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I remember being very impressed with "Simon" when I saw it on a cable. But that was more than 20 years ago. What I remember was that the humor was clever and offbeat. It wasn't goofy, just weird and fun. There is a similarity to Woody Allen's "Sleeper" and I would also place film like "The President's Analyst" in the this category. Whether it was funny or not, I don't recall. But it doesn't really matter. There are many comedies that are extremely entertaining but not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny.

Of all the films that are not available on DVD, this is near the top of my want list (along with another Alan Arkin film, "The Seven Percent Solution". I'm curious to see what I'd think of it now. The 9 star vote I've given it is based on my memory. Hopefully, when I see it again, it will hold up.

As a fan of Argento's early films, I have been waiting for this to be released on DVD for years. "4 Flies" is the the only film from his golden era that I had not seen. Although there have been other ways to see this film, I have been stubbornly waiting for a DVD release. It was worth the wait and I was very entertained.

Some of the scientific/medical content of the crime investigation is silly. Besides that, I have very few complaints. It kept me guessing about the identity of the killer.

On a side note, I read a review that complained the movies is homophobic. That's not true. I think the gay character is presented as admirably honest and ultimately heroic. Considering this film was made in 1970, it was daring in that respect.

I have been continually disappointed by most of Argento's films after"Phenomen"so it was nice to travel back in time to when he was able to make a film like this

"Earth" is a 99 minute version of the almighty BBC series "Planet Earth" repackaged by Disney as part of its new "Disneynature" brand to carry on the tradition of the beloved nature segments on "The Wonderful World of Disney." That's not a bad idea; why spend millions of dollars on a new documentary when there's so much great material unseen by most audiences? But unless you have kids age 12 or under, you should watch the original series. This version is targeted at young kids that who can appreciate the focus on "family" structure of animals in the wild. For example, what would previously been referred to as the "male of the species, its mate and her young" has now become "mom, dad and their kids." Obviously such Disney-ifications are will irritate some but they should understand that this version is not intended for them. And not everything is sugar-coated, we still see some cute creatures falling prey to the the raw reality of nature.

On another note, I saw this at the theater and the photography is impressive. However, the Blu-Ray of the original BBC series looked dramatically sharper and much more vivid. I'm sure the Blu-Ray of this new version will also look far better than its theatrical presentation. This is another a testament to the superiority of "home theater" to actual theaters these days. I like going out to movies so I hope theaters can catch up with HD TVs soon.

(This review of "Earth" was condensed from my 728 page book entitled "From 'Planet Earth' to 'Earth:' An In-Depth Analysis of the Disney Restructuring of the Classic Series." Look for it on Amazon.)