Richard Gere stars in this gripping tale about a father obsessed with training his ... more
talented daughter for the National Spelling Bee competition. Eliza Naumann (Flora Cross) demonstrates an amazing gift that her father Saul (Gere) insists on coaching her...
Words may define us but it's love that connects us. 11-year-old Eliza Naumann (Cross) ... more
comes from an odd family; they all divert their emotional frustrations into secret channels. When Eliza unexpectedly begins winning spelling bees what had been a s...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Richard Gere stars in this gripping tale about a father obsessed with training his ... more
talented daughter for the National Spelling Bee competition. Eliza Naumann (Flora Cross) demonstrates an amazing gift that her father Saul (Gere) insists on coaching her...
In Myla Goldberg's outstanding first novel, a family is shaken apart by a small but ... more
unexpected shift in the prospects of one of its members. When nine-year-old Eliza Naumann, an otherwise indifferent student, takes first prize in her school spelling bee, it is as if rays of light have begun to emanate from her head. Eliza's father, Saul, a scholar and cantor, had long since given up expecting sparks of brilliance on her part but once she wins the state-wide bee, he begins tutoring her for the national competition, devoting to Eliza the hours he once spent with her brother Aaron.His daughter flowers under his care, eventually coming to look at life "in alphabetical terms". "Consonants are the camels of language", she realises, "proudly carrying their lingual loads". Vowels, however, are a different species, the fish that flash and glisten in the watery depths. Vowels are elastic and inconstant, fickle and unfaithful... Before the bee, Eliza had been a consonant, slow and unsurprising. With her bee success, she has entered vowelhood.When Saul sees the state of transcendence that she effortlessly achieves in competition, he encourages his daughter to explore the mystical states that have eluded him--the influx of God-knowledge (shefa) described by the Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia. Although Saul has little idea what he has set in motion, "even the sound of Abulafia's name sets off music in her head. A-bu-la-fi-a. It's magic, the open sesame that unblocked the path to her father and then to language itself".Meanwhile, stunned by his father's defection, Aaron begins a troubling religious quest. Eliza's brainy, compulsive mother is also unmoored by her success. The reader is left wondering what would have happened if the Naumanns' spiritual thirsts had not been set in restless motion. A poignant and exceptionally well crafted tale,Bee Seasonhas a slow beginning but atour-de-forceconclusion. --Regina Marler
Postage & Packaging:Check Site. Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In Myla Goldberg's outstanding first novel, a family is shaken apart by a small but ... more
unexpected shift in the prospects of one of its members. When nine-year-old Eliza Naumann, an otherwise indifferent student, takes first prize in her school spelling bee, it is as if rays of light have begun to emanate from her head. Eliza's father, Saul, a scholar and cantor, had long since given up expecting sparks of brilliance on her part but once she wins the state-wide bee, he begins tutoring her for the national competition, devoting to Eliza the hours he once spent with her brother Aaron.His daughter flowers under his care, eventually coming to look at life "in alphabetical terms". "Consonants are the camels of language", she realises, "proudly carrying their lingual loads". Vowels, however, are a different species, the fish that flash and glisten in the watery depths. Vowels are elastic and inconstant, fickle and unfaithful... Before the bee, Eliza had been a consonant, slow and unsurprising. With her bee success, she has entered vowelhood.When Saul sees the state of transcendence that she effortlessly achieves in competition, he encourages his daughter to explore the mystical states that have eluded him--the influx of God-knowledge (shefa) described by the Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia. Although Saul has little idea what he has set in motion, "even the sound of Abulafia's name sets off music in her head. A-bu-la-fi-a. It's magic, the open sesame that unblocked the path to her father and then to language itself".Meanwhile, stunned by his father's defection, Aaron begins a troubling religious quest. Eliza's brainy, compulsive mother is also unmoored by her success. The reader is left wondering what would have happened if the Naumanns' spiritual thirsts had not been set in restless motion. A poignant and exceptionally well crafted tale, Bee Season has a slow beginning but a tour-de-force conclusion. --Regina Marler
Postage & Packaging:£2.75 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In Myla Goldberg's outstanding first novel, a family is shaken apart by a small but ... more
unexpected shift in the prospects of one of its members. When nine-year-old Eliza Naumann, an otherwise indifferent student, takes first prize in her school spelling bee, it is as if rays of light have begun to emanate from her head. Eliza's father, Saul, a scholar and cantor, had long since given up expecting sparks of brilliance on her part but once she wins the state-wide bee, he begins tutoring her for the national competition, devoting to Eliza the hours he once spent with her brother Aaron.His daughter flowers under his care, eventually coming to look at life "in alphabetical terms". "Consonants are the camels of language", she realises, "proudly carrying their lingual loads". Vowels, however, are a different species, the fish that flash and glisten in the watery depths. Vowels are elastic and inconstant, fickle and unfaithful... Before the bee, Eliza had been a consonant, slow and unsurprising. With her bee success, she has entered vowelhood.When Saul sees the state of transcendence that she effortlessly achieves in competition, he encourages his daughter to explore the mystical states that have eluded him--the influx of God-knowledge (shefa) described by the Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia. Although Saul has little idea what he has set in motion, "even the sound of Abulafia's name sets off music in her head. A-bu-la-fi-a. It's magic, the open sesame that unblocked the path to her father and then to language itself".Meanwhile, stunned by his father's defection, Aaron begins a troubling religious quest. Eliza's brainy, compulsive mother is also unmoored by her success. The reader is left wondering what would have happened if the Naumanns' spiritual thirsts had not been set in restless motion. A poignant and exceptionally well crafted tale,Bee Seasonhas a slow beginning but atour-de-forceconclusion. --Regina Marler
Postage & Packaging:£2.75 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In Myla Goldberg's outstanding first novel, a family is shaken apart by a small but ... more
unexpected shift in the prospects of one of its members. When nine-year-old Eliza Naumann, an otherwise indifferent student, takes first prize in her school spelling bee, it is as if rays of light have begun to emanate from her head. Eliza's father, Saul, a scholar and cantor, had long since given up expecting sparks of brilliance on her part but once she wins the state-wide bee, he begins tutoring her for the national competition, devoting to Eliza the hours he once spent with her brother Aaron.His daughter flowers under his care, eventually coming to look at life "in alphabetical terms". "Consonants are the camels of language", she realises, "proudly carrying their lingual loads". Vowels, however, are a different species, the fish that flash and glisten in the watery depths. Vowels are elastic and inconstant, fickle and unfaithful... Before the bee, Eliza had been a consonant, slow and unsurprising. With her bee success, she has entered vowelhood.When Saul sees the state of transcendence that she effortlessly achieves in competition, he encourages his daughter to explore the mystical states that have eluded him--the influx of God-knowledge (shefa) described by the Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia. Although Saul has little idea what he has set in motion, "even the sound of Abulafia's name sets off music in her head. A-bu-la-fi-a. It's magic, the open sesame that unblocked the path to her father and then to language itself".Meanwhile, stunned by his father's defection, Aaron begins a troubling religious quest. Eliza's brainy, compulsive mother is also unmoored by her success. The reader is left wondering what would have happened if the Naumanns' spiritual thirsts had not been set in restless motion. A poignant and exceptionally well crafted tale, Bee Season has a slow beginning but a tour-de-force conclusion. --Regina Marler
Postage & Packaging:Check Site. Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: Excellent animated world, funny, cute, colourful Disadvantages: Slightly odd humour could be a disadvantage to some
Bee Movie is one of the newest in a string of modern computer animated movies. Born from the comic genius that is Jerry Seinfeld (producer, director, actor) it is unlike the other films in the genre due to the slightly odd sense of humour we've come to expect from him.
The synopsis
Barry Benson is not your average Bee. Unlike his family and friends, he doesn't want to be a anonymous worker stuck in the same mundane job for the rest of his life.
So on the day of his graduation, just as he has to pick the career he will stay in forever, he decides he wants to see the world outside the hive, and asks the Pollen Jockeys (the front line of honey making!) to take him with them on their next trip outside.
They agree, but unfortunately on his debut into the outside world Barry is separated from the Pollen Jockeys and goes ...
miasmum82 11.07.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bee Movie (DVD)
Advantages: Funny, ibrant and educational Disadvantages: None
This is one of my favourite animations and I never tire of watching it which is good because neither does Noah!
The story tells of Barry the Bee who is just not satisfied at the thought of having to work one job in the bee hive for the rest of his life so he goes out of the hive before he commits to anything. During his little 'explore' he almost gets squatted by a guy but a very nice woman saves him. Now being the kind cap that he is, he doesn't want to leave without saying thank you. This is the start of a strange but sweet relationship between Barry the bee and Melanie the human whereby Barry realises that humans are stealing the honey the bees make and with the help of Melanie they set out to sue the human race.
The thing about this animation is there is a lot of funny lines sprouting out every second which really gets you ...
claribella 12.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bee Movie (DVD)
Advantages: Very cute, pretty world, funny jokes, appeals to all ages Disadvantages: Non sensical
As a fan of animated animal movies such as Happy Feet and Finding Nemo, I was pleased to see adverts for Bee Movie - it just looked so cute, of course I had to give it a try!
In case you couldn't guess from the title, Bee Movie is based around, well, bees. More specifically, it is about a young bee called Barry who just can't decide what he wants to do with his life. It is traditional for all of the bees to only work in one job for their entire life, and he just can't choose which area is right for him. He decides to give pollen collecting a go, however whilst out collecting pollen he gets trapped in the rain and ends up inside a human house where everybody tries to kill him - with the exception of a woman called Vanessa who saves his life. And, somewhat oddly, he ends up falling in love with her. He begins to visit her frequently ...
hi_nicola 27.12.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bee Movie (DVD)
Based on the bestselling novel by Myla Goldberg, 'Bee Season' follows a family of seekers, each of whom is looking to God, transcendence, or love, in their search for something greater than themselves. Eleven-year-old Eliza Nauman (Flora Cross in a promising debut) is on her way to becoming the national spelling bee champion, much to the delight of her heretofore somewhat dismissive father, Saul (Richard Gere). A professor of religion who wrote his thesis on Jewish mysticism, Saul has previously shown more interest in Eliza's older brother, Aaron (Max Minghella), a serious-minded young scholar and cello player. In what soon becomes clear is his customary manner, Saul takes control of Eliza's spelling career, and focuses on her to the exclusion of the rest of his family. Meanwhile, his wife, Miriam (Juliette Binoche), is quietly facing a spiritual crisis, and unbeknownst to her family is engaging in petty thievery in her quest for beauty and salvation. Saul is unwilling to admit that anything is wrong-and thus out of his control-while the unmoored Aaron turns to the beatific Chali (Kate Bosworth), a hare Krishna, for spiritual sustenance and comfort. As Saul attempts to tap Eliza's uncanny knack with words and create a pipeline to God according to the tenets of an ancient Kabbalah scholar, Eliza blames herself for everyone's troubles. As the final competition draws nigh and the family disintegrates, however, it might just be that Eliza is the only one who can save them.
Six Deleted Scenes, Directors Commentary, The Essence Of Bee Season Featurette, The Making Of Bee Season Featurette
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
BEE SEASON shows a fondness for photographing things that shimmer - letters in the air, crystals. The movie works earnestly to transform unfamiliar concepts of philosophy (Entertainment Weekly, )
Directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel are elegant filmmakers who construct an intricate narrative without sacrificing emotional intensity (Movieline's Hollywood Life, )
BEE SEASON is worthy of both attention and affection....It's a genuinely felt, finely made movie (New York Times, )
DVD Description
Based on the bestselling novel by Myla Goldberg, 'Bee Season' follows a family of seekers, each of whom is looking to God, transcendence, or love, in their search for something greater than themselves. Eleven-year-old Eliza Nauman (Flora Cross in a promising debut) is on her way to becoming the national spelling bee champion, much to the delight of her heretofore somewhat dismissive father, Saul (Richard Gere). A professor of religion who wrote his thesis on Jewish mysticism, Saul has previously shown more interest in Eliza's older brother, Aaron (Max Minghella), a serious-minded young scholar and cello player. In what soon becomes clear is his customary manner, Saul takes control of Eliza's spelling career, and focuses on her to the exclusion of the rest of his family. Meanwhile, his wife, Miriam (Juliette Binoche), is quietly facing a spiritual crisis, and unbeknownst to her family is engaging in petty thievery in her quest for beauty and salvation. Saul is unwilling to admit that anything is wrong-and thus out of his control-while the unmoored Aaron turns to the beatific Chali (Kate Bosworth), a hare Krishna, for spiritual sustenance and comfort. As Saul attempts to tap Eliza's uncanny knack with words and create a pipeline to God according to the tenets of an ancient Kabbalah scholar, Eliza blames herself for everyone's troubles. As the final competition draws nigh and the family disintegrates, however, it might just be that Eliza is the only one who can save them.
![Bee Season [DVD] [2005]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78491178.jpg)
