13 Май.
2009
Rules of the Road is a wonderful tool for novice drivers. Seven instruction sections cover driving basics, city and residential driving, highway driving, the driver exam, safety tips, hazardous conditions, and drug and alcohol awareness. Each segment is comprehensive and readily understandable. An appropriately diverse group of young actors and actresses present driving instruction in a good-humored, informative manner. Examples of the wrong things to do as well as the correct things are provided. There is, of course, the buffoonish, know-it-all father whose driving is not what is should be and whose instruction is suspect. The slick kid who knows everything is shown taking his driver’s test, revealing that he needs much more practice. Additional features on the DVD include a section on basic auto maintenance and road signs. The State-to-State Driving Requirements index makes the DVD extremely useful. The use of 3-D illustrations helps to ensure that student drivers understand the concept being taught. The virtual driver puts viewers in the driver seat and checks their awareness as a driver. Corporal John Parish of the Missouri Highway Patrol provides commentary and advice about a variety of driving topics. This is bound to be extremely popular with the just-about-to-drive set. The program is accessible, informative, well-organized, and entertaining, and eminently suitable for both school and public libraries.
Tags: driving,
dvd,
review —
04 Фев.
2009
Everyone we know had nice things to say about “Ocean’s Eleven.” We had high expectations for the DVD release of the sequel, “Ocean’s Twelve,” but were disappointed by the movie.
Three years after stealing $150 million from casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the “Ocean’s Eleven” crew are doing their own thing with their stolen money. Benedict tracks them down and tells them that they have to pay him back with interest or he will kill them.
The gang joins forces again and heads to Europe since they are too hot to work in America. They first plan to steal a historical document but are stopped by police detective Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and also by a master thief Francois Toulour (Vincent Cassel).
Strange that a movie about stealing did not have a lot of stealing in it. Instead, “Ocean’s Twelve” relies on plot twists to make the movie interesting. The acting in the movie is top-notch and they do have some big names (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon). But even big names and the acting cannot save the movie. There are too many characters to keep track of and you don’t feel like you know enough about them. We can’t shake the feeling that the sequel was just an excuse for these stars to hang out in Europe.
The movie has a lot of pointless freeze frames, wipes and some weird camera angles. It is shot in a lot of beautiful European locations but you will not be able to recognize them because of the camera angles.
Do not rent Ocean’s Twelve. At the end of the movie you will think that the whole movie was pointless, and you will feel just robbed.
Tags: dvd,
movie,
review —