Hilary Swank delivers a knockout blow

Advantages: Great acting, brilliant story
Disadvantages: Emotional

...32 year old Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) has never had much in her life, she works in a café and just about manages to get by. She?s always had one dream though, which even at 32 years old she?s never given up hope on? becoming a professional boxer. Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a boxing trainer and has trained many former heavyweight champions in his time however these champions have all been men. Frankie is getting on a bit and he has old time values which include the presumption that women can?t box. When Maggie approaches Frankie in the hope of him agreeing to train her he immediately refuses however after seeing Maggie?s determination and a little push in the right direction from his life long friend and colleague Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman) Frankie agrees to train the aspiring with all the fortitude in the world...

Great_reviewer07 17.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Million Dollar Baby (DVD)

Hilary Swank and Her Dangerous Minds

Advantages: Strong performance by Swank, watchable enough
Disadvantages: Forgettable, with a supporting cast that feels out of place

...****************************************************************** TITLE: Freedom Writers RATING: ***½ CAST: Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April L. Hernandez, Mario, Kristin Herrara, Jacklyn Ngan, Sergio Montalvo, Jason Finn, Deance Wyatt, Vanetta Smith, Hunter Parrish, Robert Wisdom. DIRECTOR: Richard LaGravenese SCREENWRITER: Richard LaGravenese STUDIO: Paramount Pictures / MTV Films / Jersey Films RUNNING TIME: 123 min. RATED: PG-13 (US) & 12A (UK); for violance, profanity, and thematic elements. DVD AVAILABILITY: Not Available on Region 2 DVD yet as of this writing ****************************************************************** INTRODUCTION ****************************************************************** I?m sure that many of you (if not all of you...

eve6kicksass 28.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of Freedom Writers (Wide Screen)

Hilary Hahn hampered by bad production values

Advantages: Wonderful performance of the Korngold Violin Concerto
Disadvantages: Content repetition, speech over music, disappointing extras, etc

...Introduction: Artist profile DVDs can be extremely revealing in helping to provide a deeper perspective into what makes a particular musician "tick" and as a result listening to their recordings or concerts becomes an even more rewarding experience. The Maxim Vengerov DVD portrait - "Living the Dream" which I reviewed recently on Ciao, was a great example of a documentary which gave a real insight into his personality, family background and musical ambitions. So it was with eager anticipation that I picked up "Hilary Hahn - A Portrait". The Artist - Hilary Hahn - violinist: Hilary Hahn is an acclaimed American violinist who was born in 1979, she started studying the instrument at the age of 4 and after studying at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music she started her phenomenal career which has taken her around the world...

Maestrolover 27.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Hilary Hahn - A Portrait (DVD)

FREE DVDs

Advantages: Free trial, large choice, post included,new realeases
Disadvantages: see review

...I like movies and I like freebies, so when you get offered both in one swoop you?re bound to accept! I used my two week free trial with this company and remained with them for a couple of monthsbefore moving on to try many other companies free trials (and winning a new DVD player on Tesco DVD rental site on their free trial offer). I then had an email from DVDs 365 asking me to go back, and offering me a free DVD if I did so. I had just left Tesco (with my new DVD player) so I chose to go back with them. ∆◊◊ THE SERVICE THEY OFFER ∆◊◊ Basically it?s like going to a video shop and hiring films on DVD, except you don?t pay for each film you chose ? rather a monthly fee for which you can watch as many movies as you can fit in, for us this is usually around 8 a month (2 a week usually weekends...

dabmim 15.11.2004 · Read review
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Review of dvds365.com

Dignity - Hilary Duff

Advantages: A fun, sophisticated pop album
Disadvantages: None

...At just 19 years old, Hilary Duff has achieved a lot. She rose to fame as a teenager in Disney's hit TV show 'Lizzie McGuire', since then she has starred in many movies, has released 4 studio albums, she has her own clothing range and has recently launched her own fragrance 'With Love'. Her fourth album 'Dignity' has just been released in the UK. 'Dignity' shows how she has matured and grown up. She is back with a sophisticated new image and new sound. Her previous albums have been of a pop/rock sound but now she has moved onto a more pop/dance sound. I own her 3rd album 'Most Wanted' which was a sort of a greatest hits CD, I have to say that there is such a difference between this one and 'Dignity'. 'Dignity' is far better in my opinion, she seems to have found a style that suits her so I hope she sticks to this now. I was...

Natanna 02.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of Dignity - Hilary Duff

Surprising Picture Quality - Panasonic DVD-S54

Advantages: Incredible picture quality when compared to my old non-upscaling player with a scart lead
Disadvantages: Sometimes disc drive can be really noisy when DVD's initially load.

...At first I wasn't convinced by up-scaling DVD player technology but was persuaded after reading an article in "What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision" magazine. Unable to afford a Blu-Ray player my sister and I bought the Panasonic DVD-S54 to match our parents brand new Panasonic TX-32LZD80 LCD television as their Christmas 2008 present. Admittedly it was a slightly selfish purchase as we both live at home and wanted to watch DVDs on the big new TV ourselves! We bought the player from the electrical retailer Comet for about £100 just before Christmas so there were no discounts applied. On Christmas day when opened we found a relatively small box tightly packed with the player in polystyrene packaging. All the components such as cables, remote and manuals were well presented in their own protective plastic bags, to keep them protected. The player...

bobbacon985 12.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Panasonic DVD-S54

Swanking About

Advantages: It's nice to draw attention to hard-working teachers.
Disadvantages: It focusses on the wrong character and there's a lack of emotional depth.

...apples. The unsupportive teaching staff are two-dimensional bad guys that may provide undertones of institutional racism but don?t ever feel like human beings. The realisation that they are all essentially the same regardless of background or skin colour through a classroom game feels cheap because afterwards everyone is fast friends and it can?t have been that simple to unite them. What is easier to buy are the black and white beliefs of the students and their lack of general knowledge and education. The dialogue mixes the street language of the kids (the cadences of which LaGravenese picks up on) and the more complex and often condescending speech of Gruwell and her family and colleagues. As far as I?m concerned, Hilary Swank is one of the most overrated actresses working today. I don?t believe she deserved either of her Oscars. As...

afy9mab 12.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Freedom Writers

Hilary and Jackie

Advantages: Great music, tear jearker, insight into pressures of a musician
Disadvantages: main protagonist not all that likeable

...I frequently cite this film as being my favourite film when asked the oh-so-difficult question to answer. As a violinist, I adore films which attempt to recreate the musician's world from different angles. I also adore films which explore the often troubled lives of geniuses, and the effect their talent can have on family members. So, this film ticks both of those boxes. I think even if you are not all that interested in classical music and the talented people that bring the music to our ears, this will be a film you can enjoy. It's really a family tale. Of a bond so strong between two sisters that weaves between intense love and mad jealousy. I'm sure many people with siblings can identify with this. The film traces the loves and lives of Hilary and Jackie from childhood and into adulthood. It portrays the events in Jackie...

amyjane1 08.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Hilary And Jackie (DVD)

Hilarious!

Advantages: More amusing than the first movie, in my opinion
Disadvantages: Ben Stiller could have been better

...could be. Between the conservative Dina, strict Jack Byrnes and the openly sexual, carefree Focker parents, not to mention the maid who had sex with Greg when he was a teenager- will all of them be able to get along or will Greg and Pam realize that they might not be made for each other after all? Like I mentioned above, I happened to like this film more than the original version. The reason is because I never found something as funny as combining these two families together. I would say that this was a devilishly hilarious move from the part of the producers- if the audience found Greg different from the Byrnes in the first movie, his parents are even more different than him in this one. I have to admire the setting that was chosen by the movie-makers in order to throw these differences into a sharper contrast- the clothing...

diamond_sparkles 15.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Meet The Fockers (DVD)

"Matisse the Master" by Hilary Spurling.

Advantages: Addictive reading, intelligent observations and new information on Matisse.
Disadvantages: Asolutely none.

...Matisse the Master: A Life of Henri Matisse: 1909-1954 v.2 by Hilary Spurling. This biography of the 20th centuary painter and artist Henri Matisse is simply the best I've come across. The writing style is easy to get on with. Art books are often bogged down with art style writting full of incomprehensible language and theory. Not the case here! This book is clear cut and very informative. The author really wants you to understand what Matisse is about as a person and as an artist. Matisse is an artist who was and is surrounded by a negative myth created by critics and ill wishers in his time and this to some extent carried on after his death. This book is a successful attempt to destroy the lies and the myth that Matisse was inferior to Picasso and was somehow just a decorative arist not seriously contributing to Modern art...

petermock 13.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Matisse the Master: A Life of Henri Matisse: 1909-1954 v. 2 - Hilary Spurling