Civil War Diary (Across Five Aprils) (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)Civil War Diary is the story of Jethro Creighton and his family living in Southern Illinois at the begining of the American Civil War. It is based on the Newberry Prize winning book Across Five Aprils written by Irene Hunt. Jethro is a ten year old boy who's family is divided by the war with one brother going to fight for the Confederacy, while the others fight for the Union. It is a great story full of insight and makes one think about how to deal with such differences. Being a U. S. History teacher, and also a Civil War historian I find the film most useful in a classroom to support the novel. It is a great story and the film sticks to the book.

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The Alamo - Thirteen Days To Glory (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)When you're from Texas and have spent many years studying and knowing about the Alamo, it gets pretty hard to stomache some of the more historically inaccurate videos. (i.e. the John Wayne version, et al.) They simply don't sit right with you. The TV version of the Alamo we have here isn't the best movie ever made. Nor is it the worst. Far from it in fact. This version manages to get rough historical facts in order. The siege lasts the right number of days, the attack happens at the right time, Wm. Travis isn't a 50 year old man, D. Crockett isn't Fess Parker. Seeing as how so much of the Alamo legend is, in fact, myth, demanding that a film remain true to hard fact is ludicrous. Sure, parts are embellished. Parts are skipped over. Sometimes it's overly sentimental, but hey--we're talking about a pretty sentimental subject in the eyes of some. It's not perfect, but it's sure a step up from what we're used to. And until someone gets together and makes Steven Harrigan's new novel into a movie, I think it's probably my best bet for a "pretty good movie about the Alamo". If you're an Alamo buff, I'd certainly suggest you see it. It's well cast and weaves a pretty good emotional plotline, including a lot of points from Travis' supposed life. Alec Baldwin does very well in the role, as do the rest of the major supporting cast. If you're not an Alamo buff, then you're probably not reading this review anyhow. I say we all probably take what we can get, and this certainly could be a whole heck of a lot worse.

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The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy - Billy and Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy:
My favorite cartoon on the air today.
I recently watched and recorded Billy and Mandy's Big Boogy Adventure and I was very pleased with the movie and I am a huge fan of the series ever since it was originally "Grim and Evil". The Evil Con Carne half of the show was never up to par with Billy and Mandy and it was no surprise that in 2003 Billy and Mandy got their own show. And now that the first movie has been made it is no surprise that it is a treat to watch and is as funny and wacky as ever.
All the plot elements are here. Billy is as stupid as ever and saves the day with his outrageous gross beheivor. Mandy and Erwin duke it out in their little love story and the Boogy Man becomes the central villian while Grim as always is the victim stripped of his powers/dignity/ and honor only to be restored by the likes of Billy and Mandy.
The only things that are missing from this adventure are certain characters and villians from previous episodes. These characters are:
Aris- Goddess of Chaos- The funiest villian in my opinion.
Jack-O-Lantern(hope that's right)- From the Halloween episode.
Haus Del Gado- The fan fav.
Principal Good-Vibes- Not really a villian but a likeable character.
Malaria- Grim's Love interest from a previous episode.
Puddin- One of my favorites.
Blandy- The female version of Mandy.
Harial- The Mermaid copy of Ariel from the Little Mermaid.
Just to name a few of my favorite characters that didn't make it in the movie but it's understandable because of the run-time. You can't put every character in the movie.
With all this said it's a good buy with this dvd because there is still no box set of an entire season or anything besides Cartoon Network Haloween which is a very short dvd. This is the first all-out movie starring Bily and Mandy and should not be missed.



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It's Billy, Mandy and Grim versus the Boogeyman in an epic tale of monster pirates, futuristic robots, evil artifacts, and snot. When the underworld strips Grim of his powers (due to years of Billy and Mandy abusing them), Billy, Mandy, Grim and Irwin must race the Boogey Man and a crew of monster pirates to capture Horror's Hand, a powerful artifact capable of making whoever wields it into the scariest being alive.

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The Avenging Angel (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)Most of the other reviewers have gotten it right when they talked about this being a fictional story. The characters in this story though do act according to what they were known. The head of the conspiracy to kill Brigham Young is a thinly veiled Sidney Ridgon. The first women to take a shot at him was Ann E Young, Brigham's 19th wife who divorced him and wrote a famous expose on him a year before he died, Bill Hickman who was another of Brigham's Danites, who was known to drink a lot, and later turned in evidence showing Brigham's part in several killings and lastly James Young, the Prophet's favorite son who was arrested while on a mission and had to be bailed out by Daddy and also was known for his wildness. The story itself is fictional, Sidney never made any attempts on Brighams life, but did try to take control of the Church shortly after Joseph Smiths death. The main character is also fictional. You can tell that the screenwriter has done a lot of research into Mormonism before writing this because you see a lot of little details added like people shaking hands doing the First Token of the Aaronic Priesthood. This isn't a great film say like Lonesome Dove, but it is interesting.

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