Genres I: A Fistful of Genres – Big Fish
Big Fish, based on a book I’ve never read, tells the story of Edward Bloom, a travelling salesman with a taste for tall tales. He’s dying, and his son is trying to get to know the real father behind the stories, to Edward’s amusement and occasional ... Read review
After a string of mediocre movies, director Tim Burton regains his footing as he shifts ... more
from macabre fairy tales to southern tall tales.Big Fishtwines in and out of the oversized stories of Edward Bloom, played as a young man by Ewan McGregor and as a ...
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Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney head up an all star cast in this critically acclaimed ... more
magical adventure. Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years he remains a huge mys...
After a string of mediocre movies, director Tim Burton regains his footing as he shifts ... more
from macabre fairy tales to southern tall tales.Big Fishtwines in and out of the oversized stories of Edward Bloom, played as a young man by Ewan McGregor and as a ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Found Percussion is a multi format Sample DVD consisting of household instruments ... more
percussion sounds and loops. Found Percussion comes with 85 construction kits of unique and quirky percussion material, using 'found' instruments such as wine bottles, air conditioning ducts, coffee cans, electric fans, welding rods, slack bass strings, suitcases??everything including the kitchen sink! In kitchens, garages and back yards everywhere, everyday objects lie waiting to be turned into found percussion instruments. Soda cans, wood saws, glass vases: all can make beautiful music when played by a master. Four master percussionist/producers created what just might be the world's most unique percussion library. Found Percussion features include: 6.16 GB (2.47 GB WAV Files) 85 Construction kits in 3 formats 2151 Loops in 3 formats Compatibility: Apple Loops/REX/WAV/RMX/Acid
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From the sundrenched shores of Ibiza, to the sweaty throngs of the Berlin Love Parade, ... more
Dancevolution has arrived. Dancevolution comes with over 3.7 GB of content that will take you on a trip into fully realized moments of energized emotional intensity. Joining you for the journey are Acidized Wav files, Apple Loops, Trance Hits, Halion 2 Kits, Battery 2 Kits, Kontakt 2 kits, transcendent beat loops, etc. For Reason users, there are NNXT and Redrum kits, ready to extend your tracks into the stratosphere. If you're on a mission to find the right beat to add to your heart pulsing film score or club pounding Trance track, begin the journey that is Dancevolution. Dancevolution main features include: Format: NNXT/HALion/Kontakt/Apple Loops/Battery/WAV/Acid 3.73 GB comprising over 4000 pieces of audio content. 43 complete and fully mastered 24-bit construction kits sets 533 Acidized WAV file loops. 43 complete and fully mastered construction kits in 16-bit Apple Loops AIFF Ready for Garage Band, Logic 7 and Soundtrack Pro Fully mixed and mastered "complete" arrangements of all construction kits.
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Big Fish Audio RETRO COOL is a collection of loops and samples inspired by music from ... more
popular movies like Pulp Fiction, Ocean??s Eleven, Snatch and many others. Big Fish Audio RETRO COOL has everything you need to add a dose of vintage flavor to your own music - from trashy 70??s-style funk to cool spy themes, 60??s surf rock and even Spaghetti Westerns. Featuring 34 construction kits packed with live drums, horns, flute, guitar, electric and acoustic bass, organ, electric piano, bongos, congas, and enough old school soul to make even Huggy-Bear happy. Big Fish Audio RETRO COOL main features include: Apple Loops, REX, WAV, RMX, Acid 9.62 GB of content in this multi-DVD library 3.82 GB of 24-bit WAV content 755 WAV loops 34 Construction Kits Drum Tracks give you access to the multi-track recordings of the drums allowing you to mix the drums exactly to your liking.
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101 Below - With over 4GB consisting of over 4,300 pieces of content, this DVD-ROM is ... more
unrivaled in its examination of the mellow, trip hop, ballads, instrumentals, and sometimes a dose of the lighter side. 101 Below represents a uncharted path into the fragile sadness; the romantic heart of the so slow soul. If you live to emote in tempos most slow, this is the collection for you. There is no end to the sonic inspiration that this library will provide for your pop ballad, down tempo video game score, tripped out feature film soundtrack, interactive media project or softly tinged musical experience. Living somewhere on the other side of the BPM dial, you have reached your down tempo destination. Welcome to 101 Below. 101 Below main features include: 4.27 GB comprising over 4300 pieces of audio content 31 complete and fully realized construction kits sets represented as 377 acidized wav file loops Fully mixed and mastered sample arrangements of all construction kits 845 MB (comprising over 2,000 samples) of Reason content 74 Redrum Patches consisting of all single hit drum, percussion, bass, guitar, melodic hits and slams 12 NNXT Sampler Patches: Full 88 note patches consisting of of all single hit drum, percussion, bass, guitar, melodic hits and slams 31 Sample RNS Reason Songs for quick auditioning, re-arrangement and playback right within Reason 127 NN19 Sampler Patches of all single hit drum, percussion, bass, guitar, melodic hits and slams 28 complete Kontakt and Battery Patches of all single hit drum, percussion, bass, guitar, melodic hits and slams. (comprising 1800 samples in total) Instruments and sample loops include: Bass, Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Synths, Percussion and much more
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The Big Fish Audio SYMPHONIC MANOEUVRES Collection Of 30 Original Orchestral Pieces, Over ... more
5 GB Of Content. Big Fish Audio SYMPHONIC MANOEUVRES. This collection of 30 original orchestral pieces was recorded live with a professional orchestra. Big Fish Audio have turned soaring strings, majestic horns and driving percussion into completely flexible, loopable and above all musical construction kits. Each piece is about one minute long and contains full string sections, horns, woodwinds, percussion and additional instruments like synths and guitars. Let your imagination soar! Rearrange, rework or completely mangle these kits however you like. It will take you a while to manoeuvre through this two DVD set that is busting at the seams with over 5 GB of exciting car chases, tender love scenes, action packed suspense and everything in between. So whether you??re scoring a film or sampling an orchestra for a hip hop track, this disc will supply you with endless hours of symphonic adventures. The main features of Big Fish Audio SYMPHONIC MANOEUVRES include: Soaring strings, majestic horns and driving percussion AIFF, Apple Loops, REX, WAV formats 5.07 GB of content (2.36 GB of 24bit WAV content) 1,212 24-bit WAV/REX2/Apple Loop files (489 WAV FIles, 234 REX Files and 489 Apple Loop files)
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The Big Fish Audio RADIO WAVES Radio Ready Sample CD - 3.64GB Of Content. Big Fish ... more
Audio RADIO WAVES, a fine collection of radio-ready hip-hop construction kits. Ignite the airwaves with this unique collection of radio-ready construction kits, comprised of dozens of red hot vocal and instrumental hooks laid over beds of slammin' beats. Under the direction of producer Josquin des Pres, this collaborative effort involves various members of the Track Star Music Solutions writing team. Each construction kit is a hit in itself! Whether you're a DJ, producer, songwriter or artist, you can use them as is, or simply add your melody, lyric or rhyme and build your own hit music track. 50 Construction Kits are included with tempos ranging from 72 to 136 BPM in various keys. Each kit contains a main mix plus every element broken out plus folders of "Drum Tracks"."Drum Track" give you access to the individual parts of the drum mix. Now you have full access to remix, recreate, or mix and match between different parts of the drums. Take the snare loop from one kit and match it with the drums and hi-hat from another kit. The main features of Big Fish Audio RADIO WAVES include: Collection of radio-ready hip-hop construction kits Apple Loops, REX, WAV, Stylus RMX formats 3.64 GB DVD (1.6 GB of 24-bit WAV content) 750 WAV loops on disc 50 Construction Kits Tempos ranging from 72 to 136 BPM
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This is the guitar onslaught you've been waiting for! A guitar virtual instrument done ... more
right, with multiple amps and levels of distortion, mono and stereo files, and extra long files so you don't run out of guitar in the middle of a riff. Sustained notes, chugs, hammer-ons, bends and lots more, so you can create your own guitar parts. Also included: bonus guitar loops that can be time stretched to match the tempo of your tune automatically. We've packaged this giant wall of sound into a Kontakt Player plug-in for the ultimate in playability. The product ships with 3 DVDs, over 11 gigabytes of data, and absolute maximum rock n' roll. "Raging Guitars" features dozens of different patches chromatically sampled at various distortion levels with various tones and articulations. Sections include: Chords, Chugs, Construction Kits, Extras, Hammer-ons, Muted, Octaves, and Single Notes. In the Chords folder, you'll find major, minor, add9, and power chords all sampled at various levels of distortion. Also provided are keyswitch patches, enabling you to build a song using any combination of the different types of chords. Seventeen Construction Kits are provided, with prebuilt riffs and variations, in a variety of keys and tempos. All can be tempo-synced or can be played in slices. The Extras section contains guitar-related special effects, such as feedback, fret noise, mute strums, and more. The Chugs, Hammer-ons, Muted, Octaves, and Single Notes folders all contain numerous variations on those specific articulations, some sampled in mono and some in stereo, at various distortion levels. Many feature mod wheel switching to let you access multiple articulations at once. The 24 Bit Kontakt Player version includes a specialized version of the Native Instruments Kontakt software. This makes it possible to play Raging Guitars right away, standalone or as a plug-in (VST, RTAS, DXi, AU) in most sequencers running Mac OSX or Windows. The Kontakt player
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The Big Fish Audio LATIN JAZZ Sample CD By Peter Michael Escovedo. Big Fish Audio ... more
LATIN JAZZ. If you know Jazz, you know the Escovedo family. For years Peter Michael Escovedo has been infusing his authentic Latin flavor in the music of artists such as Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, George Michael, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, Najee and more. And as an Emmy-nominated musical director who??s performed with the likes of Marvin Gaye, Justin Timberlake, Celine Dion, Tito Puente, Herbie Hancock, Kenny G, Mary J Blige, Tower of Power, Santana and others, you won??t find a more talented professional to add some genuine Latin flavor to your tv show, film score or radio hit. Salsa, rumba, songo, mambo, cha-cha, bolero, samba, and more are all represented here in 40 construction kits packed with plenty of spicy latin Jazz. The main features of Big Fish Audio LATIN JAZZ include: Salsa, rumba, songo, mambo, cha-cha, bolero, samba, and more with plenty of spicy latin Jazz Apple Loops, REX, WAV, Stylus RMX formats 2.48 GB DVD in 3 Formats 40 Construction Kits Instruments Include: bass, drums, bongos, congas, piano, shaker, timbales, trumpet, trombone, guitar, flute, sax and cowbell
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The Big Fish Audio ROCK STAR Thick Electric Guitars, Driving Bass, And Grooving Drums. ... more
Big Fish Audio ROCK STAR, Alternative Rock and Pop samples. If you need rock-solid performances that will inspire, then you need Rock Star. This construction-kit loop library captures the vibe and the drive of today??s most popular rock groups. Thick electric guitars, driving bass, and grooving drums serve as the backbone to this nearly 4 GB DVD. You??ll also find acoustic guitars and pianos to round out this Alternative Rock and Pop product. Each kit contains a full mix, alternate variations of each instrument, fills and leads. From Nickelback and Maroon 5 to The Killers, Coldplay and Matchbox 20, this authentic modern rock collection has captured the radio ready sound you??re looking for. The main features of Big Fish Audio ROCK STAR include: Construction-kit loop library captures the vibe and the drive of today??s most popular rock groups AIFF, Apple Loops, REX, WAV, RMX formats 3.95 GB on DVD disc (1.7 GB of 24bit WAV content) Disc includes a custom Rock Star RMX installer. Simply double click on the installer and the loops and suites are ready for access in Stylus RMX Construction Kits - 25 construction kits containing 936 loops from 90 to 180 BPM in various keys. All of the construction kits contain a full mix and all the elements broken out into individual loops Instruments Include: Drums, Bass, Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars and Piano
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I have to admit that while a lot of people pick guitar, not many can play this well or get ... more
this kind of sound from their instrument.8 out of 10...This box is ideal for using at once and replacing those expensive session playersFinally, a usable acoustic guitar library! And what better way to have it than in the Performance Loops series? Similar to the Performance Loops Drums series you're able to use several guitar loops and variations from a single performance (or session) and string them together to create a complete track. Each guitar performance is organized by chords or root key, and laid out for you to construct a whole song instead of just relying on one ambiguous loop. 6 string steel, 6 string nylon and 12 string guitars from Taylor, Guild, Gibson, Ovation and others. Over 1000 loops in folk/rock, rock/pop, acoustic singer/songwriter, with some jazz, funk and a touch of country thrown in. The Performance Loops series has revolutionized production and this is one not to miss! "Format: AUDIO/WAV/ACID
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Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Pat O'Connor - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over, 15 years and over - Starring: Geraldine O'Rawe, Colin Firth, Saffron Burrows, Minnie Driver, Chris O'Donnell
Drama - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Shelagh Fraser, Barbara Flynn, Keith Drinkel, Felicity Kendal, Pam Ferris, Colin Douglas
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: There is magic in the world after all Disadvantages: The pedantry of the Crudup character
...A Fistful of Genres – Big Fish
Big Fish, based on a book I’ve never read, tells the story of Edward Bloom, a travelling salesman with a taste for tall tales. He’s dying, and his son is trying to get to know the real father behind the stories, to Edward’s amusement and occasional irritation.
The story spans 60 years and a fistful of genres – fairytales, crime capers and romances fill the running time comfortably. And ... ...the imaginative life of Edward Bloom.
Let’s shift the negative stuff first with a simple fact. The son is a petulant pain in the bum. A cipher of a character, his only purpose for most of the film is to stir up conflict so we can see more of his father’s fantasy world. His insistent whining after ‘the truth’ is irritating, at best. Why can’t he accept the ‘truth’ that his father is a rotund and slightly flirty raconteur? And the actor’s ... more
Genres I: A Fistful of Genres – Big Fish
Big Fish, based on a book I’ve never read, tells the story of Edward Bloom, a travelling salesman with a taste for tall tales. He’s dying, and his son is trying to get to know the real father behind the stories, to Edward’s amusement and occasional irritation.
The story spans 60 years and a fistful of genres – fairytales, crime capers and romances fill the running time comfortably. And the viewer is bombarded by image after stunning image from the imaginative life of Edward Bloom.
Let’s shift the negative stuff first with a simple fact. The son is a petulant pain in the bum. A cipher of a character, his only purpose for most of the film is to stir up conflict so we can see more of his father’s fantasy world. His insistent whining after ‘the truth’ is irritating, at best. Why can’t he accept the ‘truth’ that his father is a rotund and slightly flirty raconteur? And the actor’s surname is apparently ‘Crudup’, which is amusing.
The film is a constant visual delight as Ed Bloom (played by both Albert Finney and Ewan MacGregor) lives his life. After the curiously sterile Burton-lite style of Planet of the Apes, Burton is back on top form, quirky humour investing every shot with significance. The soulless suburban lawns of Edward Scissorhands are back, with choreographed lawnmowers, as is the Wallace & Gromitesque automated kitchen. Cars end up in trees, lawns are planted with a million daffodils. And in the mystery village of Spectre, travellers hang up their shoes forever on a crowded clothesline.
If these poetic images are a little less macabre than we have come to expect from this director, it’s good to see that they have lost none of their resonance, that there is more to Tim Burton than Michael Keaton in silly masks.
As Bloom journeys through life his adventures are compelling. Knocking out enemy soldiers with a cheeky flourish, or taking a punishing beating from an old schoolfriend, Ewan MacGregor’s wide-eyed portrayal is note-perfect, in spite of an accent which even I can tell is out of kilter from time to time. Stopping just short of being punchably chirpy, Ed inspires devotion in the viewer. He’s cocky, but charming, in an occasionally sneaky kind of way.
And then there’s the good bit.
Edward’s travels have brought him to a circus, run by Danny Devito. Suddenly, he notices a girl – and time freezes. Bloom walks through a motionless circus, climbing through hoops and, in the best bit of all, through a cloud of popcorn. It’s the film’s signature shot, it’s one of the most magical things you’ve ever seen and it will live forever. Alone it puts the film in the top ten for the 21st century so far.
CGI, narrative, design, performance and soundtrack combine for an unexpected moment of beauty that’s only really a prelude to the fast-forward gag.
And of course it’s hugely symbolic. Burton is sweeping aside the traditional trappings of cinema (popcorn, genre, plot, linear narrative) so that we can experience a more magical view of the world. Eroding the barriers between audience and film just as Bloom erodes the barriers between fantasy and objective reality.
The film has been criticised for losing focus later on. For the most part, this means people don’t understand and can’t accept what’s been done.
Bloom Jr is sorting out his father’s paperwork and starts to dig around. Expecting to learn the truth behind a few of his father’s stories, instead everyone gets a bit confused.
Why can’t Bloom be a war hero, town saviour and friend to witches, werewolves and giants? This IS a film, and one directed by Tim Burton! His masterstroke is to set up the possibility that Bloom is just making things up, siding the audience with Crudup in spite of our instincts. The problem is that when we come to the point when we should be realising that a great deal of what we’ve seen was true after all, we’ve become too entrenched in the boring Crudup mindset. And I find it depressing that people find themselves confused by a film which says that beauty and, well, magic actually are all around, and that they spring from our creative faculties.
I remember the first time I watched this film, there were loads of kids in the cinema, and I unfortunately found myself sitting next to one of them. As we reached the conclusion, with Crudup finally succumbing to the story-telling instinct, Edward Bloom rises from his deathbed with new vigour.
‘This is silly,’ snorted the girl, as my own eyes began prickling.
‘No, it’s not, it’s beautiful,’ I growled back.
She seemed far from convinced. But about a minute later, as the son’s creative floodgates finally burst open in a frenetic, anarchic montage, she was freely crying her eyes out.
And the amusing thing is that this emotional climax renders the film’s actual ending quite unremarkable, providing as it does a perfect mirror image of the previous sequence. In some ways, it’s a bit disappointing.
But Edward survives, sticking to the life lesson taught to him at the age of 18: ‘The biggest fish is the one that never gets caught.’ He never allows himself to be predictable, delineated. He remains elusive, enigmatic to the last, and his imaginative heart remains untainted by the real world.
If this film has a MESSAGE, it’s a cracking one. We are all storytellers, we all fictionalise and embroider (or at least judiciously edit) out lives when talking to friends, family and potential employers and in the privacy of our own heads. We live in the moment and our past is fiction.
And given that the present moment is full of things like renewing the tax disc and polishing shoes, isn’t it so much more satisfying to make the past a more magical world?
Crudup is an irritating character due to his incessant pedantry. Everything he’d ever need to know about Edward Bloom shines through his stories. He is a kind man, a romantic, whose love for his family shines through every single tale. He’s a crusader, hell-bent on making the world a more beautiful place and going to extraordinary lengths to realise those dreams. Bloom doesn’t just tell stories, he actively seeks to clothe them in reality, from his town restoration to his daffodil project.
The music is provided, as always, by Danny Elfman, and ranges in tone almost as dramatically as the images it informs. And even the real world plays its part in providing touching scenes, a rare feat for the wilfully surreal Burton. Helena Bonham Carter continues her quest for the strangest filmography EVER (Fight Club, Howard’s End, Planet of the Apes and Wings of the Dove) and provides the only solid clues to the extent to which Bloom is fabricating events. Scenes between the older Bloom and his beloved wife are also magnificently moving, and still nice and silly.
As for the other major supporting player, it’s a well-known fact that Steve Buscemi can only perform two functions. He can briefly enhance mediocre films to the point where they’re briefly watchable (The Wedding Singer, Con Air), or he can add a final gloss to a brilliant production with some patented thyroid charm (Desperado, Fargo and Reservoir Dogs). He’s definitely filling the latter role here, a coiled spring of repressed manic energy that makes an ideal counter to MacGregor’s pleasant wide-eyed innocent.
Albert Finney is a little hard to swallow as an older version of Ewan, if only because he’s looked exactly the same for at least twenty years. He’s used to the part at least, it’s broadly similar to his role in Dennis Potter’s last play. Need a terminally ill dreamer with a twinkle in his eye? Albert’s your man. His accent sounds better, too.
The DVD extras are suitably lavish, mostly consisting of featurettes examining different aspects of the film, whether that’s Danny DeVito presenting the circus where Bloom meets the love of his life, or a look at the special effects created by Stan Winston’s studio. The production values on these segments are high, and they’re fascinating for a single viewing, but you’re very unlikely to watch many of them more than once. Tim Burton’s audio commentary on the other hand is utterly fantastic. Burton is a real artist, and I could listen to him talk for a week about his films.
So, finally and in conclusion, freedom to the imagination, folks. Embrace the magic.
Advantages: great acting and another great story directed by Tim Burton Disadvantages: could be too long or twee for some people
...written in my mind. Unfortunately, Big Fish was not one of these films, as throughout the closing credits I had to hold Ian to stop him sobbing uncontrollably, and it kind of stopped me thinking about any witty comment I might have made.
The fact this film made him cry should be an indication of either how good the film was, or how much of a wuss my husband is...and I’d like to state now that Ian used to play rugby, and hasn’t cried at a film since ... ...on the morning after.
Big Fish, adapted by John August from the novel by Daniel Wallace, is a film I can’t pigeonhole. It’s not really a comedy, although it will make you laugh, it’s not really a drama, although some of the acting is as dramatic as you can find. The fact it’s directed by Tim Burton should give you some idea of the sort of film you’re going to see – a visually perfect vision, of a slightly strange story about an unusual character ...
pesky33 01.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Big Fish (DVD)
Advantages: De Vito, Bonham Carter and Lange. Some great sets and effects Disadvantages: Self indulgent, self aggradising, sentimental, saccharine soaked story - which misses the real point..
...‘An adventure as big as life itself, from the imagination of Tim Burton’... “That’s a promising tagline”, I thought, (having enjoyed many of Burton previous imaginative offerings) before my cynical alter ego kicked in, “you’ll only be disappointed, let it go...” And I did. In an effort designed to reduce my expectation and so perhaps increase my eventual enjoyment of the film I firmly resisted the pull of the ‘big screen experience’ and waited patiently ... ...succumb to the mass advertising and hype which surrounded it’s release. So, was it worth the wait? Well, yes and no. It is a ‘big adventure’ which has Tim Burton’s fertile, often visionary imagination stamped all over it. It brims with amazing sets, costumes and colours, and undoubtedly does good service to Daniel Wallace’s novel as a number of decent actors inject enough life into their characters to make them convincing and on the whole likeable. ...
Spiderkid 09.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Big Fish (DVD)
Advantages: Good performances, well-crafted, beautiful to look at Disadvantages: Digresses a lot
...It may be the big names that draw you to a film, but the supporting cast can make or break a movie. Here there is thankfully a high quality ensemble. Danny DeVito is on fine form as the circus ringmaster who employs Edward, in return for information on Sandra. He comes across as a slightly nicer and saner version of the Penguin and evidently has a great deal of fun in the role. Mark McGrory is well cast as the giant Karl and not just because he stands ... ...be easy for him to stand there and let his size do the talking, but he puts a lot into his dialogue and gives the character a soft edge. Ada and Arlene Tai put in fine comic performances as the conjoined lounge singer twins, each with a glint of madness in her eyes and the sound of a harpy in her voice. And they can sing pretty well too. Marion Cotillard makes her English language debut as Will’s young pregnant wife. She brings a softness and understanding ...
afy9mab 17.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Big Fish (DVD)
Advantages: well-crafted, attractive film Disadvantages: lacking sparkle
Big Fish is a peculiarly difficult film to opine about. It is beautifully constructed, past and present blending neatly, and attractive as well as well-acted and competently scripted. It is also, in some indefinable way that I shall attempt to get my mind around, somewhat underwhelming. Ahem.
The plot is simple. After years of his father's grandstanding tall tales, Will Bloom finally stops talking to him altogether. When cancer strikes his ageing ... ...Edward Bloom". He's a big fish in a small pond, but he's just waiting to be a whale in the ocean. McGregor earnestly picks his way through the tales, from the witch to the mysterious town of Spectre, from circus life to marriage and from wartime to parenthood, with humour and style, never letting the young Edward slip from his almost comic-book persona but never letting him seem two-dimensional either. He is wry and funny, cool and sweet and apart ...
ruth_cole 04.02.2004 (05.02.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Big Fish (DVD)
Advantages: The cast are engaging and it has more engaging Burton moments than "Planet of the Apes" Disadvantages: Not Burton at its best - is it Alabama? Why did Burton cast Crudup?
...Albert Finney's performance. Big Fish is one of those films which is very hard to judge. Although this is not Tim Burton at its best, it is an imaginative film filled with generally good performances. It is vibrant and it is an adventure. But it can't escape being a film that does little more than allude to his better work: such as in the moment where the young Ed watches over men mowing the identical lawns of suburbia, that is so reminiscent of ... ...hope for his next film? Until you leave the cinema your likely criticisms will be about the structure of the film and the slight anti-climax at the end. But once you start to think about the nature of the apparent real world of 'Big Fish' the pond will have become bigger and your rating of it may well appear a little smaller in comparison. ...
ickkate 27.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Big Fish (DVD)
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Advantages: You can watch it again and again and notice something different each time Disadvantages: It can never be the same as being at the venue
Reel BigFish Live at the House of Blues is a music DVD recorded in 2003, and is one of a series of "The Show Must Go Off" DVDs produced by Kung Fu Records.
Although the concert begins with a few hiccups, it soon becomes clear why the band have such a devout following of "skankers". You really get a feel for the energy and buzz of the audience they are playing to, and you feel as though the band actually enjoy each other's company as well as the recognition they get for their music.
In my opinion, the DVD is 105 minutes too short, and although watching a DVD of a gig would never be the same as attending it for real, I know that each time I watch it I will notice something new, and take away some of the infectious happiness that they omit every minute that they grace the stage.
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Advantages: funny, lots of laughter Disadvantages: none
This DVD is a collection of Goofy's best Cartoon shorts. Goofy is one of the world's best know and craziesy cartoon dog. The DVD is full of slap stick humour that the whole family will enjoy.
The shorts are about Goofy's mishap as he tries out different activities and finds himself in different situation. The six different shorts include Goofy trying his hand at sking and showing his own style of fishing on a fishing trip with his grasshopper friend. The DVD includes old favourites that you'll all remember such as LION DOWN and THE BIG WASH.
I think everyone will enjoy this DVD perfect for sitting down with only a few minutes spare or when you have an hour. This DVD will never bore you. Especially loved by children, they will be rolling around the floor in stitches!! Everybody certainly does love Goofy!!!
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Advantages: Fish's eye view of your tackle Disadvantages: You might sell your equipment
Danny Fairbrass, boss of Korda Developments and one of Britains most successful bigfish men, has taken angling dvd's into a new realm. Working in association with Dive Out Productions you see never seen before footage of how your tackle looks and works from a fish's eye view. This truely is amazing, however you might want to sell your carp tackle and take up some other sport after watching this 2disc dvd.
Location
=
Horseshoe Lake, Lechlade, Gloustershire.
Disc 1
Marker Float
Quality rod of 3 or 4lb test curve with a fast taper
Quality reel with a large spool
Braid mainline
Mono leader
Arsley bomb (weedy bottom)
Flat lead (clean bottom)
Cigar float
Fox pike feeder stem
The fox pike feeder stem is attached to the lead weight and the line is then passed through ...
Edward Bloom has always told tall tales of his life, charming everyone apart from his son Will. When Will's mother Sandra tries to bring the pair back together, Will must try and learn what parts of his father's epic tales of giants, witches and blizzards are fact and which are fiction.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Tim Burton Audio Commentary, Edward Bloom At Large, Amos At The Circus, Fathers And Sons, Tim Burton Storyteller, A Fairytale World, Creature Features, The Authors Journey, The Finer Points A Tim Burton Trivia Quiz, Trailers
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English Hungarian Italian
DVD Description
In Tim Burton's family film BIG FISH, a wonderful storyteller named Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), who lives in a small town in Alabama, recounts tall tales of his wild worldly adventures. These are shown in flashback with Ewan McGregor playing the young Bloom. Wonderful special effects and vibrant colours that pop off the screen make this Burton film a much sunnier experience than his macabre gems EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and BEETLEJUICE. Yet his signature quirky artistry is unmistakable, and the movie benefits from crisp production values and a loveable, bizarre cast of characters. Told through a series of vignettes, Bloom's stories involve a witch, a giant, a haunted forest, and yes, a big fish. A self-described small-town hero, Bloom explains how he left home at 18 determined to experience anything and everything life could dish out. He worked for the circus, took on daring assignments as a WWII soldier, and rambled across the country as a zany travelling salesman. Utterly unbelievable yet magical and delightful, Bloom's stories just don't translate to his son Will (Billy Crudup) who wants to know his dad's "true" life story. But little by little--through increasingly outlandish tales at which Will cannot resist smirking--the two begin to understand each other, and Bloom weaves his stories into their genealogical fabric.