Taking place in the middle of The French Revolution, during the height of “Madam Guillotine’s” power, the Scarlet Pimpernel works with a band of men in order to bring French aristocrats to safety by shipping them outside of the country. This of course causes him to be wanted in France as a criminal. In order to keep his identity a secret, the Scarlet Pimpernel takes on the identity of an Englishman who thinks of nothing but fashion and fun.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is wonderfully paced. There seems to be one event after another, whether it involves tricky plots to release the aristocrats or love triangles. It’s as if the story was stripped to just the action, which is a good thing for the viewers. We are privileged to action and intrigue without all the tediousness that would have been present in most of these people’s lives on a daily basis. Although this occurs during an eventful part of history most people’s daily lives were pretty normal, with the exception of daily beheadings of course.

The acting in The Scarlet Pimpernel, although perhaps a bit theatrical at times, is great to experience. The facial expressions and eyes do as much acting as the dialog. This creates a realistic tone to a story that really supposes a lot. The plots that are set up are extremely complicated and rely heavily on the people around them being completely oblivious. The costumes and make-up are great and held up by the acting. They lend help to the extremely complicated escape plots. With all the people involved in the plots, it is amazing that they don’t fall through all the time. If it weren’t for the great acting and costumes the story itself would be a little hard to swallow in terms of the plot points. But, that is providing that the plot is considered realistic and not just for fun and adventure. I prefer to look on the story as a wonderful adventure that is accompanied by a love affair.

And what of that love affair? The chemistry between Andrews and Seymour is great from the first scene they have together. Not only are they both beautiful people physically they make a great couple. The love they share is not all roses and springtime considering they are falling in love in the midst of the French Revolution, the plots of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the wiley Citizen Chauvelin (McKellen) trying to keep her heart and find the Scarlet Pimpernel.

The Scarlet Pimpernel originally aired on CBS and was nominated for three Emmy Awards, including outstanding drama special. It is currently available on DVD from Acorn Media.

In Chinese, the term nanan (which is the Chinese title of the film) is traditionally used as an affectionate term for a daughter or a young girl but has become a euphemism for the girls who work as prostitutes. This term couldn’t be more accurate. The four characters in the film are either teenagers or just twenties. And many of the men they are meeting are much older than they are. One of the girls, who sets up the jobs for the other women, somewhere between a pimp and an agent, is only 19. The film manages to capture the duality of girls of this age, with them growing up and able to make adult decisions but at the same time still children. This duality creates a different view of the prostitutes than one may have had previously.

The four main characters of the film come from different backgrounds and have different reasons for why they chose to become prostitutes. Icy, the one we know the least about is the one who helps to set up the dates for the men and the girls. Ronnie is a girl from a wealthy background who is lonely. She gets talked into going on a compensated date and ends up deciding on a slightly different take on the compensation. Lin is a hypersexual young woman who is just out for fun although it becomes obvious there is more to it than that. Gucci is a teenager who loves to buy name brand items, as her nickname implies. She decides to sell her virginity in order to make the money to buy a purse that she bid on and won.

Girl$ will take you on a roller-coaster ride through the life of these four young women. When there is scary news given out at the end, you really feel it the same as the women do. You become invested in the lives of these young women, whether you agree with their choices or not. And this is all despite the fact that you actually learn very little about these young women. The one you know the most about is Gucci, who in the end is the one who is the least involved in the dating trade.

It should be noted that this movie is not for anyone under 18 or people who are faint of heart. There is violence, sexuality, nudity, and language which can be hard to take at times. It portrays a realistic view of this life but can be hard to swallow.

The Blu-ray/DVD combo from FUNimation includes the full length movie as well as “Making of Girl$” and FUNimation trailers.

In this season, Emma finds herself working on a large estate. Not only does she have to figure out her personal feelings but also how to function within a larger establishment. Once she has dealt with the adjustment of her new home and began to feel comfortable, the world conspires to bring her back into the arms of William. William also begins to come to terms with being apart from Emma and decides to move on but what a shock he will get at a party where Emma is present, as a guest of all things.

The overall plot of the second season of Emma moves in the same pace as season one with one difference, the addition of more secondary characters. Many of the same characters from the first season are back, with the same importance as before but during this season the secondary characters are expanded quite well. We meet more servants, ladies, and get to see the inner-workings of the Jones’ business. A couple of these secondary characters become real rivals for the hearts of Emma and William. We begin to wonder if it really is good for the two of them to be together or if they should remain with the people of their own class who seem to love them just as much. These additions make the plot feel more complete and realistic. Although it is nice to think that the only thing people do is fall in love and yearn to be together, the truth is that their lives keep going. We thankfully see much more of that during this season. At times I felt that season two could have stood alone as a separate anime.

After watching the second half of Emma: A Victorian Romance I feel much better about the anime as a whole. As a lover of anime and history, I am pretty satisfied although I will admit my anime side was a little happier than my history loving side. Although I am not sure if many anime fans would particularly like it if the anime were more historically accurate so there will be no complaints from me.

During this season we are privileged to see more scenes around the area and town. The characters travel to other places, either on vacation trips or learning about each other. This does help to break up the monotony of the rose mansion.

This season was officially released, so we are back to the normal setup of the episodes although it picks up right where the OVA’s left off. One of the things I feel could have been changed is the cover art. As viewers and fans we know what the conflict of this season is from the previous one but the cover pretty much gives away what is going to be the outcome. Now, if you read the manga’s than you will already know what is going to happen but if, like me, you have not a little more mystery would have been appreciated. This is not to say that all the mystery is taken away but the ending will be no surprise.

Throughout the run we have been learning so much about the characters and their relationships with each other. There have been times when it has been pretty dramatic, but you seem to become so wrapped up that you don’t mind.  As the anime wraps up, you know there is so many more hurdles that Yumi has to go through. And this makes you want more. This is the sign of a well written anime, if it can leave you wanting more at the end. This is not to say that I feel it was left off at a bad place because the truth is the ending is pretty perfect. It wraps up the story line without telling you every little detail. It is really a touching last scene.

The Nozomi release of Maria Watches Over Us season four contains specials 1-11, clean opening and closing, liner notes, scene access and Nozomi Entertainment trailers.

Emma is a maid-of-all in the household of Kelly Stowner who used to be the Governess for the Jones’ family. When William Jones comes to visit his old Governess, he quickly falls for Emma despite their class difference. As their relationship grows they encounter a lot of resistance from the outside world as well as the people they are closest to.

Emma is a sweet story but it can be quite slow, especially in the beginning. One possibility for this may be that the writers were trying to emulate the flow of the society during that time period. The problem with this is that it makes the show hard to get through for the first three or so episodes. Once the characters finally start to encounter problems, the story begins to take shape and you are brought into the drama. So don’t get too frustrated if it seems a little too slow for you in the beginning, it takes hold.

In terms of being an anime based in a historical time period, the writers and art directors did a pretty good job of making it historically accurate. The one thing I noticed right away was the fact that the maids wore the same black and white uniforms all day. This is not how it was during the Victorian Era; the black and white uniforms were worn later in the day while more ‘work-friendly’ dresses would have been worn in the morning when the cleaning was being done. From an anime stand point it is much easier to have the maids wear the same outfits all day long to make the animation easier to produce. If this is the only thing I feel was wrong with the historical accuracy, they did just fine.

One of the scenes which I found to be particularly interesting takes place at the Crystal Gardens. Today, whilst beautiful, the Crystal Gardens have lost a little of their wonder because of further advancements in architecture and conservatories. Emma manages to show how much cultural emphasis would have been placed on a location like this during the Victorian Era. Not only was it the idea of Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert but it was also a collection of plants and art from around the world. This essentially allowed the British people to feel as if they are visiting the rest of the world without leaving their own city. A sentiment that would have been quite popular then and perhaps still today.

This isn’t the story of the forefathers and how they took America from Britain, The Men Who Built America is the story of the men, post-Civil War, who took America and made it an industrial and international powerhouse. And they did all this through ingenuity, hard work, ruthlessness, and genius. The series focuses on five main characters; Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, and Ford. These men became multimillionaires (the equivalent of billionaires in our time) and built industries that still stand today. They have names that we know, and we even have laws that forbid us from doing what they did in order to make money. We are no longer allowed to have a monopoly in this country, all because these men decided to try something that no one had and stamp out all of his competition.  Today we feel that competition in the market place is healthy and creates better prices and products, but someone had to show that was the case in order for us to now feel that way.

The production value on The Men Who Built America is apparent from the very beginning: top-notch. It is a documentary and what you are watching are technically reenactments but they are done in ways that I find just gorgeous and have hopes that more documentary series will be done in this way from now on. Whilst you are aware this is a documentary series, and is done mostly with narration, the reenactments are done in a drama-like manner. While watching it, you begin to feel that the series could almost be done without the narration. The actors are given lines and the time-line is logical and there is not a lot of repetition. In a normal documentary there tends to be some scenes that are used over and over again, for instance in a documentary about the civil war who may have two scenes of men walking into battle, which are used continuously throughout the series when they are discussing battles. This is not the case in The Men Who Built America, the only times they reuse footage is when they are giving the short recaps after commercial breaks or the beginning of the next episode. If they use the footage again during the regular timeline, it makes sense and doesn’t feel as if it is just being used in order to fill the time while the narrator is speaking.

We should also mention the great look of the reenactments themselves. The sets, costumes, and even the CGI are just great. It is shot better than some feature length films I have seen.  The people involved in this aspect should be commended; they managed to bring this era of our history to life both visually and emotionally. You really begin to feel what the people living in that time period must have felt through the way this is put together. The ambiance of the times is apparent. Being a History piece, I am glad to see they put just as much work into this aspect as they did the information they give through the narration. The visuals and feel of the documentary can be just as important as the information, it really bring history alive.

Now, lets talk about that other part of a documentary, the information. When watching a documentary series, particularly from History and A+E, you expect to be given interesting, educational, and factual information. This is true for The Men Who Built America. One thing that I found particularly interesting was the tense in which the narration was being given, which is the present tense. Normally when watching a documentary about past events, it is given in the past tense but considering the drama like nature of this series the bulk of it is done in the present as you are seeing it on the screen. Again this really works to put you in within the events as they are unfolding, which will get you intellectually and emotionally linked to the characters and events. What a great thing to say about a documentary series. I am really looking forward to what is going to be coming our way next considering the beauty of this series.

The blu-ray collection from A+E entertainment and History, includes three discs, which have all eight episode originally aired on television as well as bonus footage that was not aired. The episodes are “A New War Begins”, “Oil Strike”, “A Rivalry is Born”, “Blood is Spilled”, “A New Rivalry Emerges”, “Owning It All”, “Taking the White House”, and “The New Machine.”  The bonus footage includes; “From Rich to Richer”, “The American Dream”, “Monopoly”, “Competitive Nature”, “The Every Man”, “The Rise of Cornelius Vanderbilt” “Traits of a Titan”, and “Carnegie”.

Normally I would prefer to keep politics out of a movie review, but this is a movie that has politics embedded in it’s core. The unfortunate thing is that the movie can’t seem to choose what those particular politics are. Except in the outlook on the union, which it seems to take the ‘unions are detrimental to change and advancement’ stance. One of the confusing aspects of this stance is that it is stated in the movie that the unions will not allow teachers to stay after school in order to help students. Now, perhaps I need to do more research but I don’t know many teachers that walk out of the school everyday at three in the afternoon. It is true that normal school hours are over but this is not to say that the teacher goes home. Now, like I said, I didn’t do a lot of research on that particular issue but I just felt that it was an excuse written into the movie in order to make sure that the teachers were ‘bound’ by the union to be sub-par.

Now, this movie is trying to show what can happen if parents get involved in schools and the improvements that can be made, even in failing schools. This is wonderful but what about discussing how none of these parents were involved before these big events took place? It is a true statement that parents involved in education can make a big difference; but this doesn’t have to only be on a huge overhaul level. What about volunteering a bit of time to help watch the children at lunch or recess in order to give the teacher some extra planning or grading time (which most of the time is done on their personal time). Or coming in the classroom to participate in small groups? There are many ways in which parents can get involved within the classroom and help out the educational system. Hopefully, this movie will inspire people to become more involved with their children’s education. As an educator myself, I know how important parent involvement is, remember the parents are the first and most important teachers!

Won’t Back Down doesn’t paint all teachers as bad; in fact most of them are put in a light of being good teachers who have become complacent and jaded due to so many factors that blind them to their real objective. And this is true in many cases; there is always a bit of truth in all viewpoints and statements. I have talked to many teachers who feel that they are bogged down with all the non-child related aspects of teaching that they can at times lose sight of what is important. We could argue all day long about the different sides of education and teachers’ roles, let’s not to that too much here.

As a movie, Won’t Back Down is pretty standard, nothing about it stands out but there are definitely times when it pulls at your heartstrings.  And it is true; a movie that can reach you emotionally is at least decent. The problems lie in the fact that there are many times when characters and situations are not fully fleshed out, and it is a two hour movie! The art direction of the movie gives away more about the political feelings than anything. At the beginning of the movie, everything is dark and depressing including the colors of the characters clothing. By the end the color pallet is bright, vibrant and full of beauty. The problem is that even the characters who are supposed to bring light to the movie are also dressed in drab, depressing colors. This doesn’t show a separation between the characters are supposed to be rooting for and the ones who are the antaganistic ones.

Included in the Twentieth Fox Home Entertainment Blu-ray and UltraViolet release are several special features.  Two featurettes are “The Importance of Teachers” and “A Tribute to Teachers”.  There are also deleted scenes with director commentary and an audio commentary track by director Daniel Barnz.

The Story of Maths is a four part series which looks at the history of mathematics and the impact that its evolution has had on our society. Starting with the first use of numbers being used in trading and architecture in the earliest civilizations to the technological and academic uses of it today, The Story of Maths gives us all that we could want to know. The Story of Maths uses artifacts, historical records, and computer generated simulations; it brings the history of numbers and math to life. The explanations given are complicated but still easy to understand. The narrator and mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy, explains things in a way that can be understood by someone with a base understanding of math.  It is extremely interesting throughout and makes you begin to think about math and numbers in a whole new light.

In the three part series, The Code, du Sautoy looks at the patterns in nature and how they connect with math. In the episodes “Numbers”, “Shapes”, and “Predictions”, du Sautoy looks at how there are certain mathematical realities that are present in nature, like why the honeycombs are the shapes they are and the patterns in bird migrations. Although it is also shown that despite these mathematical truths there is still chaos within the natural world as well, like how snowflakes are not as perfect as once thought.

Music of the Primes relates music and math in such wonderful and beautiful ways, it creates music out of math and math out of music.  Along with all these main programs this Athena release has many wonderful special features. There are two viewer guides; a twenty page guide to accompany The Story of Maths and a twelve page one to accompany The Code. Also included on the The Story of Maths are biographies of influential mathematicians. There are three shorts, all lasting four minutes, included on the The Code set; “Pi’s the Limits”, “Go Forth and Multiply”, and “Imagining the Impossible: The Mathematical Art of M.C. Esher.”

This a beautiful, chilling, and fresh take on the story of Marie Antoinette and the events of the French Revolution. We discuss the royalty point of view or the rebels point of view but what about the people who rely on the royalty for their livelihood? Farewell, My Queen looks at this view point. It did a great job of showing the different view points of how the servants of the royals would have felt and what they would have done. And the truth is, it is not only the servants who were impacted by the revolution. There are nobility and wealthy land owners who live in Versailles along with the King and Queen due to their positions, and they find themselves placed on a list of ‘people to get rid of’ along with the Queen.

So, what could get better you say? Oh, well how about the performances, because they are wonderful. Lea Seydoux, as Sidonie is just captivating. Her ability to show us so much about the character without even knowing anything about her is great. We feel that we know her so well and then at the end of the movie it is brought up that we don’t know anything about her, even though she is our main character. But this is part of the appeal. She is portrayed as a servant in all aspects, including this aspect. Everyone else in the cast is just as wonderful in their roles. Whether the Queen or her favorite, to the royal historical chronicler, or even the King whom we don’t see too often there is so much passion put into the roles you really enjoy everyone that is on screen.

Visually, this blu-ray brings to life what Versailles would have looked like, in both it’s grandeur and it’s barely lit back rooms. There are vast open spaces and rooms crammed with books and papers from ceiling to floor. The colors and shadows are saturated and the contrast is nice.

The Blu-ray Cohan Media release of Farewell, My Queen is available now. The special features are on set cast/crew interviews, an interview with Jacquot, and the trailer.

The OVA’s of Maria Watches Over Us bring a few technical changes to the show. First the show is now presented in a wide screen format, which is great. Along with the show now filling your wide screen, the art quality has also improved. The show is clearer and brighter than before, thanks to the starker lines and more saturated colors. This change in format breathes a little more life into the show. Although, so far I have no complaints about the writing, a little change is good. We are able to fully enjoy the beauty of the show and as well as the storylines.

Another format change is that each episode is same length as two normal episodes. This collection only has six episodes but since they are twice as long it is the same as a 12 episode season. This format change basically gives us a storyline within each episode. I also felt that the story was able to progress as at even more realistic pace due to it being in one episode instead of two or three. Considering in each episode we have to have a beginning, ending, break, re-cap, and upcoming episode segments taking up part of the time, with these episodes being twice as long we actually get more of the time devoted to story.

One aspect of the series that I have not discussed up to this point is the specials that accompany each of the series. In the third season we see a couple aspects of the show really taken to a comedic level. For instance one of the characters is particularly tall in the show. During the specials, she gets taller and taller until only her feet fit into the screen. The specials all take an aspect of individual episodes and parody it. They are fun to watch and will make you laugh at their visual and language gags.