Showing posts with label president. Show all posts
Showing posts with label president. Show all posts

5/23/2011

60 Minutes Presents: Obama: All Access - Barack Obama's Road to the White House (2008) Review

60 Minutes Presents: Obama: All Access - Barack Obama's Road to the White House (2008)
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President Barack Obama. From his beginning as a Senator from Illinois to his road to the White House and to the monumental day of his inauguration, only one show and one correspondent was granted exclusive access to the Senator and that was "60 Minutes" and correspondent Steve Kroft.
"60 Minutes Presents Obama: All Access - Barack Obama's Road To The White House" is a wonderful glimpse into the personal and professional life of Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their two daughters.
The DVD features the following:
* The 44th President (November 16, 2008) - This 38-minute post-election interview with President Obama goes into the economy, automobile industry, bail-out, his Washington apartment and getting a family dog and his mother-in-law. Also, interesting insight from President Obama in regards to having an NCAA Football playoff system. But also, an interview with first lady Michelle Obama and reflecting on the past with their relationship. A very good interview featuring a confident, calm but also anxious to get to work President.
* The Road to the White House (December 28, 2008) - This 34-minute interview features President Barack Obama's road to the White House. Exclusive footage given to "60 Minutes" of Obama's two year audition to the American people and clips from past interviews with then Senator Obama and his wife Michelle. A very well done compilation of two years of footage from "60 Minutes" showcasing the challenges, the problems but also the high notes of his campaign.
* What You Haven't Seen - Steve Kroft explains that there were so much footage that did not make it on the air and thus with the DVD, they included 14-minutes of footage. This footage is much more personal as President Obama talks about his upbringing, his mother, Abraham Lincoln and the relationship between Barack and his wife Michelle.
* Major Speeches - This section features six major speeches given by Senator Obama, Democrat nominee for President, President-elect to President Barack Obama. Included are:
1. Candidacy (February 10, 2007) - Duration: 21 minutes. Illinois Senator President Obama makes his candidacy speech in Springfield at the Old State Capitol where President Abraham Lincoln made his speech against slavery.
2. Race (March 18, 2008) - Duration: 15 minutes. The topic of race was unavoidable due to his former pastor's comments. So, this speech in Philadelphia dealt with race and union.
3. Berlin (July 24, 2008) - Duration: 16 minutes. Barack Obama set out in a tour in the Middle East but also making appearances in Europe and the highlight was a speech in Berlin.
4. Nomination (August 28, 2008) - Duration: 43 minutes. Barack Obama spoke in Denver in front of 83,000 supporters. Rallying his supporters as he became the Democrat nominee for President. An exciting and energetic speech!
5. Victory (November 4, 2008) - Duration: 19 minutes. We had a new President-elect and Obama and his family greeted their cheering supporters and he gave another awesome speech.
6. Inauguration (January 20, 2009) - Duration: 22 minutes. The important oath and transfer of power as Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
The following video is featured in 4:3 and audio is English 2.0. Pretty much the TV broadcast footage as shown on television. You'll notice that the recent interviews are much more cleaner as opposed to the footage done two years prior. But overall video is as expected and audio is clear and understandable.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
There are no special features. Granted, the portion "What You Haven't Seen" can be looked at as a special feature. But the menu features the two "60-Minutes" segments, the "What You Haven't Seen" and Speeches as the main categories for menu selection.
I found "60 Minutes Presents Obama: All Access - Barack Obama's Road To The White House" to be a fantastic collection of exclusive footage of Barack Obama. It's one thing to see the political side of the President but you really had good insight to both the President and the first lady. How they want to live normal lives and especially how important they are as parents to their two young daughters.
Hearing his speeches again were very calm, powerful, communicative and energetic. His charisma and his delivery of his speeches were so exciting to watch again and to see the various energy, the happiness, the tears of happiness of the supporters and the thousands who turned out to see him give a speech was just touching, amazing and memorable.
If anything, I love these DVD collections that include speeches because when I was in college. Back then, I would use President Kennedy's speeches as a way to practice my delivery for speech class and also public speaking and in this case, people of today can use this as a resource for speech class because Barack Obama definitely has great delivery and confidence in his speeches. Speeches you can learn from.
Overall, "60 Minutes presents Obama: All Access - Barack Obama's Road to the White House" is enjoyable, entertaining and insightful. This DVD is for those who want to celebrate Obama's rise as a Senator from Illinois to become the 44th President of the United States and for those who want to learn more about him.

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60 MINUTES PRESENTS OBAMA:ALL ACCESS - DVD Movie

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3/25/2011

Commander in Chief - The Inaugural Edition, Part 2 (Episodes 11-18) (2005) Review

Commander in Chief - The Inaugural Edition, Part 2 (Episodes 11-18) (2005)
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Yes, this is basically West Wing light,with good enough acting overall,though I still think Geena Davis(first female President of the United States) only truly shines in the very first episode of the series(which is also on this Part 2 DVD,but this time with the choice of listening to show creator Rod Lurie's commentary or not).It could perhaps be because that happens to be my favorite episode.She's fine in the other episodes but I enjoy watching the rest of the First Family much more.Geena Davis' character is under so much pressure as the President of the United States,that she rarely gets a chance to flash her great smile and showcase her friendly nature.
I like all of the First Family actors,and also like the way this series mostly focuses on their relationships with each other rather than getting too deep into political issues.Both the eldest daughter,played by Caitlin Wachs, and the the youngest daughter,played by Jasmine Anthony, are top-notch and greatly add to the show.Matt Lanter(son) and Kyle Secor(husband) are both solid as well.Later on in the series,the grandmother is added to help keep the family more secure.
Both Ever Carradine(Robert Carradine's daughter),who plays press secretary Kelly Ludlow and Harry J. Lennix who plays Chief of Staff Jim Gardner are both great additions to an already stellar cast.
Any political issues discussed in this 18 episode series(only episode #1 and episodes #11-18 are on these 2 discs from Part 2) are very basic and most have been done in much more detail on the far superior West Wing(this is also what creator Rod Lurie says on his commmentary track;so we agree).
Notes:
-Luckily,the final episode doesn't end in a cliff-hanger,but rather sets up the upcoming battle for re-election against a worthy opponent.
-There will also be an upcoming Commander In Chief Tv movie that I heard Geena Davis mention,when she was being interviewed on The View Tv show,fairly recently.
-The President's son played by Matt Lanter was actually CGI'd (his face was placed over the other actor's face using Computer Generated Imagery),into some scenes from the pilot episode because he replaced the initial actor they hired(since they later decided he didn't look good enough-as I learned from Rod Lurie's good audio commentary).
-In episode #17 @ 18:38 point in the episode,the Chief of Staff wryly says,"I'm betting this President can handle a bow and arrow",obviously referring to Geena Davis placing 24th out of 28 semi-finalists for the Olympic Archery team in 1999.
-Geena Davis can speak Swedish and is a member of Mensa (her IQ is 140). My IQ is very near 45 on a good day.DVD EXTRAS:
-A Conversation with Madame President: An OK interview with Geena Davis,featuring her nice smile and friendly nature along with some insight;as well as some clips from the show interspersed between her comments (5 minutes and 53 seconds in length).
GRADE: C+
-Deleted Scenes: 20 deleted scenes(21minutes and 38 seconds in length) taken from some of the 18 episodes of the entire series.Most are short but sweet,with only a few perhaps that shouldn't have been deleted from the actual episodes.Thankfully, there is a 'Play All' deleted scenes choice.
GRADE: C+
-White House Humor,Bloopers and Outtakes:You get to see Geena Davis clown around and make faces before she starts her scenes,as well as seeing many other cast regulars make mistakes.Nothing hilarious,but still funny and enjoyable.I'm sure you'll at least chuckle from time to time and wish there was more than just the 3 minutes and 35 seconds of it.
GRADE: B MINUS
-Audio Commentary for Episode #1-commentary by show creator Rod Lurie: As mentioned before, they included episode #1(the pilot) on this Part 2 DVD set(you can only access it from the Special Features:Commentary section),so they could add Rod Lurie's fine and informative commentary.You learn some behind the scenes secrets(such as Matt Lanter replacing the initial actor chosen for role), roughly what goes into getting a pilot ready for Tv and get to hear some very opinionated comments by Rod Lurie as well.He did however mention that he didn't want to get into any scandalous issues about the show,but still I learned enough from his commentary to recommend it.
GRADE: B
-Audio Commentary for Episode #16:Elephant in the Room-commentary by writer/producer Dee Johnson: Informative enough but still dull at times.
GRADE: CSUMMARY:
I enjoyed the entire 18 episode series(only episode #1 and episodes #11-18 are on this DVD Season 1 Part 2 set)of Commander In Chief,with episode #1 being my favorite.I also enjoyed all the episodes that focused on the President's children.
Unfortunately,having seen the far superior West Wing Tv series as well,Commander In Chief pales in comparison.However,the lighter nature of Commander In Chief makes it a more relaxing and less cerebral minded show that focuses more on family values,as well as how a close-knit family deals with being in the spotlight 24 hours a day,without completely falling apart.It has a strong heart and enough solid acting to keep you rooting for this First Family and all those they care about.God Bless America (and Canada too).
OVERALL GRADE(WITHOUT Dvd Extras): B
OVERALL GRADE(WITH Dvd Extras): B+

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Acclaimed actress Geena Davis joins Emmy(R) Award winner Donald Sutherland and an accomplished cast in a captivating blend of drama, excitement, and political intrigue. Enjoy the thrilling conclusion to the series' award-winning first season -- complete with exclusive bonus features. As a potentially devastating confrontation with North Korea escalates, President Allen's (Davis) leadership skills are put to the test. At the same time, tensions remain high between the President and the Speaker Of The House (Sutherland), forcing the Commander In Chief to master the art of political hardball -- all while juggling the full-time responsibilities of motherhood. The San Francisco Chronicle raves that Davis is an "inspired choice, equal parts powerful leader, conflicted mother, and concerned wife." Experience the excitement and the drama of this outstanding series with the gripping culmination of Season One.

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