Movies Books

I read this one almost every night before bed. The kids usually ask for a couple encores. Both my twins liked it from the very first time.

My son loves Rolie Polie Olie (he is 15 months). It is a very wholesome show and the book is great. He loves spot the dog and the colors are very vibrant. We love this book and anything that has to do with Rolie.

My 23 month old daughter loves Rolie Polie Olie. It is by far her favorite TV character. This is her second Rolie Polie Olie book and she loves it! The book "Rolie Polie Olie" that we purchased for her last fall was her and is still her favorite book. Now she has a second favorite book in "Be My Pal!" We have another baby on the way and this book talks about how Olie and his little sister Zowie figure out how to be siblings and best pals. I highly recomend this book. I just wish that Disney would release more Rolie Polie Olie Merchandise. The selection is limited at this point.

It's a refreshing change to see a tough, hard-bitten detective roaming Hawaii. Florida's had more than its share, and Baron Birtcher has finally brought a great one to polynesia. Great action scenes, and a surprise ending. This one is worth the money.

I read this in one sitting, and it really moves. I read a little bit of everything, but keep coming back to mysteries. This one is a standout.

Baron Birtcher proves with Ruby Tuesday, his second Mike Travis novel, that Roadhouse Blues, his first, was no fluke. We now have a Great New Series Writer amongst us. In this newest adventure, Mike Travis, Ex-L.A. homicide detective, sails his yacht from Southern California to Kona Hawaii, only to find trouble awaits. As was the case with his first novel, this book is very fast paced, with more twists and turns than you'll find on the Saddle road between Kona and Hilo. Having moved from Southern California to Kona himself, Baron not only takes us on a wild ride of emotions, but also adds the natural beauty of the Big Island. As is the case with most excellent reads, the end, although unexpected, comes way too soon. I'm already looking forward to the next Mike Travis novel,and another trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.
I suggest, that as is the case with most series, if possible they should be read in order.

Scooby-Doo and the gang are excited about a beach party at Sandy Cove. But rumors of a pirate's hidden treasure have the locals acting fishy. When the pirate's ghost shows up to claim his treasure, the whole town is spooked. Ahoy! It's up to Scooby and friends to catch the greedy ghost!

In this Scooby-Doo Adventure, Scoob and the gang find themselves at Sandy Cove, an ocean resort where Daphne's Aunt Maggie and Uncle Murray live. The gang has come to help Daphne's family with Frye Fest, a local celebration in honor of the pirate Captain Horace P. Frye, to help raise money for the town. A big city developer is in the area and is buying up all sorts of land. Then the Ghost of Captain Frye raises from the sea and threatens to wreck Frye Fest. Something smells fishy, but if Scoob and the gang want to save Sandy Cove, they have to work fast and unmask the ghost. Good story.

The book is a great book to read. It is about a moster that wants the hotel and tries to scare the people off the island...

My two year old daughter loves this book. The pictures are colorful and she likes that and the text is easy for her to follow.

Very young readers will delight in this lavishly illustrated book about Ariel and her friend, Flounder, in a game of hide and seek with a baby seal. The fun concludes with Ariel's rescue of her little friend who had been hiding in a clam shell and got stuck!

Simple sentences and recognizable words for early readers add to the enjoyment of the story. Artwork worthy of the name Disney bring this charming little book to life!

Add Sealed With A Kiss to the gift list for your youngest Disney fans.

This 29-page, lavishly illustrated book features Ariel--the beloved Mermaid from the Disney movie The Little Mermaid. Flounder makes an appearance in Sealed with a Kiss, as does Scuttle the bird.

Sealed with a Kiss is a Step 2 Step Into Reading book. Step 2 books target kids Preschool-Grade 1, focusing on basic vocabulary, short sentences, and simple stories. Step 2 books are for those children that are now reading with help, so if a child recognizes familiar words on sight and can sound out new words with help, then Step 2 would be just right for them.

Ever since we went to Disneyworld in August 2006, my son has been smitten with Ariel. Now that the Platinum edition DVD of the Little Mermaid is out, he's even MORE so!

When I saw Sealed with a Kiss, I knew my son would love it. The illustrations are awash with vibrant color--it's the most colorful book he owns, I think! The print is rather large, which is great, and because the sentences are rather short, the frustration level for reading is kept at a minimum.

If you're looking for an engaging story that helps children read, Sealed with a Kiss is an *excellent* choice. Beautiful illustrations, eye-popping color, simple sentences, and familiar characters make this book a winner!

I bought this book on a whim; I had expensive postage to pay on some other items here and decided to get my moneys worth. This book is clearly written for a younger audience and yet the actual story was both enjoyable and engaging for me, an older turtles fan, but then I'd expect that from Steve Murphy. He really does know the characters very well and it shows!

I highly recommend this and hope that one day the older TMNT fans are catered for, novel wise, however this is a good start!
Shadows over Chinatown (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Ok, since HK got the first review...I get the 2nd!

I actually bought the book for my TMNT collection, and found myself enjoying it! I'm in my 30s, sure it's a kid's level book but it was written well, story made good sense, and I think TMNT fans will enjoy it.
There's a few pages of color artwork as well. The style is original, not a copy of any other style or a hashing of screencaptures, which is impossible cause this isn't a novelisation of an episode. It's an original story.
And yes, its is a little more mature than you'd xpect, like HK says.

Enjoy!

Shadows Over Chinatown may have been written for kids, but the subject matter is a bit more mature than I would have expected (references to alcohol, implied swearing, death). However, I don't think it's too grown up for the 9-12yrs age group, with a little parental discretion.

The book is, overall, really well-written. I discovered a couple of awkward type-os, but I guess that's to be expected in any book. The sentence structure and choice of words is intelligent enough that older children won't feel silly reading it, giving the book that much more range in its readership.

Even adult TMNT fans will get a kick out of this one, and I should know. At 21 years of age, I still found this book very entertaining, and quite hard to put down.

Overall: It rocks!

This Shirley Temple Scrapbook is really a wonderful little treasure for all the Temple fans out there. As the name bestows, this book is fully loaded with all kinds of images of Shirley Temple. These photos range from publicity shots to movie scenes to private photo collections. Many I've never seen before.

Additionally, there are interesting little tidbits about Shirley's experiences while filming her movies. Also, there is a cronological listing of all her movies starting from her Baby Burlesque material all the way till A Kiss For Corliss, which was released in 1949. There is a short listing of plot as well as all the characters, producers, and directors for each movie.

Overall this is a very a nice and thorough visual document of Shirley Temple's amazing career. Her sparkle is well evident in many of these photos and proof of why she was such a success and why you will really enjoy this wonderful scrapbook.

If you're looking for that "everything you need and want to know about Shirley Temple" book, then this is the one for you!

Carefully divided between Shirley's personal life and her film career, the book's clever design displays the abundance of fabulous photos and text as if it were truly a scrapbook.

Loraine Burdick helps us get to know Shirley Temple the child star, the teenager, the young adult, the mother, the wife, and the ambassador.

Whether you are looking for a fun book to leaf through or a solid front-to-back read about Shirley Temple, this book is a must!

The Shirley Temple Scapebook is not only a great picture book but it gives a good deal of interesting detail about Shirley's life. I love the way Loraine Burdick takes information from several other resources and books about Shirley and combines them to create a broader picture. Thus, leaving you to your own opinion. It is wonderful to look through the scrapebook and relive old memories. I think the book would be appealing to both adoring fans and those with only mild interest. However, how many people can resist Shirley Temple. Enjoy. I highly recommend the book.

Having worked and managed movie theatres from the 40s thru early 70s, and now considered a "dinosaur" of that age, was completely captivated by the coverage accomplished by Ms.Valentine, especially on the accomplishments of architect Lee.She captured the "flavor" and context of that wonderful era,never to be again. And surprise of surprises,I actually managed or knew intimately of some of the theatres Mr.Lee designed or worked on! I have nearly all the books published on movie theatres,et al,but have to admit this particular tome really grabbed me emotionally with text and photos so for the while it took me to read this book(hard to put down)I re-lived that era in a way I never thought possible. (The Arden in Lynwood, Tower in L.A., the old Alhambra in Alhambra, are only a few I "set foot in again"!)..if I could give it more than 5 stars I would! A tip of my hat to Ms.Valentine, to Mr.Lee, and the great bunch of people I worked with, and for, oh, so many, many years ago

My sister has written a very intelligent and well thought out book. She deserves to be rich and famous.

I am a brazilian architect, working now in a thesis research about movie theaters located in my city, Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil. I found this book in B&N store, in New York. It's a great book! GOOD for my work in research end for teaching architecture design (at an architecture school)about movie theaters. (sorry for my poor english...)

Great Read! A wonderful disney story! Many different emotions throughout the book and life learning experiences that happen through all the events. Best sequel I've ever read in a children's book!

It was the best Disney book I have ever read. I am a Disney fanatic, and would have wished so much, to meet Walt Disney, even though he is frozen at the moment. I loved this book, because it was so heartwarming to me, and it reminds me of everyday life...I mean the story. You never know what is going to happen next. Something dangerous, something funny, or something romantic? I guess it was so special, because my life is exactly like the ones of Kovu and Kiara. The writers must have put a lot of time and thinking for this story. I wish the best. Thanks!

I am a Lion King freak, and so have collected many children's books. I often am disapointed that the drawings barely resemble the actuall characters. This book is not a disapointment, the pictures are wonderfull, and I flip through it again and again. It also goes very in depth with the story, readers with a short attention span may get bored with the long text.

Songs in the key of springfield is on of my most cherrished cd's in my collection. It is an exquisite blend of songs and skits. GO SIMPSONS!

the best song is "around the house" featuring cherry bobin

One may lament the fact that the best work in original musical comedy today is being done, not on Broadway, but in animated cartoons (the Simpsons, Disney films like Beauty & the Beast and the Little Mermaid, South Park, etc.) However, that shouldn't stop us from enjoying good show tunes in whatever form and this Simpsons show compilation is a collection of true classics of the genre. I find it much superior to the "original" Simpsons collections on CD ("The Simpsons Sing the Blues" & "The Yellow Album.") and can hardly wait until enough material is available to issue a second TV show collection.

There have been a lot of wonderful books released over the past decade on the subject of classic horror films of the 30's, 40's, and 50's, with many coming from Mcfarland & Co., who are also the publishers of this book. While most of these books focus on the films or biographical accounts of the actors, Mark Clark's book spotlights the great performances in horror films, a decidedly refreshing take. Clark seeks to give credit for these wonderful performances that often have been ignored by mainstream film critics.

As mentioned in the introduction, Clark mainly looks at the classic horrors of the 30's through the 50's because that's what he likes and it's what he grew up watching. Clark is a "monster kid" one of those lucky youngsters who grew up in the 50's and 60's watching the classics on late night TV. Plus as he points out, classics and old are relative terms. Some consider "Halloween" to be an old horror film.

The first part features the well-known horror stars in roughly chronological order beginning with Lon Chaney. Each actor covered features a close look at one to as many as four or five of their most notable roles, but also has smaller sidebars on some of their other notable performances. For example, on Chaney Clark features The Phantom of the Opera as his most famous film, but then also notes the lost film "London After Midnight" as the first American film that dealt with vampirism.

Karloff gets the largest treatment from Clark with no less than seven of his films featured, and who can blame him..."Frankenstein", "The Mummy", "The Black Cat", "The Walking Dead", "The Body Snatcher", all are recognized classics of the horror genre. Clark Keenly points out that Karloff did more with his body language, facial expressions, and a few grunts in "Frankenstein" than most actors can do with hundreds of lines of dialog. Although Clark does mention it in Karloff's other notable performances, I think his work in "The Mask of Fu Manchu" deserved to be note as one of his best roles. Karloff is at his most sinister as the sinister oriental menace.

Next up is Bela Lugosi and in a rare circumstance, two actors (Karloff & Lugosi) are noted for great performances in the same film: 1934's "The Black Cat". Lugosi's role as the avenging Dr. Werdegast afforded him the rare opportunity to play the heroic role to Karloff's villainous Hjalmar Poelzig. Other great Lugosi films covered are "White Zombie", "Murders in the Rue Morgue", "Son of Frankenstein", and, of course, "Dracula".

Clark goes on to look at other great horror stars including the overlooked George Zucco and Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee. While they don't get full sections, I credit Clark for also not forgetting to mention some lesser known horror stars such as Tod Slaughter, J. Carrol Naish, Rondo Hatton, and Tor Johnson.

There's also a chapter on leading ladies horror that runs the gamut from Gloria Holden in "Dracula's Daughter" all the way to Jodie Foster in "Silence of the Lambs" although the fact is that most of these women only made perhaps one true horror film in their careers while true scream queens like Fay Wray and Evelyn Ankers are relegated to the "Other Leading Ladies" section. It's the only thing I can really find fault with in this great book. For fans of classic horror, Clark even provides a comprehensive bibliography.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Do not let this book's rather flippant title fool you. Mark Clark engages in thoughtful, relevant criticism of the subject matter. He even manages to re-engage the reader in discussion of films one would think had already been talked to death. In an era when much of what passes for "criticism" is in reality extended plot summaries with very little analysis, Clark delivers the real thing. If you are a student of horror cinema (and/or acting) this is a must have.

SMIRK, SNEER AND SCREAM closely examines a broad range of great performances in horror movies, from as early as Lon Chaney in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA to Anthony Hopkins in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. The book has three sections, with the first covering 12 horror stars with in-depth examinations of some of their greatest performances, the second section examining key horror roles played by nine mainstream actors, and the third section looking at nine superlative performances by actresses in horror movies. In addition to close dissection of performances by these actors, there are brief overviews of other actors who have contributed to the horror genre.

Clark has a very warm, and often humorous, writing style, so even though the book is packed with detailed descriptions of individual performances, it is often very funny and sometimes refreshingly personal. He's very open about the frankly subjective nature of his approach. It's a fun book to read.

Clark's emphasis on acting is very welcome. There have been many general surveys of the horror genre, biographies of horror film stars, and even auteurial approaches to the great horror directors. The decision to concentrate on acting is overdue, allowing the book to fill an important niche. As Clark writes: "After all, filmgoers during horror cinema's Golden Age didn't pay to see the latest James Whale or Tod Browning picture. Most paid no attention at all to the director's credit. Audiences paid to see Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi or, on a few happy occasions, both."

The book is at its strongest and most memorable when it gets down to very close study of the performances. Some of Clark's opinion are a little off the mainstream, but that just makes it more interesting. While the sections on major horror stars like Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi are excellent, my favorite sections covered more obscure horror luminaries, like Dwight Frye, George Zucco, and Lionel Atwill. All in all, it's a fun and informative book for movie enthusiasts and horror fans.