, I was able to obtain this item a month before its street date so you all get to know what you're getting.

The Brideshead DVD Box Set, while not perfect, is indeed excellent and I'll explain why.

As is increasingly the case, the actual disc carriages are part of a three leaved slide-out assemblage which folds up and then is stored in a case, just like with the Godfather DVD Box Set.

These case formats are an excellent way to fight piracy and look great but are not the best in in terms of long term box preservation as cardboard and photo-printed cardboard will degrade.

This release of Brideshead is the 660 minute version of the mini-series and I believe this is the longest and most complete version ever released!

The episode menus and scene selection are pretty, functional and fairly rudimentary, nothing exceptional here.

A little booklet with some director's commentary and info on Evelyn Waugh and the episodes is included.

There are no real...

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