Movie Ratings for June 4th, 2010

June 4th, 2010

Here are the MPAA movie ratings for the new films hitting theaters in the U.S. on June 4th, 2010. In addition to the ratings, I’ve also included the MPAA’s insightful notes on why each film received the certificate it did.

Finding Bliss – Rated R for strong sexual content, including graphic dialogue and nudity, and for language.

Get Him to the Greek – Rated R for strong sexual content and drug use throughout, and pervasive language.

Killers – Rated PG-13 for violent action, sexual material and language.

Marmaduke – Rated PG for some rude humor and language.

Ondine – Rated PG-13 for some violence, sensuality and brief strong language.

Splice – Rated R for disturbing elements including strong sexuality, nudity, sci-fi violence and language.

Okay, I’ve got to ask the question. What defines sci-fi violence, exactly?

If you have an interest in any of these films, be sure to check out the review section of A1 Movie Reviews, as we’ll be giving you to lowdown on Get Him to the Greek, Killers, Marmaduke, and Splice. I guess we’ll have an answer for that sci-fi violence question soon enough.

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Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews

June 3rd, 2010

Leonard Maltin movie reviews can be found all over the place, as this noted film critic and historian has worked on television, in print, and even on those mini-reviews you seen before the movie theater goes dark. With his casual critical style and nice-guy demeanor, he’s managed to maintain his status as one of America’s top film experts for several decades.

Maltin was born on December 18th, 1950, and he was already writing about film by the age of 15. During this time, he published a fanzine known as Film Fan Monthly and penned articles for Classic Images. A degree in journalism was a logical next step, and Maltin received one from New York University.

His film criticism career exploded after graduation, with articles in everything from TV Guide to Variety. But many know him best for his continuing stint as film critic for Entertainment Tonight and his annual series of books entitled Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide.

Other Leonard Maltin film books include:

And the list goes on and on…

Those looking for Leonard Maltin movie reviews will also find that he’s all over television (Starz, syndicated TV, ReelzChannel) and even radio (Leonard Maltin on Video). And if you’ve got kids, you’ve probably seen him hosting the films included in the Walt Disney Treasures collection.

And if all that wasn’t enough, Leonard Maltin also has a presence on the Internet. His site, Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy, is billed as a place for people who love movies.

One of the many Leonard Maltin movie reviews actually got him in the Guinness Book of World Records for the shortest review. For the 1948 musical entitled Isn’t It Romantic?, Maltin’s review consisted only of one word: “No.”

Leonard Maltin’s 100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century

Released at the turn of the century, this list includes Maltin’s suggestions for the 100 best films of the 20th century. While I haven’t included the complete list, here are a few of those that made the cut.

If you’ve enjoyed this post about Leonard Maltin movie reviews, then you may also like the following:

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Peter Travers Movie Reviews

June 3rd, 2010

If you’ve ever been a subscriber of People or Rolling Stone, then chances are you’ve read a few Peter Travers movie reviews. In addition to his work in print, he also serves as the host of Popcorn, an ABC News.com and ABC News Now program featuring celebrity interviews. Known for his straightforward review style that doesn’t put you to sleep with antiquated words, Peter Travers movie reviews are among my favorite to read. And I’m not the only one, as he’s the most blurbed film critic in the nation.

He’s been with Rolling Stone since 1989, joining their staff after four years spent at People magazine. His style is immediately recognizable, with a four-star rating system and reviews usually clocking in at around 500 words. A few examples of his highest-rated movies include:

On the opposite end of things, the following films have received the lowest rating (zero stars) available from a Peter Travers movie review:

While Travers seems to hate all things Michael Bay, he is smitten with the following directors, often giving their films superior ratings: Tim Burton, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ang Lee, and the Coen brothers.

Top-Rated Films from Peter Travers

Each year, Peter Travers put out his top 10 best films of the year list. The following details the top movie chosen each year, beginning with his first year at Rolling Stone.

Peter Travers Movie Reviews

If you’d like to check out some of the most recent Peter Travers movie reviews, just click on any of the following links:

Other recommended links from A1 Movie Reviews:

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Gene Siskel Movie Reviews

June 3rd, 2010

While fans can no longer enjoy new Gene Siskel movie reviews, we can still look back fondly on a career filled with astute observations, humorous bickering, and a true passion for cinema. Alongside fellow critic Roger Ebert, Siskel hosted At the Movies from 1982 until his death in 1999. During that time, the duo became famous for their passionate on-air debates, and many fans simply referred to them as “the fat guy” and “the bald guy.” But there was so much more to Gene Siskel.

Born on January 26th, 1946, Eugene “Gene” Kal Siskel would experience a love for the movies while watching Dumbo as a child. Years later, he would cite this Disney classic as the first film to make a real impression on his.

Years later, he would go on to graduate with a degree in Philosophy from Yale in 1967. During that time, he studied with Pulitzer-winning writer John Hersey, and landed a job with the Chicago Tribune in 1969.

But Siskel’s life was in for a dramatic change in 1975, as that’s when he teamed up with Roger Ebert, a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. Their first show was known as Sneak Previews, and it aired on a Chicago-based PBS station. Their recognizable “thumbs-up, thumbs-down” rating system caught on, and the duo had gained a sizable following by 1978.

In 1982, they departed PBS for syndication, launching their trademark show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies. By 1986, the program was being produced by Walt Disney , and the title was eventually shortened to just Siskel & Ebert. Throughout the years, the pair appeared on everything from The Tonight with Johnny Carson to The Howard Stern Show, always ready to defend their reviews and cheerfully discuss their sometimes heated arguments.

During all his years as a critic, Siskel only walked out of a film on three occasions. The first came in 1971, with the Dean Jones comedy The Million Dollar Duck. Next was the 1980 film Maniac, and the third was for Penelope Spheeris’ 1996 film Black Sheep. With the latter, he admitted to pretending to go to the bathroom, only to never come back.

His two favorite films were Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and Saturday Night Fever. Siskel was such a big fan of the latter that he purchased Tony Manero’s white disco suit at a charity auction. Here’s a portion of what he said about the film in his written review, “My fever for ‘Fever’ goes beyond its music, even beyond its spectacular dancing sequences. I have come to love the film’s characters–all of them. And the only explanation that comes close to describing my visceral attachment to the film is that it is a 119-minute compression of most everyone’s teenage years. It’s all there: the clothes, dancing, cars, booze, fellowship, sexual thrills, sexual frustration, parental affection, parental hatred, unrequited love, the first job, doubting religion, and seeing oneself slowly becoming an adult.”

Sadly, Gene Siskel was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in 1998. He continued to work for as long as he could, but then took a leave of absence in February of 1999, stating with good humor, “I’m in a hurry to get well, because I don’t want Roger to get more screen time than me.”

After undergoing surgery to remove the tumor, Gene Siskel died from complications at the age of 53 on February 20th, 1999. He is survived by his wife, Marlene, and their children, Will, Callie, and Kate. The final Gene Siskel movie review was for Simply Irresistible with Sarah Michelle Gellar, which received a “thumbs-down” rating.

In 2009, 10 years after Siskel’s death, on-air partner Roger Ebert delivered this touching tribute. Despite the fact that the duo hasn’t been together in over a decade, many film fans still think of them as being synonymous.

Gene Siskel Top 10 Films

Each year, in addition to his usual Gene Siskel movie reviews, the critic would also put together a top 10 list for his column in the Chicago Tribune. He would also do the same thing for the television, and slight differences would sometimes exist between the two. Below, I’ve collected an assortment of these lists for your enjoyment.

1998
01. Babe: Pig in the City (George Miller)
02. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick)
03. Pleasantville (Gary Ross)
04. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg)
05. The Truman Show (Peter Weir)
06. Antz (Eric Darnell/Tim Johnson)
07. Simon Birch (Mark Steven Johnson)
08. There’s Something About Mary (Bobby Farrelly/Peter Farrelly)
09. Waking Ned Devine (Kirk Jones)
10. Madadayo (Akira Kurosawa)
11. Beloved (Jonathan Demme)

1995
01. Crumb (Terry Zwigoff)
02. Toy Story (John Lasseter)
03. Nixon (Oliver Stone)
04. Babe (Chris Noonan)
05. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins)
06. Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis)
07. The American President (Rob Reiner)
08. Exotica (Atom Egoyan)
09. Apollo 13 (Ron Howard)
10. Les Miserables (Claude Lelouch)

Best Films of the 1980s
01. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
02. Shoah (Claude Lanzmann)
03. The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman)
04. My Dinner With Andre (Louis Malle)
05. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemeckis)
06. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee)
07. Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone)
08. Moonlighting (Jerzy Skolimowski)
09. Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox)
10. Kagemusha (Akira Kurosawa)

1979
01. Hair (Milos Forman)
02. Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton)
03. The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino)
04. Breaking Away (Peter Yates)
05. Manhattan (Woody Allen)
06. The Marriage of Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
07. Nosferatu, the Vampyre (Werner Herzog)
08. The Onion Field (Harold Becker)
09. Time After Time (Nicholas Meyer)
10. The China Syndrome (James Bridges)

1969
01. Z (Costa-Gravas)
02. Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger)
03. Alice’s Restaurant (Arthur Penn)
04. Simon of the Desert (Luis Bunuel)
05. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Robert Ellis Miller)
06. Oh! What a Lovely War (Richard Attenborough)
07. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)
08. if…. (Lindsay Anderson)
09. Pretty Poison (Noel Black)
10. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (Paul Mazursky)

Oh, and here’s a list of 10 movies he absolutely never wanted to see again (compiled in 1985):

Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1981)
Friday the 13th, Part 3 (1982)
Friday the 13th – The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
The Cannonball Run (1981)
Cannonball Run II (1984)
Porky’s (1981)
Porky’s II (1983)
Porky’s Revenge (1985)

Gene Siskel Quotes

As we wrap up this article on Gene Siskel movie reviews, I’d like to leave you with a few quotes from one of the greatest critical minds of modern cinema.

And here are a few links to other A1 Movie Reviews blog posts you might be interested in:

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Movie Ratings for 5/28/10

May 28th, 2010

If you’re thinking of going to the theater this week, you’ll want to be sure and check out our list of movie ratings for 5/28/10. We’ve got the MPAA ratings for all the major releases, plus a few that are in limited release. If you accidentally end up taking your kid to see The Human Centipede, you can’t blame us.

If you’d like to read movie reviews of some of the films listed, be sure to click on the provided links. This will enable you to tap into the thoughts of A1 Movie Reviews critics such as Roxanne Downer, Gregor Turley, and yours truly.

MPAA Ratings Guide

The following are the standard rating guidelines as handed down by those wise men and women of the MPAA.

Ratings for Films Releasing on May 28th, 2010

Rating for Recently Released Movies

MPAA Phrases of the Week

I’m always amazed and amused by the phrases the MPAA comes up with to assign their ratings. Here are some of the more ridiculous items of the week:

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A. Jaye to Write Sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street

May 15th, 2010

For regular readers of A1 Movie Reviews, you’re no doubt familiar with the work of A. Jaye, one of our talented film critics who happens to live across the pond in the UK. When he’s not busy working on his own site, Thrill Fiction, he’s written a number of reviews for us, and he’s particularly passionate about the horror genre. Here’s a sample:

As you can see from the above reviews, A. Jaye has a critical style that’s all his own, and his writing stands out in an endless sea of hacks looking to become the next Harry Knowles. That’s why I wanted to make specific mention of his latest Thrill Fiction post.

Following his review of the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot, A. Jaye cranked out another post and advanced the theory that only two films really qualify as worthwhile horror remakes: Night of the Living Dead (1990) and The Hills Have Eyes (2006). While he also sang the praises of The Thing (1981), The Fly (1986) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), he wisely points out that all these are new works based on previously filmed material.

So with only two true remakes to fawn over, what’s a horror fan to do? Well, if you’re A. Jaye, you’re going to go out and write a script.

That’s right, A. Jaye announced in a post entitled A Nightmare on Elm Street: What About the Sequel that he’ll be putting together a spec script entitled A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Return, which will serve as a remake of the first sequel. He’s set a target date of August 31st to post his first draft of the screenplay online, so be sure to head over to Thrill Fiction and lend your support.

And for those readers with an extra helping of ambition, why not write one yourself? Even if you think it’s horrible, there’s probably a good chance that Michael Bay and the boys at Platinum Dunes will give it a look. For more information on how to do so, take a look at this excellent article titled How to Write a Screenplay.

And with any luck, we’ll be able to bring you more quality movie reviews from A. Jaye in the near future.

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How Does Plastic Jungle Work?

May 14th, 2010

You may have heard of the site dedicated to buying gift cards and wondered “How does Plastic Jungle work?”. Plastic Jungle can be found online at Plasticjungle and is a site dedicated to buying back your unwanted store gift cards for cash and selling gift cards at a discount. You can buy and sell cards from most major retailers, and they will even buy back cards that have been used but still have a balance remaining.

Simply visit the site, punch in the store name and amount, and they will make you an instant offer for your cards. If you are looking to buy a card, you can browse the huge selection to purchase a card for your next shopping trip or to give as a gift. The site is easy to navigate and allows you to buy or sell several cards in one session.

They offer a wide variety of store cards and are adding to their list of accepted stores all the time. You can buy or sell cards from dozens of major retailers, and the rates are incredible. Not only do they offer you a fair price for your cards, but they also offer cards for sale at a great discount.

How Do I Sell My Cards?

Offering up to 90% of the value of your cards for major retailers, Plastic Jungle turns your store cards into money you can use to pay your bills or shop where you want. You can choose to receive your payment in the form of a check made out to you or your company, or you can opt for a payment to your PayPal account. You can even swap in your store cards for a different merchant with a similar value.

When you get to the site, just click on the Sell a Card button. You are then sent to a page that lets you enter in as many cards as you have, one at a time. Type in the first few letters of the store name, and you’ll see merchants pop up below that match. Select the one you have and then fill in the amount the card is for, or estimate the value–Plastic Jungle will look it up for you.

Once you have your cards entered into the system, choose your payment method and enter your personal information to create a free account, and then submit your order. Mailing instructions are given, and once your cards arrive and are verified, you’ll receive payment in a few days. There are no hidden fees or commissions, and the price you see online is the price you get for your cards.

What If My Merchant Isn’t Listed?

If you are trying to sell a card for a company that is not listed, you will be given the option of being notified once Plastic Jungle starts to use that merchant. Not all stores are currently accepted, but most of the major ones are, and more are being added on a regular basis. At the time of this writing, 104 merchants were listed.

Buying Cards at Discount

With thousands of gift cards in stock at discount prices, Plastic Jungle is a great place to shop for those birthday presents, wedding gifts, and holiday shopping lists. You can save up to 30% on any card in stock, depending on the merchant, and there are cards available in all sizes, from $25 and up. All transactions are guaranteed, so you can be confident that your purchase will arrive within 15 days and be honored by the merchant for an amount equal to or higher than the one listed when you placed your order.

Volume Sales, Partnerships, and Affiliate Program Information

If you have a large number of cards to sell, Plastic Jungle wants to hear from you. Simply go to the link and fill in your details on the contact form, and a customer service representative will be in contact with you regarding your situation. The simple form is quick and easy and lets you give as much detail as you want, allowing a personal response from the company.

If you have ideas about specific partnership opportunities with Plastic Jungle, the same form allows you to present your ideas to them in a way that will be heard. If your company wishes to have their cards accepted and traded on the site, or wants to make gift cards available at a discount to drive sales to your door, let them know what you have in mind.

If you have a website and want to help spread the word about Plastic Jungle, they offer an affiliate program that allows you to place links on your site and get credit for any clicks that you generate. This program allows you to earn a small fee for each customer that learns about Plastic Jungle from your site and becomes a member, making at least one transaction after the initial click.

Charity Donations and Fundraising for Non-Profits

One easy way to get donations for your non-profit corporation is to have a gift card drive, allowing people to donate their unused gift cards to your charity. Cards can be redeemed directly through the Plastic Jungle website or collected and sent in, the choice is yours. Setting up a fundraising drive at the site is free and easy, and all cards with a balance of at least $10 and at least 90 days remaining before expiration are accepted and reimbursed. Other cards are donated to a charity by Plastic Jungle.

It’s Easy and Free

Log onto Plastic Jungle today and set up a free account, then enter in your unwanted cards or shop for discounts on store cards you can use. It’s a great way to turn some unused plastic into cash, and it’s a perfect place to find a deal on items you were going to buy anyway. Got a shopping trip planned? You can’t afford to ignore this opportunity to save money.

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The Complete Hollywood Mega Store Review

May 13th, 2010

Are you looking for a comprehensive and unbiased review of the Hollywood Mega Store? Then read on, and you will soon learn all the information you need to successfully maneuver the store’s user friendly website.

The Hollywood Mega Store is your one-stop-shop for all Hollywood-themed items. This virtual store boasts the best selection, prices and services out of all of their competitors. Offering a large quantity of items with unmatched quality, this is the perfect store for Hollywood themed parties, home cinemas, gifts, and memorabilia.

Site navigation is a cinch. A list of categories on the left hand side of the home page lends to a hassle-free and effective product search. Simple online ordering mixed with quick and affordable shipping options creates the perfect transaction with the Hollywood Mega Store.

Reputable and Respected

Hollywood Mega Stores is the virtual extension of a small chain of Hollywood memorabilia and souvenir stores. Owned and operated by the Zahavi family, the company has been a staple of the Hollywood community for over 20 years.

A dedication to providing the best selection of all things Hollywood ensures this business shines brighter than the rest. With over 3,000 products, inventory is continually updated according to latest Hollywood trends. The store provides an array of exclusive, licensed specialty items from famed studios such as Warner Bros. and Disney. They also sell novelty items for every buyer’s need and budget.

Detailed Product Pages

Choose the appropriate item, then click “view details” and you will be transferred to the product page. There, you will find a detailed description with the item’s significance, use, dimensions, etc. Alongside the description is a photo of the product.

Latest Hollywood Trends

Keeping in alignment with their promise to stay atop Hollywood’s hottest trends, the site offers a “What’s Hot Now” section. This page highlights and has direct links to the stores most sought after items.

Stand-ups or Cutouts

Stand-ups are life-sized cardboard cutouts of celebrities and characters. Usually only seen at movie theaters, you can order these as the icing on the cake for your Hollywood themed party. The store carries many celebrities, from Humphrey Bogart to John Wayne, Angelina Jolie to Marilyn Munroe.

Planning on throwing a movie-themed party? Purchase a stand up of characters from a variety of Hollywood films, Disney characters, WWE, UFC, or popular animals. Stand-ups can also be customized.

A Decorator’s Dream

Find the right props to give your place of business the true Hollywood feel. Whether you work for a cinema, pub, restaurant, or just want to spruce up your home theater, the Hollywood Mega Store has the prop you need to make your space scream authenticity. Choose from dozens of items, such as:

Best Party Ever

A page of helpful party planning tips and ideas makes for a successful Hollywood themed party for both kids and adults. It contains links to the most popular party products and supplies handy ideas for invitations, decorations and games. The store also sells party supplies like confetti, paper plates and napkins, centerpieces, and party favors.

Cherished Gift Ideas

Stocked with dozens of great gift baskets, the store has something perfect for every film admirer. Framed celebrity photos and classic movie and tv stills make great housewarming gifts. While personal and customizable gifts like the Oscar statuette and the Walk of Fame star are ideal additions for home theaters and offices.

Browsing and Searching

You may be left wondering, how does the Hollywood Mega Store work? Browsing and searching are the two ways to navigate the store. If you know which item you need to purchase, simply click on the corresponding category. Then, browse the product listings.

Use the search box if you are looking for products associated with a specific movie or celebrity. A list of all matching products will load on the next page.

How to Place an Order

To ensure you receive the exact products you need, follow these simple directions:

Remember, there is no “log-in” storage of a username or password. Unlike most other virtual stores, there is no membership commitment required. Simply fill out and send in an order form.

Alternative Ordering Methods

One can also order via e-mail or fax. Phone orders are not accepted. For all other transactions, the Hollywood Mega Store accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

General Shipping

Products are almost always in stock, which means they are available for immediate shipment (Monday through Friday). The cut-off time for same day shipping is 4 p.m. PST. Most items arrive 3-5 days later. There is a 30-day return policy.

Special Deliveries

Oversized items such as the celebrity and character stand-ups as well as customizable items like the Oscar Statuette replica can take up to 12 days to ship. Rush shipping is available for all products, except stand-ups. The cut-off time for rush shipping is 3 p.m. PST.

International Orders

All products except the cutouts are available to ship internationally. As international credit cards are not accepted, there are generally few orders placed outside of the United States. However, the Hollywood Mega Store will accept international payments via wire transfer.

Also recommended:

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Hollywood Mega Store – Hollywood Mega Store Discounts

May 11th, 2010

Hollywood Mega Store is a location on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, aimed at the typical tourist hoping for souvenirs to commemorate their Hollywood experience. The store provides visitors the opportunity to personalize imitation Academy Awards and purchase other affordable knick knacks. Hollywood Mega Store opened in 1970, and they also provide party favors and decorations for any movie or celebrity-themed event.

Hollywood Mega Store Discounts

While surfing the Internet, several websites can be found that claim to offer free coupons and discounts on merchandise. However, most of the links simply take you to the website. A method of encouraging sales and increasing visitors? Sure. A true way to save for potential customers? Not necessarily. Or is it? A coupon at 58coupons.com offers a $10 discount for purchases and provides a code for use at checkout; spooky-10D.

An offer for 30 percent off at couponcabin.com, however, redirects to cheapuncle.com, reportedly the partner site for Coupon Cabin and also the search engine “aimed at giving you the cheapest price.” However, no search results are found for Hollywood Mega Store.

That means the jury is still out on true savings.

Hollywood Mega Store Website

Hollywood Mega Store’s accompanying website is aimed at anyone looking for movie star memorabilia, whether it be from classic cinema or today’s most popular celebrities. But is it safe to shop there, or is it just another scam to skim your bank account?

Hollywoodmegastore.com was started in 2000. According to safeshoppingnetwork.com, the site gets a top score of 100 in safety and performance. However, the site receives slightly less satisfactory scores of 95 and 98 in usability and overall respectively.

With a base of six million people visiting the site monthly to determine quality, Safe Shopping Network seems to count as one positive vote for a legitimate business. Hollywoodmegastore.com does focus on sales in the United States, but customers outside the U.S. can purchase items and have them shipped by paying with a money order.

User Reviews for the Hollywood Mega Store Website

When questioning the validity of a website, it’s best to go straight to the source: fellow consumers who’ve tried the site and documented their experience. Suzanne, a writer for Associated Content, reviewed the site following the purchase of an item that she couldn’t find anywhere else. Her review was less than favorable, as she experienced high shipping rates and a fee for not meeting the minimum order value. She wasn’t satisfied with the surfing experience, either, as each click on the website provided limited choices for the items she was looking for.

Bizrate.com shares similar customer experiences. Overall, Hollywood Mega Store has a rating of 9 of 10 for customers who would shop at the site again and an 8.9 rating on overall experience, based on reviews by 1,000 customers. Some issues listed on the review included the expensive shipping rates and lack of communication, such as not informing the buyer an item was out of stock at the time of purchase. However, customers were satisfied with the speed of delivery, the quality of the product and also the unique merchandise.

Average star ratings for the site at Givemeareview.com are 3 of four stars. One area that seemed slightly deficient was customer service, with only two-and-one-half stars. That area’s commentary notes an online form is available for customer use, a phone number is supplied for normal business hours, and a fax number is also provided. These seem to be typical methods of communication and therefore can be seen as average, which somewhat explains the rating. Other positives noted by Givemeareview.com include a 30-day return policy and also the strength of the Stronghold web server, used by the site and featuring the most current encryption available to protect credit card information.

Tips to Remember

Final Thoughts

With four decades under their belt in Los Angeles and one decade since the creation of their website, Hollywood Mega Store and its dot.com affiliate seem to be legitimate–if rather predictable and cheap ways–to get those items from Hollywood you might not be able to live without. While the coupon and discount links seem like more gimmicks to draw in an unwary Internet surfer, the store and site both provide all they advertise.

The site reviews from customers seem to be a balance of satisfied and slightly unhappy, with common Internet-sale related concerns, including shipping rates. One point of concern would be the lack of accuracy in original purchases and the fact that the item may be out of stock.

As a result, I wouldn’t rely on the site for time-sensitive purchases such as birthday presents. However, early Christmas shopping or other purchasing “just because” would be a perfect fit for this site. Of course, the best way to buy from the Hollywood Mega Store would be to travel to the location, thereby receiving the “Hollywood” experience yourself, rather than through the mail. If that option is out, however, purchasing online is a viable alternative.

Also recommended:

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Manifest Destiny: A Fates Calling

May 2nd, 2010

Student films can be tricky, because the talent that crafts them often ends up working in opposition to each other. It’s difficult for blossoming, ambitious filmmakers to put egos aside, get on the same page, and deliver something for the common good of the film. However, when it’s done right, the results are remarkably impressive and something that can be appreciated as much as (if not more than) some studio-produced features. Manifest Destiny: A Fates Calling, a short film from Justin Chambers and Crevice Entertainment, is a good example of what I’m talking about.

Clocking in at around 18 minutes, it’s a brief film that packs some heavy concepts into its condensed narrative economy. Set in medieval times, it centers around two brothers being held captive. At the king’s command, they must decide which brother shall die and which shall be set free. It stars Donny Boaz and Carl Silva as the siblings in the midst of this crisis. There are also brief appearances by Jason Lamar as a fellow prisoner and Rocio Burton as a queen.

The performances by Boaz and Silva are spectacular. They bring their emotional intensity to a boiling point yet maintain an elegant poise. Nothing here is over the top or overacted. They play off each other well, and their timing is precise. It’s almost like they’ve done several projects together. The trust in each other is evident onscreen and makes for a scene that requires much investment with only minimal exposition, yet they manage to pull it off. Particularly engaging is Silva. His depiction of the younger Tavish operates on many batteries of emotion–none of which are easy to play–and he executes them all with seasoned craftsmanship. He’s definitely one to watch. Lamar’s brief appearance is also impressive.

Chambers’ direction is on point. This is a heavy-handed scene, and much of the challenge was harnessing the steady performances from his actors. I’d say he managed to do so effectively. There is a bigger story here and maybe too much to pack into just 20 minutes, but aside from a few dialogue and editing hiccups, the film flows well and takes advantage of the time it has, leaving the viewer satisfied and not asking too many questions. It’s strongly reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in terms of tone and style, particularly in the opening sequence. Derek Lotek did an awe-inspiring job here. The production design is simply amazing, possibly the best of any student film I’ve ever seen.

Overall, Manifest Destiny: A Fates Calling is an impressive watch with terrific young talent both in front of and behind the camera. With its solid narrative, great performances, and egoless professionalism, this is one short film that may be worth seeking out and watching over much of the weaker fare currently playing in theaters.

Four out of five stars.

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