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The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection

May 31, 2011 - 12:05 pm

516ZEA8R72L. SL160  The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection

  • Condition: Used, Good
  • Format: DVD
  • Box set; Color; DVD; Widescreen; NTSC

Description
The Stars. The Stories. The Moments. An unprecedented six-disc collection celebrating the 20th Anniversary of THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW, one-on-one with Oprah Winfrey herself. See exclusive never-before-seen footage, never-before-heard thoughts and personal revelations, as Oprah takes a candid, open and look back at all the most memorable moments of 20 years of history-making television. Get the inside story on Oprah’s all-time favorite guests, surprises, celebrities and the people that have touched Oprah’s heart forever. Share Oprah’s personal perspective on the stories that made headlines, the interviews she’ll never forget and more! Plus, go on a personal tour of Oprah’s home, watch never-before-seen footage from the beginning years of THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW and take an exclusive look behind the scenes of A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW! Twenty extraordinary years…from Oprah to you. Oprah Winfrey will donate 100% of Harpo’s profits from the sale of this DVD Collection to Oprah’s Angel Network.Amazon.com
Behold the power of Oprah. Whether you hate her, worship her, or liked her better when she was overweight, no one can deny the influence Oprah Winfrey has had on television and pop culture at large. Now the two decades of moments have been condensed into a six-disc collection, to benefit her Oprah’s Angel Network®. The set kicks off with Oprah’s humble beginnings, her most tear-jerking guests, and episodes to equip others, such as defense strategies against attackers, sex offenders, and kidnappers. Each disc has a different set of montages: following her weight gain/loss/gain/loss; her Book Club® ; her serious interviews (Nelson Mandela, John F. Kennedy Jr.); home makeovers; and some of her now-regrettable “firsts” attempts, such as filming a music video and wearing a Tina Turner wig. Each disc also contains highlights of Oprah’s celebrity interviews, from “friends” like John Travolta, Maria Shriver, and Julia Roberts, to a couch-jumping Tom Cruise (yes, it’s on there), and the interview with Elizabeth Taylor she calls her all-time worst. She’s also very candid about her changing looks and how she handles the tears that flow during taping.

Twenty years have wrought many changes in Oprah’s connection with her audience. She started as an effervescent reporter struggling to prove there was room on the talk-show circuit for a black Everywoman (incidentally, it was Roger Ebert who, during a dinner date, suggested she go for syndication). You can see over time how that dynamic changed: Oprah, who claims to shun fame (she always puts quotes around “celebrity” like she doesn’t get it), starts wearing it like a badge when she’s rolling with the A-listers, as if to let the audience know she can sit at the cool kids’ table, but will also bend down to grace you from her pedestal. As a one-woman empire, she knows all too well that she’s worshiped by many women in America, and often her guru ways can come off as self-congratulatory. Yet you can’t deny her later-years role of fairy godmother has been the most fascinating. One of the only two full-length episodes in the collection involves her journey to South Africa, where she gave gifts to some 50,000 children. (Though oddly, this was paired with the other full-length episode, her opulent 50th birthday party.) She describes how she surprised each member of her studio audience with a brand-new car not because she wanted to shock some people, but because each audience member was selected specifically because they needed one. She rewards hardworking, giving people with lavish gifts they deserve–a home, a Porsche, a college scholarship. Even if you don’t watch the show regularly, that aspect alone will pique your admiration. It’s almost scary how much power Oprah has, but it’s nice to see her using that power for good. –Ellen A. Kim

The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection

Siamese Dream [Vinyl] [Vinyl, Explicit Lyrics]

April 1, 2010 - 7:56 pm

41H62046AHL. SL500 AA240  Siamese Dream [Vinyl] [Vinyl, Explicit Lyrics]

Amazon.com essential recording

An introductory drum roll drops out and is replaced by a single suspended electric guitar, which is then paralleled by a snare, filled in with the bass, and–crash!–”Cherub Rock,” the opening track, is enveloped in an explosion of metal guitar. So the journey begins. This album is pre-experimentation vintage Pumpkins. Produced by Butch Vig (Garbage, Sonic Youth, Nirvana’s Nevermind), Siamese Dream is first about guitars. Lots and lots of guitars. A very close second is Jimmy Chamberlain’s unquestionably excellent power drumming. Throughout each song, Billy Corgan delivers angsty lyrics in his signature breathy whine. “Disarm” is a nice intermission halfway though the album. As the title of the song suggests, it throws the listener into a different mood with its full string arrangements and radiant orchestral chimes. But then it is back to the aural masochism–a pain that rarely sounds so sweet. –Beth Bessmer

No Des (more…)

Testimony

March 17, 2010 - 1:46 pm

51jRsTZTKlL. SL500 AA240  TestimonyNo description for this product could be found, but have a look over at Amazon for reviews and other information.

OK Computer [2 LP] [Limited Edition] [Vinyl, Limited Edition]

March 5, 2010 - 10:16 pm

41pxzNIOmJL. SL500 AA240  OK Computer [2 LP] [Limited Edition] [Vinyl, Limited Edition]

Amazon.com

Radiohead’s third album got compared to Pink Floyd a lot when it came out, and its slow drama and conceptual sweep certainly put it in that category. OK Computer, though, is a complicated and difficult record: an album about the way machines dehumanize people that’s almost entirely un-electronic; an album by a British “new wave of new wave” band that rejects speed and hooks in favor of languorous texture and morose details; a sad and humanist record whose central moment is Thom Yorke crooning “We hope that you choke.” Sluggish, understated, and hard to get a grip on, OK Computer takes a few listens to appreciate, but its entirety means more than any one song. –Douglas Wolk

180 Gram/Audiophile pressing Gatefold jacket/2 discs Printed sleeves

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Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller (CD+DVD) [Extra tracks][Original recording remastered]

February 25, 2010 - 12:42 pm

51Y6Z9KhHDL. SL500 AA240  Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller (CD+DVD) [Extra tracks][Original recording remastered]

Amazon.com

Should several of the tracks on the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller find their way onto your MP3 player, you’re going to have to admit: the music holds up. “Beat It” is not about to go stale, at least not without a rumble, and neither are “Billie Jean” and “P.Y.T.” Even if you put the record-hurtling hits aside, you’re still left with the realization that without MJ, there might not have been a JT [Justin Timberlake], never mind a Ne-Yo (listen closely to “Human Nature” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”). The bonus DVD bundled with the expanded CD includes a digitally redone version of the famous title-track video, among other clips, and it still astonishes with its choreography and attitude. As for the new tracks–Fergie inserts herself into “Beat It,” Will.i.am takes on “The Girl Is Mine” and “P.Y.T.,” Kanye West remixes “Billie Jean” (with characteristically subtle brilliance), Akon duets with M-Jack on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and the unrelease (more…)

Abbey Road [Vinyl] [Vinyl, Enhanced]

February 21, 2010 - 12:16 pm

51ZZ6V6A0EL. SL500 AA240  Abbey Road [Vinyl] [Vinyl, Enhanced]

Amazon.com essential recording

The Beatles’ last days as a band were as productive as any major pop phenomenon that was about to split. After recording the ragged-but-right Let It Be, the group held on for this ambitious effort, an album that was to become their best-selling. Though all four contribute to the first side’s writing, John Lennon’s hard-rocking, “Come Together” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” make the strongest impression. A series of song fragments edited together in suite form dominates side two; its portentous, touching, official close (“Golden Slumbers”/”Carry That Weight”/”The End”) is nicely undercut, in typical Beatles fashion, by Paul McCartney’s cheeky “Her Majesty,” which follows. –Rickey Wright

Digitally remastered digipak edition of this classic 1969 album from The Beatles featuring ‘Something’, ‘Come Together’, ‘Here Comes The Sun’, ‘Oh Darling’, ‘Because’ and many more. The album has been remastered at Abbey Road Stud (more…)