Performing Arts - Page 2

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Manufacturing Model: 883929221943

In the television series, The Big Bang Theory, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) are both brilliant physicists working at CalTech in Pasadena, California. They are colleagues, best friends, and roommates, although in all capacities their relationship is always tested primarily by Sheldon's regimented, deeply eccentric, and non-conventional ways. They are also friends with their CalTech colleagues mechanical engineer Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and astrophysicist Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar). The foursome spend their time working on their individual work projects, playing video games, watching science-fiction movies, or reading comic books. As they are self-professed nerds, all have little or no luck with popular women. When Penny, a pretty woman and an aspiring actress originally from Omaha, moves into the apartment across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon's, Leonard has another aspiration in life, namely to get Penny (Kaley Cuoco) to be his girlfriend. The Big Bang Theory: Season 5 is available on DVD in a 3 disc box set. The fifth season of The Big Bang Theory settles into a solid, enjoyable groove. The original quintet of four nerds and a pretty girl has been complemented by two nerd girls, creating a dynamic social world that retains all the social awkwardness needed for comic effect. Much of the season revolves around relationships: Howard (Simon Helberg) is engaged to Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), though that bond is tested by everything from Howard getting commissioned to be an astronaut to online revelations of Howard's former sleaziness; Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) start dating again, this time as "Leonard & Penny 2.0," promising to treat problems as bugs that can be reported and fixed; and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) formalize their relationship with--what else?--a contract, though a dissatisfied Amy later decides to make Sheldon a better boyfriend through sneaky behavior modification. But some of the most delightful bits ...

Manufacturer: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Brand: Unknown Model: MHV61118326BR Color: color

Experience the event of a lifetime with this spectacular 25th anniversary celebration of one of the most popular musicals ever written, Les Misérables. Honoring 25 years of this incredible show, this momentous film captures the excitement of two magnificent sold-out performances that were watched live around the world. With a phenomenal all-star cast, including pop star Nick Jonas (Jonas Brothers), Tony® Award winner Lea Salonga (the voice of Disney’s Mulan and Princess Jasmine), and over 500 additional artists and musicians, revel in the songs of the unforgettable characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution.

Manufacturer: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA) Model: 16478315

Experience the event of a lifetime with this spectacular 25th anniversary celebration of one of the most popular musicals ever written, Les Misérables. Honoring 25 years of this incredible show, this momentous film captures the excitement of two magnificent sold-out performances that were watched live around the world. With a phenomenal all-star cast, including pop star Nick Jonas (Jonas Brothers), Tony® Award winner Lea Salonga (the voice of Disney’s Mulan and Princess Jasmine), and over 500 additional artists and musicians, revel in the songs of the unforgettable characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. Fifteen years after the historic 10th anniversary concert, the international musical sensation Les Misérables returned for a 25th anniversary concert at London's O2 Arena in October 2010. Like the previous concert, it presents an all-star cast, this time taken from two different 2010 London productions as well as the original 1985 cast. The singers stand at microphones wearing costumes, backed by a huge chorus and three video screens showing some action that can't be represented on stage, though the stage is transformed into a set for some key scenes, such as in the Thénardiers' bar and at the barricade. And as it has for 25 years, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's score vividly captures the passion of Victor Hugo's epic tale of post-Revolutionary France, combining tear-jerking ballads ("I Dreamed a Dream," "Bring Him Home") and rousing anthems ("Do You Hear the People Sing"). The cast is nearly all excellent, including Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Norm Lewis as Javert, Matt Lucas as Thénardier, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thénardier (reprising her role from 1995), and Katie Hall as Cosette. Teen pop star Nick Jonas (of the Jonas Brothers) seems to have been cast as Marius for box-office appeal, however. Though he has the right look and hits the right notes, his voice is weak compared to the rest of the cast and throughout the show he seems to wear the same lo...

Manufacturer: WarnerBrothers Brand: Warner Manufacturing Model: 4933171 Color: color

Clockwork Orange, A: Special Edition (BD)]]> Stanley Kubrick's striking visual interpretation of Anthony Burgess's famous novel is a masterpiece. Malcolm McDowell delivers a clever, tongue-in-cheek performance as Alex, the leader of a quartet of droogs, a vicious group of young hoodlums who spend their nights stealing cars, fighting rival gangs, breaking into people's homes, and raping women. While other directors would simply exploit the violent elements of such a film without subtext, Kubrick maintains Burgess's dark, satirical social commentary. We watch Alex transform from a free-roaming miscreant into a convict used in a government experiment that attempts to reform criminals through an unorthodox new medical treatment. The catch, of course, is that this therapy may be nothing better than a quick cure-all for a society plagued by rampant crime. A Clockwork Orange works on many levels--visual, social, political, and sexual--and is one of the few films that hold up under repeated viewings. Kubrick not only presents colorfully arresting images, he also stylizes the film by utilizing classical music (and Wendy Carlos's electronic classical work) to underscore the violent scenes, which even today are disturbing in their display of sheer nihilism. Ironically, many fans of the film have missed that point, sadly being entertained by its brutality rather than being repulsed by it. --Bryan Reesman

Manufacturer: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Brand: Unknown Model: 22975735

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, Cameron Mackintosh produced a unique, spectacular staging of the musical on a scale which had never been seen before. Inspired by the original staging by Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne, this lavish, fully-staged production set in the sumptuous Victorian splendour of London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall features a cast and orchestra of over 200, plus some very special guest appearances.

Manufacturer: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Model: 22975736

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, Cameron Mackintosh produced a unique, spectacular staging of the musical on a scale which had never been seen before. Inspired by the original staging by Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne, this lavish, fully-staged production set in the sumptuous Victorian splendour of London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall features a cast and orchestra of over 200, plus some very special guest appearances.

Manufacturer: Rhino Records Brand: DVD Model: 26229004

Without doubt, the Eagles are one of the all-time biggest acts in popular music since the dawn of the rock'n'roll era. The band's roots go back to their role as defining artists in the phenomenally popular Southern California rock scene of the '70s, a decade in which they delivered four consecutive #1 albums. Their momentous 2004 farewell tour filled stadiums around the world, and this 2-DVD set captures one of the most stellar events from that now-historic global sweep.

Manufacturer: Lions Gate Brand: LION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT Model: 13780

Detroit, Michigan, 1959. Berry Gordy gathers the best musicians in the city's thriving jazz and blues scene for his new record company: Motown. For the next 14 years, these players are the heartbeat on all the hits from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians plays on more Number One hits that the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and The Beetles combined, making them the hit machine in the history of popular music. They call themselves the Funk Brothers. But no one knows their names... this is their story.

Manufacturer: Fox Searchlight Brand: 20TH Century Fox Color: color

“You can’t tear your eyes away” (Entertainment Weekly) from this “wicked, psychosexual thriller” (Daily Variety) starring Academy Award® Winner Natalie Portman and directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler). Portman delivers “the performance of her career” (Vanity Fair ) as Nina, a stunningly talented but dangerously unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her driven artistic director (Vincent Cassel) and the threat posed by a seductive rival dancer (Mila Kunis), Nina’s tenuous grip on reality starts to slip away – plunging her into a waking nightmare.