Art Store Discounts

Reviews

THe poster came nicely rolled up in a tube, very nicely packaging with no damage. The poster was free of wrinkles and was very colorful and good looking! Highly recommended.

I got my item within a couple of days of my purchase and I am VERY SATISFIED! It's very small and fits perfectly in my purses! I love it! :)

The poster is great for my science classroom. It was inexpensive and arrived rapidly.

I LOVE this picture! It's very good quality and a good size - it looks perfect in my apartment!

I bought this item for .49 cents! It is a very inexpensive way to make a room look elegant. The poster is a good quality print. I highly recommend it!

Reviews

Product was shipped on time and in good shape. I put it in my dorm room and it looks lovely!

The poster is grainy and obviously a poster. Not something worthy of a frame, but that is reflected in the price. If you're looking for artwork to frame, choose a different copy of this. If you want it to tape to a wall of for some other reason, this price is great.

It has been 3 weeks and I still haven't received my posters. I had to email and ask if my items were shipped because they didn't inform me. I have asked several times for some kind of tracking number and I continue to receive the same message telling me my item was shipped 3 weeks ago. There isn't a phone number or anything other than email to reach them by. Awful Awful Awful experience. Will never buy from Newbury Comics again...........

The quality of the posters is good. They use a thick paper that is good to the touch and the color saturation is deep and the posters bring the feeling of a living painting. I am very satisfied. The shipping time was good. The posters were shipped separately because one of the posters was damaged and had to be reordered. They sent the first poster right away only three days after I ordered. When I inquired, through Amazon email, about the second poster the PosterArt costumer service person responded quickly and was helpful and extremely courteous. She traced my order and found out about the second poster being torn and causing a needed reorder from their supplier. She stayed in touch with me several times and let me know when the poster was shipped. I am pleased by their courteous and thorough attention. Next time I order posters I will go through this company.

This is a really beautiful print. It works perfectly in my living room, which is styled with an Asian theme, and the main colors are blue and tan. Shipping was very fast and it was in perfect condition.

Reviews

This is a wonderful print and truly makes my room look beautiful! I highly recommend it if you like Klimt and have dark browns and cream colors in your room. It truly POPS! :D

Bought this for my daughter & her husb to go over their dresser in their bedroom. Framed it first and gave for Christmas present. Was just as beautiful as I pictured it would be.

The first poster I received was crushed. I contacted the seller one time and in just a few days my new Poster arrived in perfect condition ~ no questions asked - Very Good Service. very fast -

I bought this poster, and a couple more, for my daughter's dorm. They arrived in perfect condition, and were beautiful. They are high quality posters, and my daughter has gotten many compliments on them.

Bought this, along with "The Kiss" by same artist, for our bedroom. There is an evil vibe coming from the woman on the left, as she "glares" at the couple in love. A friend agreed, THAT is not going up on my wall! Good thing it was cheap!

Reviews

Cesear Franck (1822-1890) enjoyed a long career as an organist and composer, but he is best remembered for a series of masterworks composed during the last decade of his life. With his life of quiet, continuous effort culminating in romanticism, Franck is an inspiring figure. Franck's great decade of composition began and ended with works of chamber music. The Piano Quintet in f minor dates from 1880 while the String Quartet in D major was composed in 1890 just before Franck's death. Both the Quintet and the Quartet receive impassioned performances on this new Naxos CD with the Fine Arts Quartet and pianist Christina Ortiz. I am familiar with other recordings of these works. The Quator Ludwig together with pianist Michael Levinas has an outstanding recording of the Quintet on Naxos. César Franck: Piano Quintet; Ernest Chausson: String Quartet And the Juilliard String Quartet has made a classic recording of the unfortunately too-little-known Quartet.String Quartets By Franck And Smetana With these and other fine recordings, this CD has a sweeping unabashedly passionate character that sets it apart. This is romantic music played with conviction, emotion, and contrast in long searing vibrato-filled phrases. The music drew me in at the outset and never let go. The Quintet on any reading is a work of highly-charged emotion. Many listeners and writers of program notes find the music erotically charged. Camille Saint-Saens who first performed the virtuosic piano part vehemently disapproved of this work which Franck had dedicated to him. The quartet and Ortiz play with unrestrained feeling. The opening movement, "molto moderato quasi lento" opens with a wail in the strings which is contrasted with a slow, singing piano line. The lengthy movement full of contrasts in moods works in this performance to a fierce and sustained rhythmic climax for both quartet and piano. The second movement,"Lento, con molto sentimento" begins with a sad, prayerful theme which gradually develops into a song of great peace. The finale, "Allegro non troppo ma con fuoco" consists of music of great intensity which features the return of themes from the opening movement. This is a late romantic, deeply chromatic score. Many of Franck's works are described as "cyclic" in form because each movement shares similar thematic material. In listening, I find it useful not to worry too much about the form but to focus instead on the surging character of the music. This reading by the Fine Arts Quartet and Ortiz compels the listener to hear the passion without the potential distraction of the form. While the Quintet is music of passion from beginning to end, Franck's late String Quartet in D major sometimes is given a cerebral, intellectual reading. Among other music, Franck's quartet shows the influence of Beethoven's late quartets. The Quartet is lengthy, difficult and, in some performances austure. It takes several hearings and careful listening to appreciate. But there is little of the austure in this performance. Here again, we are treated to a Franck who wears his heart on his sleeve. The emotions expressed in this music are varied, and Franck again uses interrelated themes in his four movements to unify the composition. The opening movement begins with a lengthy, tragic lento followed by a sonata section with themes of contrasting character and a fugual development. The second movement is a Mendelssohn- like scherzo with lively and swirling outer sections surrounding a melancholy trio. The third movement, with its singing and varied theme is the emotional center of the quartet. The work concludes with a varied Allegro molto finale which recapitulates the themes of the initial three movements before moving to a well-prepared triumphal close. I received my first exposure to live chamber music in concerts of the Beethoven quartets that the Fine Arts Quartet performed in Milwaukee many years ago. The ensemble has been in continuous existence since 1946, but, of course, none of the current members of the group, Ralph Evans, Efim Boico, Yuri Gandelsman and Wolfgang Laufer were in the ensemble I knew. I still am pleased to know the ensemble still performs. With this beautiful recording, the Fine Arts Quartet and Ortiz show intimate music-making at its best. Robin Friedman

Reviews

Greatly though I love Schumann, I keep finding his string quartets worthy but just slightly dull, so I have to ask myself why. They don't lack for melody for instance, there is plenty of soul and depth in the expression as well, and I would not even be worried to find Schumann's well known shortcomings, namely a rather colourless instrumental tone and some lack of fluency in the construction. Schumann outdoes his great contemporary Mendelssohn when it comes to profundity, but I only have to spend a few minutes in the company of any of Mendelssohn's quartets to appreciate how much more adept he was. Still - I don't find Mendelssohnian mastery in Schumann's piano quartet or piano quintet either, but they thrill me uncommonly, and the difference is staring me in the face. In the string quartets Schumann is pining for his beloved piano. In that I case I guess that the rating we give to performances of the quartets depends how we view the music itself. If you do not share my reservations about it then you will want renditions that are faithful to the special qualities of the works, and those are many. Even from my own point of view, it is always a slightly risky business to ask for accounts of any music that `sell' it by the way of well-intentioned liberties. What you will get here from the Fine Arts Quartet is AAA fidelity. This is echt Schumann. The depth is there, the periodical quirkiness is there in the scherzos, the tempi seem to me admirably judged, the technique is immaculate, and the recording (vintage 2006) is of the quality we expect in the third millennium. There is a slightly average liner note, but it is helpful in providing the biographical background to the works. What is well above average is the bargain offered by Naxos. I readily confess that when I decided to add Schumann's quartets to my collection at long last I chose on the basis of price, knowing from happy experience how to relate that to value from Naxos. If I felt some ungovernable passion to listen to more accounts of these quartets I see from other reviews that there are some admirable alternatives, a number of them probably doing more to ginger up the music in the way I secretly prefer. If I may, I shall duck the responsibility of hearing the others and simply refer any readers of this notice to the other reviews. From any objective point of view the accounts we have here are what a reviewer ought to be recommending. Apart from anything else, here are all three quartets, nearly 80 minutes of music, on one disc.

This is one of the few CD's that have all 3 quartets on one CD and happily it is also one of the best. The playing is warm and very clear and add to this the budget price of Naxos , this is an unmissable treat.

It has been extremely unusual until very recently for all three Schumann Quartets, his Op. 41, to be recorded on one CD. Usually we would get Nos. 2 & 3, and although there have been a few other CDs that contained all three -- including those of the Quatuor Ysaye and Eroica Quartets -- this is, I believe, the best of the lot. And at budget price, too! Quatuor Ysaye, in my opinion, gives a rather flaccid account of No. 1 and has some intonational problems. The Eroica Quartet plays on gut strings, and although that doesn't necessarily disqualify them -- I'd love to hear Quatuor Mosaïques play these works -- I was somehow not terribly pleased with their accounts even though others have raved about them; I think my main objection was the sound of the cello, which seemed rather nasal. The Fine Arts Quartet has been in residence at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee for years and have been concertizing for fifty years -- three of the members have been in the quartet for twenty-five years -- and have made some outstanding recordings over that time; I particularly like their set of the Mozart quintets. (They are not, by the way, to be confused with the similarly named and similarly distinguished Pro Arte Quartet, long resident at the sister campus of the University of Wisconsin - Madison.) They are a rock-solid non-flashy but very musical quartet who have given us satisfying performances year after year. I was won over by their spirited manner with the scherzo of the First Quartet, with its galloping rhythms and daredevil tempo; the same comment applies to the quartet's finale. (A personal confession: The first time I ever heard this quartet -- played brilliantly in concert by the American String Quartet -- I thought that the group had gotten out of sync at the end of the finale, not realizing that the final low A of the cello comes an eighth note after the upper instruments play their final chord. I recall saying later something to the ASQ's cellist, David Geber, and he simply pointed to the last page of the score, to my red-faced embarrassment.) The Second Quartet begins with one of Schumann's loveliest melodies, reminding me a bit of the expansive arch of the opening theme of Brahms's First Quintet, Op. 88. The second movement, the Andante quasi Variazioni, is a somehow little less songful than one might have hoped, even though the Fine Arts give it a fine reading, but the following scherzo and allegro molto vivace bring the quartet to a rousing finish. The Andante espressivo introduction of the Third Quartet is as songful as one could ask, followed by an equally soulful Allegro molto moderato. (I think I love this movement best of all the Schumann quartet movements.) The Fine Arts do a brilliant job of conveying the movement's charming diffidence alternating with impulsive interjections. For some reason the Third's second movement reminds me of one of Rachmaninov's piano miniatures (e.g. the Humoresque); I wonder if Rachy knew this quartet? The Fine Arts play it with quicksilver charm. The deeply-felt melancholy of the Adagio molto comes as a bit of surprise after that second movement; the Fine Arts give it all the feeling it requires, even not eschewing an occasional portamento of the sort more commonly heard half a century ago but entirely appropriate and effective in this movement. The Third's finale, Allegro molto vivace, with its bouncy dotted rhythms is a bracing end to this set of three quartets. It seems odd to me that the Schumann quartets seem to reside somewhere on the margins of the standard quartet literature, at least as judged by their sparse appearances on quartet programs. The Fine Arts Quartet -- Ralph Evans and Efim Boico, violins; Yuri Gandelsman, viola; Wolfgang Laufer, cello -- are one of America's best quartets and one that should be recording more. One hopes this set, recorded in January 2006 at the Wittem Monastery in the Netherlands, will be followed soon by more releases. Sound is lifelike. Keith Anderson's booklet notes are excellent; they give instructive indications of the structure of the quartets. This is an outstanding set made all the more attractive by its budget price. Scott Morrison

Reviews

This item was shipped and received fast. It was in perfect condition and exactly what I wanted!

I have always been a fan of this band, but am not so rabid that I knew the politics behind their falling from the "American scene". Young and impetuous, they hit America with their British attitude and some of us didn't get it. Oops on both of us. This is as good as I remembered. These guys were a band that brought some brilliant music to the 70's scene when some of us really were tired of Popsicle Toes and Styx.

THE ART OF SURFACING is flat-out the BEST Boomtown Rats album in their career, even better than TONIC FOR THE TROOPS, if that's possible - there's not a bad apple in the bunch - so this review isn't about the classic album that I original bought as a kid in 1979 (as well as the single "MONDAYS") - here is my big gripe: if you're going to go to the trouble of tacking on "bonus" tracks to lure in longtime fans, why did the record label make the (lame) decision to exclude what (IMHO) is the best Rats song ever: the B-side to "MONDAYS" single, "ALL THE RAGE"? RAGE is the hardest-hitting, most "punk" sounding song the rats ever produced - all blistering beats, roaring guitars, banging piano, and Geldof's bile-spewing snarl - all under 3 mins. To say it is a tragedy not to have this song included on the CD reissue of the Rat's best and most beloved album is not an understatement. Next time? Still, all the CD reissues are very nice, so collect them all now before they go OOP!

The Boomtown Rats made a big leap to art-rock on their third album. They'd advanced their ambitions quickly over two albums, going from punky power rockers to anthems of the common Englander. For "The Fine Art Of Surfacing," they began to go for bigger things. The first single was unlike anything else they'd attempted, the controversial "I Don't Like Mondays." No guitars, just piano and an orchestra. The payoff was a huge international hit everywhere but the US. It also found Bob Geldof moving on to darker themes. Granted, the first two albums played with themes of suicide and paranoia, but for every "Living On an Island" on "Tonic," there was also a more lighthearted "She's So Modern." On "The Fine Art Of Surfacing," the songs are still often exuberant and hook laden, but thematically, never quite as chipper. It makes for some great songs again, especially "Wind Chill Factor Minus Zero" and "Sleep (Fingers' Lullaby)." "Surfacing" was the last excellent Rats album. While "Mondo Bongo" had its moments, the Boomtown Rats' records after this were never as even or as exciting. I do have a quibble about the re-master on "Surfacing." It seems to have been mastered way too "hot" for some of the songs. The drums and percussion compress out - especially on "Someone's Looking At You" and "Wind Chill Factor Minus Zero" - and distort. For a re-master, that's bad news.

Like many others, I have waited a long time for this to become available on CD again. It is one of my favorite albums. However upon listening with headphones (is there any other way?) the digital noise usually associated with low bitrate mp3s is everywhere. Particularly "Mondays", "Keep It Up", "Nice & Neat" and blatantly on "Episode #3". In comparing it to a CD copy of my own clean record, the sound of that, digitized though it may be, is much better than this release. Maybe we have become so digital that most of us no longer hear these imperfections, but as an avid present-day record listener, I recommend saving your money and putting it towards a quality turntable. Remaster? Possibly. High quality? Definitely not.

Reviews

I needed to shape some timbers for a boating project and found that this was just the tool to do the job with out a lot of fooling around. Handles very nicely and removes wood at a good clip. As it behaves differently at different angles of attack it is worth the time to practice on well secured scraps till you find your technique. The instructions are well worth reading, especially if you like to keep all your bits and pieces where they belong. This tool deserves at least as much respect as a chain saw, maybe more as it runs much faster and people can get casual with right angle grinders. I have seen more than one person set a grinder down while still spinning, this one won't be forgiving! Pay particular attention to the guard on your grinder and how it is set according to the instructions. Chips fly a good distance, make sure you are wearing good protective gear including face mask, ear plugs and goggles, not just safety glasses. And be sure those around you are protected with goggles, etc. Very pleased with the results using my 4 1/2" Milwaukee grinder, would suggest getting a spare chain if you are doing lots of production work or need to switch to a finer tooth pattern. Worth the money!

My King Arthur 45814 Lancelot carving tools arrived on schedule and in good shape. Installation was a snap with the special nut, as simple as installing a standard grinding blade. Really removes wood in a hurry. Easily controlled and simple to use. I suppose because of the rpms and 4-inch blade it seems to dull quickly. I spend what seems to be a lot of time sharpening. I've already got my money back from small items I've sold. I wish I had spent the extra and purchased the other brand with carbide teeth. Maybe the King Arthur folks can come up with 4" round carbide tipped chain saw blades?

I just got into wood carving , always like it but about a year ago i start to adquire tools and equipment , im from Chile , so here we do have good timber , i used Lancelot on a Killer grinder , and worked perfectly , i read ALL instructions firts and had no problems , made two bowls out a big eucaliptus stock i had on the front yard for years. So if you have a pice of stock and you want to do something out of it , get a chainsaw a grinder and a Lancelot , im already considering on purchasing the tandem , for complete instructions and technical information check [...]

I have used this tool to cut down wood blocks for carving. It quickly removes material and brings the wood closer to the final carving stage. Use caution as wood is removed QUICKLY.

This tool is a must have for anyone building a log home. Our builder had one and he used it in putting our house up. Now that we are finishing it, we have found it invaluable to:-carve out grooves for the window/door bucks-carve out grooves for wiring-carve out large areas of the logs for light switches. I really don't know how we would do this without the king arthur. It would easily take 3x as long with a chisel.This tool has allowed us to tackle many of the unusual challenges that come up with a log home. With each project, the king arthur has shown itself to be invaluable. Don't know how we would build this house without one.Our electrician had to get one once he saw ours!

Reviews

This nightlight is very nice, however, it came to me broken (it seems to me that the clips that attach the cover to the actual nightlight are not big enough) one of the pieces had broken off before it reached me. I rigged it up with a rubberband and it seems to be fine, it looks nice and it is good quality other than that.

Reviews

At this point in time you may or may not know about Sid the Elf and the movie choices we make. For the most part we seek out b but always sprinkle in classics that weigh heavy in the sentimental department. There are more then a handful of our personal classics ranging from every genre which leads us to the original House Party. It was one of those we used to pop in VHS style to set off a long evening of happy times. We'd always start with comedy early on saving a nice horror or unrated Movie Channel feature for the later part of the evening. It may not make sense to most, but for us it was the best times which are still talked about on a weekly basis. For those of you not familiar with House Party we give a brief breakdown of it's comic goodness. The films stars 80's/early 90's rap duo Kid n Play as they set off to throw a big party while Play's parents are out of town. Along the way plenty happens thanks to Kid's angry father, a gang of street toughs from school, and some insanely hilarious dance offs. It's one of those films that could only make sense for the era it came out in which is why we love it. The 80's and 90's just have a certain feel that can't be beat. Now that many years have passed since our last viewing, when it came on t.v Saturday afternoon we figured why not revisit it again and throw it in the review library. For us it's a classic and piece of Sid history worthy of a 5 star rating even after all these years.

the movie was in really good condition looked brand new and play's like it's brand new. i love this movie and i was really excited to find it at such a low cost.

House Party is sort of like a urban take on Risky Business in the sense that boy has party when parents go out of town for the weekend but the comparison end there. Kid and Play make one of the first hip hop films of the nineties which had a plot. Many young black comedic actors got their start in this film like Martin Lawerence and AJ Johnson. But the true comedic talent in the film is the late Robin Harris. The world only knows what Harris could have done. The script is smart and the direction by Regiland Hudlin is good.

When you check many hip hop heads' movie collection, you might NOT see this movie. The reason why is because they usually have the movie memorized word for word and don't need it to enjoy the classic memories. House Party is the first of 4 of 5 sequels. The reason why, is because this movie was so much fun to watch. Most people from that time (1990, New Jack Swing era) share the same experiences: the dancing, the quarrels with bullies, the sneaking out of the house, and lastly, the whoopings. The toughest part of this movie, for new viewers, is the extreme campiness of the film. Fun fact: Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff were supposed to play Kid'n'Play, so that explains a lot. Also, the movie has horrible acting, and cheesy dialog. However, the soundtrack is great and the scenes can be funny. Overall, the cult classic is a must have for all movie collectors.

I had seen the film when it first debuted back in 1990, and enjoyed it quite a bit, but looking back today, it's hard for me to divorce myself from a certain nostalgia for the look, sound and feel of the urban scene of 1990, when I was as deep into the music as I would ever be. Although this movie doesn't really feature artists on the cutting edge of hip hop of the day, and Kid N Play would come to be known more for their appearance in the House Party movies than anything they ever did as recording artists, there is still a beauty in the way the dialogue is presented and in the fashion of the young African-American teenagers that keeps it interesting for those that embrace such things. Obviously, at the center of the film is a house party, where the high school clique gets together for some fun, dancing, a little drinking, and a little romance. The gist of the story is that Kid (Reid), a hyperactive high schooler with an enormous high-top fade hair style, is grounded for misdeeds in school, but he still manages a way to sneak out and join the fun. Some of the emphasis is on the romantic connections that will form between two of the girls there, Sidney (Campbell, Little Shop of Horrors) and Charane (Johnson, Dying Young), which Kid (Martin) and his best friend, Play, seem to be vying for. Meanwhile, the high school bullies (Full Force) that got Kid in trouble to begin with are on the prowl for him, while everyone must overcome overzealous cops, whiny neighbors, and maintaining a rep among the peers. Although it was a modest hit when it was released, the enduring legacy of House Party is that it would eventually set the trend for nearly every party film that would come after it (Can't Hardly Wait is one prime example). It is also refreshing because it plays to its intended audience, but never speaks down to it, nor does it exclude people that aren't part of the scene it portrays from enjoying it. Unlike many other films which featured African-American casts of the time, it doesn't beat you over the head with forced positive messages, and conversely, it is mostly devoid of gangster drama, drugs, or serious crime that usually rear their ugly heads whenever an all-Black cast emerges ina Hollywood film. While there is some very subtle commentary on the nature of police suspicion of Blacks, safe sex, and drinking, they never veer into contrived melodrama, and in fact, they add a good deal of humor to the proceedings without seeming anything like a public service announcement. Other than that, it's a great movie to add on into your collection.

Reviews

This movie is full of inaccuracies. For anyone who would like to know more about the real Vincent, read his letters. The portrayal of Theo's wife, Joanna Van Gogh, makes her out to be a cold woman who has no feeling for art or Theo's brother and his work. History proves her to be quite the opposite. In fact, without her the world might be saying, "Van Gogh who?" Vincent was a mentally ill man with an incredible talent who wanted nothing more than to teach people through his art and letters, recommending books he read and found helpful to those who he loved. The only thing that he really desired was to be loved, it was the elusiveness of this and his depression over his complete reliance upon his younger brother that may have lead to his suicide. He wasn't merely a crazed painter. Watch it if you want to, but it is not at all accurate.

This is an excellent rendition of the relationship between Vincent Van Gogh and his brother, Theo, who was also patron of his art. Their lives were so intertwined that one could not live without the other. We owe a great debt to Theo's widow who carried on the mission to gain recognition of Vincent's art for the sake of her husband, son, and her brother-in-law. It was a very poignant and moving story.

Vincent & Theo, a 1990 film by director Robert Altman, may be the worst film ever made by a major director who has made a great film. Watching this two hour and twenty minute abomination left me, and my wife, stunned by its wretchedness. From the nonexistent narrative, to the indulgence of every artistic cliché imaginable by screenwriter Julian Mitchell, to possibly the worst soundtrack, by Gabriel Yared, ever used in a film (even worse than the estimably bad Robot Monster!), it's a wonder Altman ever crawled his way out from under the odium of this horrorshow, the nadir of his career- even more so than Popeye a decade before. Yet, his very next film, The Player, somehow relaunched his career. If I can indulge a cliché, maybe it really can be darkest before the dawn! I have still yet to see a successful film made on the life of a real artist, where all the clichés were not utilized. Perhaps the closest to that ideal was Amadeus, save for the fact that its protagonist was not Mozart, but Salieri, and the story was the latter's envy of the former's talent, and the truth was that that whole film was an almost total fiction. This film, however, does not even address the artistic impulse, and the paintings, which is the ONLY reason anyone gives a damn about Vincent Van Gogh, his suffering, or even his brother. Altman states, in the featurette, that what interested him were Vincent's letters to Theo, yet we NEVER get a hint of what they say, only one ridiculously melodramatic scene where a raving Theo bitches at his wife's opening up of the letters. Altman's always been at his best in ensemble pieces, like Nashville, M*A*S*H, The Player, and Gosford Park. He seems utterly adrift in this intense de facto two person stage play where both actors wildly overact, as if they were in a Roger Corman 1960s comic-horror version of Lust For Life, save with British accents, not Dutch. Vincent & Theo is a horrible film, in its own stolid way as bad as Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List, but it seems even worse because Spielberg's never come within a light year of a film as complex as Nashville. There is no progression nor insight into Vincent Van Gogh in this film, nor even his brother. When the brothers die we do not care, nor do we have an iota of insight into Altman's ideas on life and art. Vincent's graffiti that `I AM THE HOLY SPIRIT. I AM WHOLE IN SPIRIT.' are not only dull and trite, but not given a shred of evidence one way nor the other by Altman. I could go on and on, and list a few dozen other reasons why this is easily Altman's worst film, and a terrible film, period, but hopefully I've earned enough trust with my readership that I can tell them to simply skip this one and watch Lust For Life instead. It's a better film, and more intellectually honest, to boot. Ok, exhale!

I ordered one got two and was charged for two - keep it for a gift Took over 2 week to get it- them

I have one favorite scene in the film VINCENT AND THEO, the late Robert Altman's highly acclaimed masterwork on the life of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. It is a short brutal scene in the first half of the movie when Van Gogh's model and mistress is leaving him: she slaps him witless, and then kisses him hard on the mouth before storming out of the apartment. That double action of pained frustration and loving adoration seems a sad but accurate metaphor for the entire film and possibly for Van Gogh himself. Whereas life bestowed upon him a bliss-filled kiss of exceptional artistic and spiritual vision, the hand of fate slapped him so hard that he was robbed of any lasting personal joy that might have come from this great gift. Van Gogh (in the film played brilliantly by Tim Roth) is one of those creative geniuses of history whose life story continues to haunt and inform us from one century to the next. The question is why? Could it be because the beauty and evidence of that genius continues to increase with time and therefore makes us wonder about the cultural values and "personalities" we tend to either champion or malign in modern days? That it definitely does increase can be measured in one sense by the millions of dollars for which this eighteenth century impressionist artist's paintings now sell. The whole point of Altman's film seems to be to illustrate how Vincent's genius found refuge for a while in his brother Theo's love. It is well known that even though Theo (who is played with mesmerizing neurotic precision by Paul Rhys) was a relatively successful art dealer, he was unable to manipulate the market to his brother's advantage. That did not, however, stop him from financially supporting him throughout his short adult life as a painter. Altman makes that point clear enough when Theo informs his brother that the money Vincent thought their father had been sending him had in fact been provided by Theo. Rather than belaboring this aspect of their relationship, director Altman moves his camera back and forth between scenes that show us how very much alike, and yet simultaneously different, Vincent and Theo were in their thwarted pursuits of a triumphant life. As Theo eagerly courted "respectable ladies," Vincent just as eagerly enjoyed women of a certain profession. Whereas Vincent yearned to prove himself an artist worthy of the name, Theo yearned to prove himself a businessman worthy of prominence and prosperity. Vincent's descent into madness manifests more tangibly because it takes on the more graphically visual qualities associated with art itself: we see him court and then violently alienate the attentions of his equally genius friend Paul Gauguin; watch him stick knives menacingly in his mouth, cut off his earlobe, meekly endure his stay in an asylum, stand in a sunlit field where he has been painting black birds and calmly shoot himself. All the while, some of the most celebrated canvases in art history, depicting a virtual of ecstasy of sunflowers, starry nights, and golden wheat fields, rapidly pile up. Theo is actually able to resist the powerful tug of debilitating madness until after his brother succumbs to it. That he does fall prey to it is tragically ironic because despite the syphilis that mars his happiness, he achieves some measure of the "ideal life" with a wife, new baby, and modest advancement in his career. He therefore appears to have all the motivation necessary to sustain a stable existence. But when he places all of Vincent's work (after the artist's death) in a suite of rooms for an exhibit, he screams at this wife that "this is the most important thing in my life!" and forces her to leave. It would seem at that point that he not only loved Vincent and believed deeply in his talent, but was in fact a kind of extension of him, and vice versa. The loss of Vincent on July 29, 1890, at the age of only 37, triggered in Theo a mental and physical collapse. He died less than a year later on January 25, 1891, at the age of 33. This 1990 movie (released on DVD in 2005) is 138 minutes long so no one can claim it's too short. I only wish Altman had included somewhere in it the story of how--after studying for the ministry and before he became a painter--Vincent spent forty days nursing back to health a miner who had been injured in an explosion and whom doctors had expected to die. The miner's recovery was described as a miracle and, from the scars left on his face, Van Gogh experienced a vision of the wounds that Christ suffered from the crown of thorns placed on his head. Some allusion to this may have added greater understanding to the intense spiritual impulses that drove Van Gogh's devotion to his art and helped clarify what he hoped to communicate through it. Even so, the film as it stands is itself a remarkable painting of two extraordinary brothers who shared one profound and astonishing destiny. by Author-Poet Aberjhani author of ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts on File Library of American History)

Reviews

do not like any of the house party movies but a neice does so i give it 1 star and my neice gives it four stars, she like all of them

House Party 2 doesn't live up to the first film but it's still a funny film. While the charcters haven't grown much since the first film Kid is still head strong and Play is still a lothario, the film does expand Martin Lawerence's part and features a cameos by Ralph Tresvant and Tony Toni Tone. If you want harmless fun check this one out.

To begin, House Party 2 is no House Party. In fact, those that would like to compare the two are completely off their hypothetical film "rocker". These are two completely separate films. Do you know why? What originally began as a film about some soulful and youthful teens trying to get to the ultimate dance party has now transformed into this cliché morality tale that demonstrates the power of friendship and the strength of humility. WHAT! Is that why I wanted to watch this film? I apologize, but one of the few reasons that I liked House Party was because they followed the K.I.S.S. method (for those unfamiliar it is the Keep It Simple Stupid method) of filmmaking. In the original, becoming a lyricist, a ladies man, and having the best party in town was the root of the film. While there was a romantic side to the story, it fell second nature to the growing hip-hop scene. It was a dance film first, developed character story second. Honestly, that is what I enjoyed about the film. While I didn't think House Party was the greatest release of the century, it did have this genuine feel about it. In fact, after watching this poorly crafted sequel, I have a bit more respect for the original. Where was the dancing? Where was the creativity? Where was the same Kid & Play that I remembered from the first House Party? They were nowhere to be found in this trashy sequel. Robin Harris. We all remember him as "Pop" from the original film, but what we do not realize about this humorous comedian is that he subsequently changed the image of the House Party series. In the original, he was this father trying to steer his son into a path of academia instead of rap and parties, in the sequel, he plays a spirit who annoyingly hounds Kid throughout the film with flashbacks from the original. Due to his death, he brings nothing new to the table, yet this entire sequel seems to be focused around those few short words that he used in the first film. I don't mean to be rude, but I never felt that the father was such a big element in the original. I thought that Kid trying to challenge authority to attempt to find himself was the underlying meaning of the original, while in this one it is Kid repressing his true self in hopes to make his dead father happy. Where did the lightness of the original go? I watched House Party 2 thinking that there is a limit that the writers could go without making Kid seem totally whipped by his father's words, but we never hit that limit. Where, anywhere in this film, was Kid trying to find his rap roots? I needed to see a young man still interested in becoming the lyricist that he once desired to be? Why did he have to grow up so fast? In fact, the rap side-story to this film seems to be the negative element. We have gone from loving the genre to completely disrespecting it in one film. Ah, the power of the sequel. Martin Lawrence was again completely annoying to the point in which I completely tuned him out whenever he spoke. He brought nothing to the story and nothing to the main characters. Lawrence was nothing more than a familiar face for the audience to relate to. In fact, it is that dedication to familiar faces from the original that hurt this sequel. When the ultimate PAJAMA JAM finally does occur (one hour into this short film), we are hit with an barrage of repetitive scenes of aged rappers and comedians from the original who do nothing but repeat their lines, actions, and emotions from the first. While many may enjoy these familiar faces, I felt as if it were a cheap trick used to make me feel more comfortable about the film. If these minor characters had done more than just repeat their lines, than maybe I would have bought into the trick, but instead all I saw were cheap repetitive motions used by writers to fill time. I used the word "repetitive" several times in this paragraph because it demonstrated the annoying repetitive nature of this film and completed my point about using that element as a cheap trick. I hope it worked. In most television series, especially the cheapened kind, we sometimes hear a laugh track or a sound machine used to create some "zany" or "wacky" sound that lightens the mood and creates the viable laugh point. In House Party 2, I do believe that the sound guy was extremely drunk or possibly working his first day in the booth. There were more sound effects in this film than in a Bobby McFerrin music video. Was this a child's movie or another urban comedy? Neither Kid nor Play could do anything in this film without a "zip zim" or a "whoosh" or a "ding dong" noise happening somewhere in the background. This was a fresh element to the sequel which direly needed to be taken away. There is a chase scene near the end of the film which felt like Pee-Wee Herman choreographed it with all the unsettling sounds that were happening. After the first twenty minutes of this, it because increasingly annoying to the point of insanity. Overall, this sequel soils the original. The themes were sporadic (i.e. in one instance we are talking about the oppression of the African American, while in the other the directors seem to be building age-old stereotypes), the characters continued towards their bland downward spiral, those annoying, randomly placed racist police officers were back, and the dominating "father" element seemed too serious for the overall theme of this film. I hope this film wasn't an indication of the path of colleges in the future? House Party 3, don't fail me now! Grade: ** out of *****

Kid'N'Play are going to college, well just mainly Kid, to leave the world of problems. While there Kid learns the lesson of responsibility....the hard way. Play gives Kid's college money to a beautiful, yet crooked music promoter (Iman). And with Sidney want to see new people, Kid comes to Play with help and come up with a PAJAMA JAM PARTY. Now that's why this movie is way better then the first one and a little bit more funnier.

i still enjoyed da sequel a lot i miss kid pop he was tough but still cool y did he have 2 die in da movie and in while life da black no hair man from rocky 1 through 5 was here in this movie he plays as kid culinary arts boss kid moves out of his house and goes somewhere 2 college while he has problems from his 2 best friends play and martin l they cause him all kinds of problem which leads kid and play 2 eventually fighting each other in da middle of da film female rapper queen l made her guess appearance and delivered well with big head actress tamisha campbell doing well in both house party movies this movie was very funny at times so i have no complaints about this film at all and this movie features some of da best films of da 90s like da 1st 1 did u wouldn't want 2 miss this sequel because it is another house party classic da only difference is that they are in college partying and still gettin into more trouble than the first 1 Joe Brown

Reviews

Alright, I'm not really an artist, but I did get these pens solely for art purposes. I do some abstract drawings and wanted something for coloring them in, and I needed something fine because there are a lot of small spaces I'm working within. These pens are PERFECT for the job. Good color, good flow, and no downsides that I've yet noticed. If you want to color in a large space, these are not the way to go, as it does get a little monotonous. They would be great for writing, too, but for art they are awesome. I'll probably get the thirty set next.

I have used these pens for years to make architectural field notes. They are great pens with a good tip that lasts almost until the ink is gone. The ink is good (not too much flow and not too little). I will continue to buy them and would recommended them as a good product worth the money. Here are my complaints: I use the red, blue and black, color the most. I have tried to find a place where I can order a case of ten of each of these colors but had no success. My drawers are full of the other colors because I have to buy a complete set to get one...RED, BLUE, and BLACK. This makes each pen rather expensive. Trying to be GREEN, I have just started giving my other color pens to my wife and kids while I order more SETS of pens. Yes... I have tried replacing my used up red, blue and black pens with other brands but they are not as good as these. And one more point, I never use the yellow! Does anybody use yellow on white paper? Another complaint is the cap does not fit on the back end very tight. Sometimes I use these pens while standing on a job site with a clip board in my hand. I put the cap on the back end of the pen and in no time it has fallen off into the floor. News flash! If one looses the cap off of their porous point pen then the pen is history. You might as well say you lost the pen. There have been times when I wanted to put one of these pens in my shirt pocket but that doesn't work either. They are too tall. The pocket clip is way up above the top of my shirt pocket top. My wish list would be adding more choices to their product line. First of all the choice to buy single colors in packages of five or ten. Second I would like to see a shorter pocked size version with an improved cap and pocket clip. The industry moved away from metal pocket clips to plastic pocket clips and I have been loosing pens out of my pocket ever since. I would like to see the metal pocket clips come back. In my opinion this pen is one of the few good quality porous point pens left on the market. This last week I ordered three sets and when the blue, black and red are gone I will order more. However I am constantly perusing the office supply shelves. As soon as another vendor offers exactly what I need I will be switching to them.

I love these markers. They are fun to write with and the colors available are great. They are easy to hold and feel good in your hand. However! Please beware that these are NOT archival level. I used a brown toned one to write in my journal, and flipping through the pages about 6 months later, the ink had bled towards the edges of the pages and became visible on the other side of the pages. This journal has decently weighted paper, and the bleeding did not happen on other pages written on with other pens. None the less, I do love these markers and will continue to use them for notes, etc. They are just not good for long term preservation.

over the past 2 years, I've bought more than 30 sets of these pens and give them as gifts. In my office everyone displays them proudly on their desks. we are healthcare consultants and anything that makes our work more colorful and happy is a good thing. with their bright, saturated colors,and nifty display I can't think of a better gift for

The Staedler Fineliner Porous Point Pens are better than I expected. The colors are vibrant, the point does not lose its edge and the ink does not bleed through the paper. Great buy!

Reviews

I use this ink for every fountain pen that I have. The pen that came with it is crap, but this ink is on the same level as uniball Super Ink. When you swirl clear glass bottle around and the ink covers the bottle, its opacity is remarkable. I haven't had a clog, or skip or choke in any of my nibs. Bottom line: If you work in an industry, where you need permanence in your signature, you've found a winner!

I'm a fan of Noodler's Ink. Good stuff and very generous versus other brand inks -- I even received a free pen in the box. But "The Heart of Darkness" NOT waterproof. Don't buy it if you intend to do washes with watercolor or other water media. I do sketches with watercolor washes. And this ink will NOT hold up to watercolor washes. Look at the Bulletproof line of Noodler's Inks.

I've always been fascinated with fountain pens. I mean, it takes skill to write with one, so there is an air of seriousness and intent surrounding them. After all, technicalities aside, you don't tweet with a fountain pen. Also, the pen itself is an engineering marvel -- an aestetically pleasing outer shell enclosing a carefully designed system to enhance a controlled leak of the contained ink via capillary action through the nib. I mean, really, when they wrote "the pen is mightier than the sword", I don't think they were referring to the cheap plastic pen attached to a chain at the post office. The other main ingredient to the system is the ink. The ink is what leaves a mark on the paper -- an expression of the writer's intent, creativity, and expression. It is what conveys the words to the reader. And leaving writers aside for a moment, I'll note that an octopus risks his life on the quality of his ink. So the choice of ink is not a trivial decision. Though I'll leave fountain pens for another discussion, regarding inks, I must say I've really been happy with the Noodler's Heart of Darkness Black Fountain Pen Ink ink. In case it isn't obvious from the Joseph Conrad allusion, this ink is really black. Blackhole kind of black. It is also, well, bulletproof, in that it is meant to stick around on the paper for a long time. No worries about your snail mail address washing away when your letter drops into a puddle on route. This package offered by Amazon includes a free fountain pen with the bottle of ink. The bottle of ink itself has a built-in dropper for ease in refills. The free fountain pen is probably not the best fountain pen around, but I have really enjoyed it and use it almost daily -- this is the pen I carry around with me in my bag. I don't have to worry about it getting stolen or broken, and so carry it with me wherever I go. As a result, it actually gets used more than some of my other pens. And so far, it always writes when I want it to write, so I really can't complain. But the main attraction here is the ink. If you are confident in what you want to say, and want the security of knowing it won't be lost or distorted, then choose Noodler's Heart of Darkness Black. (review by Kendall Giles)

I bought this ink with my first fountain pen and really enjoyed writing with the pen. Before I got my second refill out of the bottle I dropped the bottle and lost the entire container of ink when it broke. The next time I needed a refill I filled up with some ink my sister had in her fountain pen set. It was then that I noticed how good Noodler's Ink is. The other ink felt scratchy on the paper and dried up in the pen a lot. I kept having to run water on the nib or press really hard to get it flowing. After ordering my second bottle of Noodler's I'm back to silky smooth writing and no drying up. It seems like it lubricates the pen or something. Good stuff.

This is indeed a very dark black ink, and it lives up to its name. However, the ink does readily feather on cheaper paper. For an ink that is every bit as dark and behaves well on a wider range of paper, you might want to check out Noodler's Old Manhattan Black, which is also bulletproof. Old Manhattan is exclusive to The Fountain Pen Hospital, unfortunately, but it is definitely worth checking out.

Reviews

works good in my Lamy and Mont Blanc fountain pens. Doesnt clog and the blue color looks good on the paper. a decent ink

Arrived 2 days before I was expecting it, so far it is the best ink that I have used. I always use blue ink for my pens and I just got my first fountain pen, I will purchase this ink again (if I ever run out, the bottle is FULL to the top so be careful opening it) I haven't had any trouble with filling my pen (a Parker Urban fountain pen) and so far have not had any trouble at all with leaks. I would definitely recommend this to someone looking for a good blue ink for a fountain pen. It is a lot better looking then the blue ink that came with my pen and it stands out a little bit better, but not so much as to make it unusable.

Baystate blue has very pretty color but hemorrhaged in my Namiki Vanishing Point. Tried several times, several messes. Messes at least were confined to paper towels and bathroom sink. The ink stained as warned. Scrubbed much Clorox on the sink. Had problems with other pens too. I can't use this ink.

I love the color of this ink. The vendor phoned me prior to shipping to tell me some had complained the ink gummed their pens. Indeed, I tried the ink in one of my pens that does not flow a ton of ink and it clogged. However, in one of my more free-flowing pens it works well.

I purchased a bottle of this ink in the spring. The color was amazing, and it writes very smoothly. Unfortunately, I had problems with excessive ink flow and leaks with all three of the pens that I tried it in. If that wasn't bad enough, it dries instantly and stains any surface with which it comes into contact. Noodler's products are good, but I would avoid this ink.

Reviews

I don't doubt that a WATER based coating doesn't work well on this canvas since even though the Epson ink is pigmented, on this canvas it has very low water resistance if the print is not coated after printing. I use PremierArt Print Shield spray (available from www.ATLEX.COM) which is what Wilhelm uses when testing for display life (www.wilhelm-research.com). This works very well and I'm very satisfied with the combination of this canvas and the PremierArt Print Shield.

Have a brand new state of the art Epson 7880, 24"-inch printer. This canvas does not hold the ink. After letting it cure for 24 hours ... I used a perfectly proven & acceptable brush-on, water-based sealer & the ink immediately cracked & split. Could/would not sell a print on this canvas to ANY customer. Spray finish seems to hold, but only because I have not done a scratch test. Can only use in portfolio, and this canvas was just as expensive as the ones that work ... at least $120 for 40"-feet. Suggest using Fredrix 777, or other tested brand. Beware how canvas such as this is advertised on Amazon. "Canvas Fine Art Paper" ... not at all.