British Country Birds DVD

Advantages: lovely mini-series to watch
Disadvantages: bit long to watch in one go

...Colleen McCullough wrote The Thorn Birds in 1977. The story of illicit love between a priest and a young girl, set in Australia, starting in 1920 and spanning the next 60 years in Rome and Australia. The Thorn Birds was turned into a mini-series in 1983, starring Rachel Ward and Richard Chamberlain in the starring roles. I remember watching this, I would have been 11 at the time and I have also read the book several times. My husband gave me the DVD for Christmas, so here is a little review on The Thorn Birds. CAST +++++ Mary Carson - Barbara Stanwyck Megan Cleary - Rachel Ward Father Ralph de Bricassart - Richard Chamberlain Fiona Cleary - Jean Simmons Anne Mueller - Piper Laurie Luke O'Neill - Bryan Brown Dane O'Neill - Philip Anglim Justine O'Neill - Mare Winningham... Read review

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Advantages: Helps babies and children with early communication skills.
Disadvantages: Not too widely known about.

..."Time to sing and time to sign, are you ready for music time? We feel happy and we feel fine, everyone sing and sign!" ... So begins this fantastic DVD to help hearing babies with very early communication skills. It's great fun and is not like any other action songs DVD. What is Sing and Sign? The 'Sing and Sign' concept was invented by a lady called Sasha Felix, in Brighton, in 2001. She uses traditional nursery rhymes and her own creations, along with hand signs based on British Sign Language and is compatible with Makaton and Signalong. The idea behind sing and sign is that babies want to communicate right from birth and are born to be sociable. Sing and sign is a fun way to help both parents and babies understand each other better. There are clear hand signs to accompany... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: The music, the directing, the performances.
Disadvantages: Very depressing.

...I bought 'Bird', the Charlie Parker story from Amazon, for £5.99. Though the film was released initially in 1988 it has been quite hard to get on DVD (even though it was released in this format in 2006), for some reason, and as a big Charlie Parker fan I was thrilled to see lots of copies now available. It carries a British '15' rating. and is a mammoth 154 minutes long (yep, that is nearly three hours). Clint Eastwood directed this film, partly as a labour of love, as it was never going to be an all time best seller or break any box office records, though it did win best actor at Cannes film festival for Forest Whitaker who plays Charlie Parker. Deservedly so, as Forest Whitaker puts in a dark, moody and believable performance, even some of his sax' 'playing' looks convincing. On top of that the New York Film critics award... Read review

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