CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

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Memoirs of a Geisha [2005]

starring: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Koji Yakusho, Gong Li
directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date June 05, 2006
I just watched this DVD for the first time and it is truly spellbinding! I would recommend it to anyway. I really think it is the kind of film which everyone should watch in their life. It is shot in such classically beautiful manner, the story, the actors, the cinematography, music and costume design all collate together to make it a real moving piece of art!

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

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Chicago [2002]

starring: Catherine Zeta Jones, Dominic West, Chita Rivera, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere
directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date March 03, 2008
I just watched this DVD for the first time and it is truly spellbinding! I would recommend it to anyway. I really think it is the kind of film which everyone should watch in their life. It is shot in such classically beautiful manner, the story, the actors, the cinematography, music and costume design all collate together to make it a real moving piece of art!

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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Annie [1999]

starring: Alicia Morton, Kathy Bates, Alan Cumming, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth
directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date March 29, 2004
After reading other reviews slating this film for a less exciting ending and having missing songs.... please read up on the history of this musical. It is a stage production and this Disney version stays very true to the stage musical and score. There are still omissions, in particular the Herbert Hoover song by the homeless people and also the Tomorrow song in the White House. But in the main it is a much more realistic adaptation than the Aileen Quinn 1981 film which just changed huge chunks and added songs (like the hideous Let's Go to the Movies sequence instead of the much more captivating NYC). How anyone can prefer the 1981 version is beyond me, the characters of Annie, Grace and Warbucks are so much more likeable in this one and Kathy Bates ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

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Chicago [Blu-ray] [2002]

starring: Catherine Zeta Jones, Dominic West, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah
directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date November 12, 2007
The audio is the best I've heard on blue ray and the video is equally impressive with the vivid colours and detail of the period costumes shown to great effect.Exhilerating musical numbers, beautifully designed sets and great performances make this unmissable.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Chicago [2003]

starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs, Cliff Saunders
directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date August 04, 2003
Renee Zellweger (Cold Mountain) stars as Roxie Hart, a woman who has always dreamed of being in the spotlight and when she murders a man; she is sent to Death Row and seeks the help of lawyer Billy Flynn to get her out of trouble and into the spotlight.

Winner of 6 Oscars including Best Picture, Chicago is one of the noughties most recognized musicals, filled with plenty of entertainment, catchy songs and strong performances, if not the best written plot.

Zellweger gives a good performance as attention seeking Hart, filled with exquisite dancing and acting. Her character is exceptionally annoying all the way through, so unbelievably stubborn and self-centred, and can be frustrating to watch.

It is the support cast ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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Chicago (Special Edition)

starring: Renee Zellweger, Dominic West, Chita Rivera, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere
directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date September 12, 2005
I enjoyed this set, with the substantial extra material, a lot of which is very interesting, particularly the extended version of particular numbers, in which you get some ides of how they were prepared and rehearsed. It's an excellent show anyway, with a lovely, quick paced seedy atmosphere, and it is very, very professionally done. Why not 5 stars? Well, I enjoy the work of Renee Zelwegger, Catherine Zeta Jones and Richard Gere - they are all very skilled, very professional and very, very good, and their performances give a lot of pleasure, but I never feel that any one of them is a died-in-the-wool vaudeville performer, a true music hall artiste. At its worst (and this impression is only very occasional) it just seems a little too much like hard work. It ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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Tony Bennett - An American Classic [Blu-ray] [2006]

starring: Tony Bennett, Christina Aguilera, Billy Crystal, k.d. lang, Chris Botti
directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date April 23, 2007
I enjoyed this set, with the substantial extra material, a lot of which is very interesting, particularly the extended version of particular numbers, in which you get some ides of how they were prepared and rehearsed. It's an excellent show anyway, with a lovely, quick paced seedy atmosphere, and it is very, very professionally done. Why not 5 stars? Well, I enjoy the work of Renee Zelwegger, Catherine Zeta Jones and Richard Gere - they are all very skilled, very professional and very, very good, and their performances give a lot of pleasure, but I never feel that any one of them is a died-in-the-wool vaudeville performer, a true music hall artiste. At its worst (and this impression is only very occasional) it just seems a little too much like hard work. It ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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Tony Bennett - An American Classic [2006]

directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date April 23, 2007
I enjoyed this set, with the substantial extra material, a lot of which is very interesting, particularly the extended version of particular numbers, in which you get some ides of how they were prepared and rehearsed. It's an excellent show anyway, with a lovely, quick paced seedy atmosphere, and it is very, very professionally done. Why not 5 stars? Well, I enjoy the work of Renee Zelwegger, Catherine Zeta Jones and Richard Gere - they are all very skilled, very professional and very, very good, and their performances give a lot of pleasure, but I never feel that any one of them is a died-in-the-wool vaudeville performer, a true music hall artiste. At its worst (and this impression is only very occasional) it just seems a little too much like hard work. It ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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Rob Marshall - Annie/Oliver Twist

directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date September 26, 2005
I enjoyed this set, with the substantial extra material, a lot of which is very interesting, particularly the extended version of particular numbers, in which you get some ides of how they were prepared and rehearsed. It's an excellent show anyway, with a lovely, quick paced seedy atmosphere, and it is very, very professionally done. Why not 5 stars? Well, I enjoy the work of Renee Zelwegger, Catherine Zeta Jones and Richard Gere - they are all very skilled, very professional and very, very good, and their performances give a lot of pleasure, but I never feel that any one of them is a died-in-the-wool vaudeville performer, a true music hall artiste. At its worst (and this impression is only very occasional) it just seems a little too much like hard work. It ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Memoirs of a Geisha [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Suzuka Ohgo, Togo Igawa
directed by: Rob Marshall

Release Date May 15, 2007
I have not read the novel by Arthur Golden, but after watching this movie I think that I will have to. This is the story of the life of Chiyo, a woman that as a child was sold by her father, and separated from her sister. She ends up in an okiya, a geisha house, facing even tougher challenges, such as being hated by the "star" geisha of the place. When she was bordering despair, and ready to give up, the kindness of a stranger motivates her to become a geisha, which she sees as a stepping stone for bigger and better things. After that we witness a journey that is full of emotion, suspense, deceit and even redemption. To tell you the truth, it feels like an epic story.

I was impresses with the enormous amount of information that this film delivers regarding Japanese ... Read More: