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Reviews

"The voice of an Angel, spreads her wings with her interpretations of some of the most popular classical, Broadway film and traditional Celtic music of all time." Originally produced by Sony music back in 2001, this beautiful and talented young lady is now married with two young children to care for. If she plans to hit the road again on a concert tour, get your ticket fast, sit back and enjoy the gifts and talent given to her by the Lord above. Oh, how we need more positive role models like her in our society.

I loved Charlotte Church's first album. Absolutely loved it. She had such a pure, crystalline voice, especially for one so young, and she sang with a mature phrasing that was well beyond her years. This album tries to branch into more contemporary territory, and does a decent job, but really, is just a mediocre, very uneven effort. There are a few absolute gems on the album. "Carrickfergus" is wonderful, with perfect voice and phrasing. "The Flower Duet" is great, more for her ability to duet with herself, as is "The Prayer", with Josh Groban, arguably the brightest song on the disc. There are even some semi-decent, alright renditions. "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" isn't Streisand, of course, but she pulls it over, albeit less emotionally. "If I Loved You" isn't bad, but there wasn't really a reason for her to do it, since it doesn't add anything special to the many renditions already out there. "The Little Horses" and "Habanera" are more personalized renditions, but they both fall rather flat, and there isn't any sparkle to them. There are, however, more duds than anything else. "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" isn't suited for her voice and styling at all, as aren't "Somewhere", "From My First Moment", and "A Bit Of Earth". They are all painful to listen to, and shouldn't have even been included on the disc. She obviously does not have a Broadway voice, and why they were included is beyond me. Overall, she did a decent job, but really, I would only download those few songs, and if you want "The Prayer", you should buy Josh Groban's self-titled disc with that song, since that disc is a far more even, and high-class, effort than this one.

I recommend this album for anyone who loves opera, contemporary, pop, and classical music. Although this album was made years ago when Charlotte was just 15, she has since released a hit pop album with a string of hits, had a baby and a hit T.V. variety show, she has recently stated that she's looking into acting again, and getting a role in an opera in the theater, releasing a new classical album, and a new pop album! This record is a great way to get ready for what Charlotte will be hitting us with next!

I have been listening to this album for many years (since it came out), and I still love every song! I am not an "opera" person. I just don't like the real stuff. Charlotte is admitably fudging a bit, but to her advantage. I don't think many people can listen to a recording of a real opera singer. Don't they sing to fill up an entire room. It sounds like screaming to me. However Charlotte has a very soft and very agreeable voice, especially since she ditched her back of the throat voice thing. Obviously, this album was meticulously made. The first time I heard it, it had an "environment". It was a very relaxing place, especially Bali Hai. I really liked the way they arranged all of the pieces. Charlotte's voice sounds flawless, hitting the notes clear and high. It is an extremely accomplished album; a definate classic, and in my opinion, perfection.

This is one of my facorite CDs. The selection of songs is amazing. They are all "classical" songs that appeal to everyone. The flower duet is breath taking.

Reviews

If your child is under 11, I would advise against this movie. Aside from the very poor acting, which is forgivable in a children's movie, there are many problems with it. We turned it off about a 1/4 of the way through. One of the more disturbing scenes shows two creepy looking men observing children at the playground. This precedes the uneccessary scene in which you think someone is sneaking up to one of the girl's bedroom window while she is asleep in her bed. Another inappropriate scene shows the pony dreaming of his mother getting hit by a drunk driver, (yes, they show the drunk man driving the car while guzzling a bottle of something). This movie is in bad taste. Too bad, since the horse scenes which we saw were adorable. There are so many wonderful horse movies available for the young horse lover in your family, but this isn't one of them.

I bought this DVD for my wife who loves horses. It was a good movie.

Let's be honest, if two little girls were kidnapped by gross old men they wouldn't be acting so smart-alick and stuck up. This movie is boring from the start. You can tell their trying to make it entertaining, but it's far from. And who is the black horse on the front? Neither the horse or pony is black coated. Come on, if they don't even realize that they put the wrong horse on the cover... maybe they shouldn't have made a movie. Not for a younger audience.

I honestly don't see why people are saying this movie is so horrible. It is very clearly rated PG, so why would they think it was intended for little kids? This movie is not for really young kids. The kidnappers can be scary, though not much worse than the ones in Home Alone. The final scenes when the horses go to rescue the girls can also be scary, though again no more so than many other PG movies putting animals in dangerous situations, like Far From Home, Dinosaur, or even the Bear (which is also PG, yet I doubt any parent would let a sub-10 year old watch it)! As for the movie itself, it is an interesting tale of two girls and their two horses. Two-Bits is a little pony, haunted by nightmares of his mother being killed by a drunk driver who when he was still young. As a result, he can be a little insecure, so he frequently sneaks out of the barn so sleep outside his young owner, Tyler's, window. Pepper is an older gray horse, owned by Tyler's family, but always ridden by Tyler's best friend Katie. He is a little rough on Two-Bits, but also a little wise about the world and ready to listen when Two-Bits nightmares wake him up. The girls decide to ride the horses into town, against Tyler's parents specific instructions not to. They figure they won't get caught, but of course Tyler's mom happens to be in town. When confronted, Tyler has a fight with her mom and "runs away" to Katie's because her parents let her down anything she wants. The small town they live in has become the target of two somewhat stupid, but scary pair of brothers who are looking for a rich kid to kidnap for ransom. Tyler and Katie, of course, become the targets of the bungling criminals when they realize they are alone because Katie's parents are on vacation and her big sister is out on a date. When the police can't find them, Two-Bits and Pepper escape to find their beloved riders. It is a dangerous mission, and it will require Two-Bits to confront his greatest fears out of love of his little girl. One side note: I don't know why the company who released this movie to DVD used the cover they did. There is NO black horse in the movie at all! It is also lacking subtitles, which is fairly inexcusable in this day and age.

If you have a daughter that likes horses, this movie is great. Much better than what we were expecting. Joe Piscopo does a great job. Girltastic!