Kelex Reviews

CBS Storybreak (1984– )

Why is this not available on DVD?

[15 April 2005]

I loved this series growing up. Absolute favorite episode was Dragon's Blood, the first of Jane Yolen's "Pit Dragon Trilogy" of books about the Austarian dragons and the dragon masters who train them for battle.

Every episode was a classic. This series was the reason I got out of bed on Saturday mornings! So many of the classic shows of my youth are becoming available on DVD, there's no reason this shouldn't be one of them.

Storybreak gave children their first taste of what reading books can be like. Some of these books (like the aforementioned Dragon's Blood) I didn't have available to me at the time, and in fact had never even heard of, but once I knew about them I had to read the full story (no matter how well done, a 30 minute cartoon can't give the entire experience of the book, but it CAN spark the interest to find the book and get the rest of the story for yourself)

But the fact of the matter is, these stories WERE well done! Whether it's a story of a boy who ate too much chocolate, or a kid who was transported to a parallel dimension where Dinosaurs evolved and mankind was extinct. Silly or serious, as long as it's entertaining...and it always WAS!

A Knight's Tale (2001)

It's FUN! Is that not enough?

[10/10 · 27 June 2002]

Okay, I've read some of the previous comments and I gotta ask...WHY?! Why can't a movie just be fun and entertaining? "The music should have been an orchestral score." Yes. Okay. Musical styles from the 17th, 18th, and 19th, centuries are okay for a 14th century movie, but not 20th century music? And the same thing with the language. I'm sorry, but I don't speak French OR Middle English, (the correct languages of the time period) so I rather LIKE the idea of having it in a language I DO understand...Rather than "old" (Elizabethan) English which would have been an anachronism (8^þ

And someone said that Rufus Sewell didn't make his bad guy bad enough? What, does a villain have to be a serial killer to be a "good" villain? He's a slimy arrogant JERK who deserved to be put in his place. And he was a human being as well. It's called realism. Hel-LO? (okay, so maybe having a realistic bad-guy character mixed in with that level of anachronism was difficult to cope?)

The interaction between the main characters is priceless, from the first scene to the last. My only real problem with the movie is the length. It's too damn short! Most of the scenes that were cut should be put back in, just to lengthen the wonderful experience that is A Knight's Tale. If you haven't seen it, do so. (Get the DVD, it's worth it for all the bonus features)

I hope they never even consider a sequel, but I would dearly LOVE to see the entire cast reunited in another film.

Bottom line, it's a fun and enjoyable movie, but not if you want a serious dissertation on the Middle Ages. It is FUN, and has a few good messages along the way. Buy/rent it. Watch it. Enjoy it. And that's okay. It is okay to enjoy a movie...even if it doesn't change the world.