Man On A Tightrope [HD]

Five stars for the movies themselves, BUT...
There's no question that many of the films in this collection are among the greatest movies of all time, but there is a major quality control issue in the release of this set. I just received a new, sealed copy, and while the packaging itself is very handsome, I was stunned when I took the discs out to examine them. In the set I received, EVERY one of the 18 discs had scuffs, scratches and what appeared to be flecks of adhesive on the playing surface. The DVD of PINKY in particular looked liked it had been scraped against a rough piece of metal. I can only assume this was the result of careless handling somewhere in the production process. My advice to anyone thinking of purchasing this pricey set is: if you really want to add the rarer films like VIVA ZAPATA! and WILD RIVER to your collection right now, you might take a chance and get it. Otherwise, I would hold off until these titles are (hopefully) released individually in the future.

Great films marred by 20th Century Fox's disregard for customers.
From a motion picture standpoint most of the films in this collection are "must sees" for any one who loves movies, or are a serious student of film. Unfortunately if you bought this box set your chances of enjoying these movies have been compromised by the cheap and shoddy way that 20th Century Fox has chosen to release it. Instead of providing individual DVD cases for the DVDs, the discs are packed into a booklet. However the glue that has been used to keep the booklet's pages together have gotten on to the discs rendering them defective. In the first set that I received of this collection, more than a half dozen of the discs had multiple globs of the glue on them and could not be played. Additionally almost all of the discs in the collection had scratches, scuff marks and some even had finger prints on them. Apparently 20th Century Fox has no quality control or regard for the consumer otherwise the disgraceful packaging of this set wouldnt have occured. The second...

Wish Tree Grows in Brooklyn Would be Issued Separately
I think this is great for collectors who don't have many of the films but many of us have many in this collection.
TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN is absolutely wonderful and deserves to be issued separately. I can imagine how many high
schools alone would buy it. They could do it in their CliffsNotes series like they did with JANE EYRE and ANNA
KARENINA. I am greatful to TCM for showing TREE often and they have a terrific print. Another great film, SUNRISE,
was never issued separately but at least it was in its own case and many copies turn up on e-bay. For me, the greatest child performance is still Peggy Ann Garner's in this film and there are terrific performances by Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell and James Dunn. Please, 20th Fox, put this out as a separate entity.

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Heaven Can Wait [HD]

"A passport to Hell is not issued on generalities."
At last, this timeless romantic comedy has gotten the Criterion "treatment" and is being released on dvd. Don Ameche stars as Henry Van Cleve, an over-the-hill former playboy who has died and gone to Hell. But Satan, or "His Excellency" (Laird Cregar, giving one of his very best performances!) isn't convinced that Van Cleeve belongs there, so Henry tells him the story of his life (through flashbacks of course).

Growing up a Van Cleeve wasn't easy, and young Henry had no one to turn to for help (both his parents are somewhat out of touch with reality!) except his wild grandfather (Charles Coburn), who is obviously not a very good role model for Henry. As Henry becomes a man, he starts pursuing young and beautiful women, and finally meets a respectable young lady, Martha (Gene Tierney). The problem is that Martha is already engaged to a relative of Henry's! But, he wins her over and they elope and begin their life together.

After ten years of marriage, Martha walks...

A witty, humane, thoughtful movie directed by Ernst Lubitsch and written by Samson Raphaelson
"As Henry Van Cleve's soul passed over The Great Divide, he realized that it was extremely unlikely that his next stop could be Heaven. And so, philosophically, he presented himself where innumerable people had so often told him to go."

Henry (Don Ameche) is greeted courteously by His Excellency (Laird Cregar). "I presume your funeral was satisfactory?" the devil asks. "Well...there was a lot of crying," Henry says, "so I believe everybody had a good time." His Excellency explains that while he will consider Henry's request, there must be good reasons to avoid going Up There. "If you meet our requirements, we'll be only too glad to accommodate you. Would you be kind enough to mention, for instance, some outstanding crime you've committed " "Crime...crime...I'm afraid I can't think of any," Henry says. "But I can safely say my whole life was one continuous misdemeanor."

Heaven Can Wait is the witty, nostalgic, gentle and surprisingly thoughtful tale of Henry Van...

Perfectly made, brilliant script
This was Don Ameche's finest film. For once, he had a first rate director and script and a chance to take the centre stage in a comedy. He plays a lifelong flirt who, in spite of his love for his wife, can't help himself when he encounters a pretty woman. Whether it be due to the Production Code or otherwise, his actions are very genteel and neither the audience nor his wife take him very seriously but his charm and humour create a warm and funny character.

All the other actors shine in their roles. Gene Tierney is subtle, versatile and graceful as Ameche's wife. It is a mystery to me why she is sometimes singled out as mediocre. She has some very complex dialogue which she delivers faultlessly, her timing is excellent and she ages very convincingly. Charles Coburn as grandpa has the best lines, Signe Hasso as a French maid steals every scene in which she appears and Eugene Pallete as Tierney's father-in-law, Mr Strable, is very funny. There is a memorable scene between...

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Housefull 2 (2 Disc Blu Ray Set) (Bollywood Blu Ray With English Subttitles) [Blu-ray]

Housefull 2
I would have to say that Housefull 2 is not as funny as Housefull but it had it's funny moments. I really enjoyed seeing ShreyasTalpade make his debut in this film. He is one of my new favorite Bollywood actors. Akshay Kumar and Ritesh Deshmukh are always funny whenever you put those two actors together.





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Essex Boys [HD]

A First-Rate Gangster Flick
Essex Boys is a 1999 "gangster" film that takes the viewer into the gritty, dangerous domain of Essex's drug-dealing underworld. The story is narrated in part by a lad named Billy, a lowly (but fairly quick-witted) driver for the self-important kingpins, and though we don't see everything from Billy's vantage point, it is an effective and engaging means of presenting the story. Though the characters and the story are pure fiction, the inspiration for the film came from the murder of three suspected drug dealers whose bodies were found in a Range Rover in Essex in 1995. The story created around this real-life event is highly imaginative, plausible, gripping, and suspenseful.

Sean Bean (Sharpe, Extremely Dangerous, Bravo Two Zero, The Fifteen Streets, Golden Eye), donning a cockney-flavoured Essex accent, is simply superb as the jealous, arrogant, mean-spirited, foul-mouthed Jason Locke, a drug-dealing thug who's just been released from prison (and who thinks he's God's gift to...

Smart, tough Brit crime bites and stings
After the flash and fire of Lock, Stock..., there were a whole spate of Brit crime flicks (including its empty-headed sequel Snatch). It's a credit to the genre (or sub-genre) that Essex Boys is one of the better entries.

That can be attributed to a very intelligent script, terrific acting (since when have British actors failed to deliver the goods?), and fast-paced directing--all of which speak of a keen understanding of exactly how to craft a thriller that moves the way it should.

Sean Bean is outstanding here as Jason, an ugly-minded thug who's just been let out of the pen. He finds his old mates, after settling a score in an especially violent scene, and together they set about raking in the pounds, primarily from drug dealing. What they don't count on is Jason's wife Lisa who's the toughest and smartest of all. Her plots and counterplots land her squarely in the femme fatale arena and it's a lot of fun to watch Alex Kingston, the actress who portrays her, strut her...

Another excellent performance by Bean
I don't feel the need to spell out the plot of the film, since you probably already know it if you're reading this, so I'll keep this short. If you're American and not used to watching British films you may have to watch it a couple times or try it with subtitles to catch everything, but the movie itself is still wonderful. Sean Bean is (as usual) the bad guy, and he plays it beautifully. If you're a fan of his or just into action-packed gangster flicks, I highly recommend Essex Boys.

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Youngblood Hawke

Enjoyable, but should have been better (i.e., trashier) - 3 & 1/2 stars
Yes, "trashier" -- a failure to go completely over the top makes this film at best moderately enjoyable, rather than gloriously entertaining in the way only a full-blown Hollywood melodrama can be. Filming in B&W was a mistake, as this sort of story absolutely needs that wonderfully oversaturated Technicholor of the late 1950s, making everything look both larger than life & waxily artificial. It feels as if the film doesn't quite know which way it wants to go: a gritty portrait of a dog-eat-dog social world, or a shameless wallow in shallow excess. Because, let's face it, the latter is what makes this sort of movie so much fun!

Still, there's good work to recommend here. James Franciscus isn't afraid to make his character a hard-edged, self-involved cad, perhaps not quite as naive as everyone else around him seems to think. He knows what he wants (or thinks he does) & goes after it relentlessly. And you can't go wrong with a dependable character actor like Edward Andrews,...

Good DVD quality
I love the book "Youngblood Hawke", and have always wanted to see the film. When it became available on DVD on Amazon I decided to order it, despite a tad of nervousness about the recording being made on DVD-R recordable media, as I just hoped it would play on my DVD player.

However, my concerns were all for naught. The DVD played beautifully, and I was finally able to see this old film in its entirety with great picture and sound quality.

The film itself was a bit disappointing as Hollywood took a lot of liberties with the story, and they also ruined the ending. It certainly would make a good mini-series for TV, and I hope someone will do that at some point in the future.

James Franciscus
The movie is simple but yet the actor's are not...they shine and with a hot stud like James you can't go wrong....so sad he died at such an early age...he could have done so much more...

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Moondance [HD]

Not to be missed, a delightful film
This recently released film is a beautiful story about Patrick and Dominic, two brothers living an unusually independent life on a delapidated country estate in western Ireland. Their lives are changed when Anya comes to stay, propelling both of them into a new understanding of themselves, their world and one another.

The cinematography in this film is outstanding and the acting sensitive and evocative. Ruaidhri Conroy, who has appeared in a number of Irish films, gives a particularly touching performance in the role of Patrick's younger brother Dominic, who undergoes a right of passage as the story unfolds.

Marrianne Faithful puts in a rare appearance as the boys' estranged mother.

All in all an outstanding film, with an outstanding cast. I highly recommend it! END

Moondance .
I have to confess to buying this DVD as a result of my interest in the music of Van Morrison. I was delighted and enthralled not knowing what to expect. The music is beautiful many of Vans famous songs sung by an equally talented Brian Kennedy. But the acting and story line was simply fabulous. The appeaance of Marianne Faithful is a treasure and the blend of story acting and music make this film unmissable. Buy it and enjoy!

ACADEMY AWARD WINNING
As a fan of Marianne Faithfull you too will be beleiving that Marianne has adopted you into her family. The "MOONDANCE" is truly a treasure and a magical reality check. Marianne's perormance left me unable to determine if she is acting or truly a genius, the second is an obvious. This film is too "cool" to be mainstream in the "good "old" U.S." The masses wouldn't get it.... I did... Thank you again Marianne Faithfull

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Bride and Prejudice [HD]

When Bollywood meets Hollywood
When Bollywood meets Hollywood

There’s bound to be some sparks

And for this take on Jane Austen

I give almost full marks

The story line is much the same

Except a little shorter

The noisy Bakshi family

Is short a Bennet daughter

Henderson’s no Colin Firth

He’s just a little bland

They could have found a better bloke

To take Lalita’s hand

The Bingley siblings caught my eye

I’ve seen them both before

He was her Kama Sutra guy

And now he’s “Lost” no more

The ending’s changed up quite a bit

This version’s changed the terms

Singing, dancing, Indian style

And riding pachyderms

A lively, funny musical

Though not for everyone

It’s almost Pride and Prejudice

But a hundred times...

Absolutely Loved it!
Rented this the other night and was completely blown away. I knew the general idea of the movie-Pride & Prejudice + 21st Century India + Bollywood--but had not seen either any other Bollywood style movie or Gurinder Chadha's big hit, Bend it Like Beckham.

I absolutely loved this movie, nearly everything about it from the music and dancing in the musical numbers (which break out at random intervals) to the acting to the intertwining stories of romance and heartbreak. Standout actors were the incredible Aishwarya Rai (Lalita) and the comic relief of Nitin Ganatra as Mr. Kholi, the gauche returnee from America shopping for a bride.

It was also lovely to see Naveen Andrews outside of "Lost" and just wish there could have been a bit more of him and his storyline with Lalita's sister.

The movie is in English but sometimes when the speech gets rolling quickly, the accents can make a scene a bit hard to follow, but since I want to watch this movie again and...

Jane Austen meets Bollywood and it's a gem of a film!!
What drew me to "Bride and Prejudice", first and foremost, was that this promised to be a modern day, Bollywood version of Jane Austen's beloved novel "Pride and Prejudice." As a fervent Austen fan, I knew I just couldn't pass this movie up. Secondly, it is directed by Gurinder Chadha whose previous film "Bend It Like Beckham" is one of my favorite feel-good movies ever.

I had never been exposed to Bollywood filmmaking before this movie. The closest thing I ever got to Indian culture is the food (which I love), Chadha's "Bend It..." film and an earlier viewing of "Monsoon Wedding." I had no idea what to expect. The lively and vibrant songs and dances, beautiful and colorful costumes, memorable and endearing characters, and faithful re-telling of Austen's novel that makes up "Bride and Prejudice" just caught me by surprise.

And what a ride it has been! Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges did an excellent job of following Jane Austen's storyline; that of a...

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Children Of Heaven [HD]

Fascinating story of two children and one pair of shoes.
This movie is a perfect example of how a film can be made beautifully effective without having to resort to raw sex, constant violence, or complicated plots. It is the simple but charming story of two poor children, a brother and a sister, who must share one pair of shoes because the brother, during his walk home from the shoe repair loses his sister's shoes.The loss of the shoes brings on all the difficulties with which they must now cope. The film tenderly shows how they strive toward resolution of their problem. The dialogue is kept minimal, and yet the director has achieved a very solid tension that keeps your eyes glued to the screen from the opening frames till the very end. This film beautifully shows a world of which most Westerners are completley unaware, a world that is so different from our own. The bulk of the film is carried very capably, on the shoulders of two small, young children, and they do a totally magnificant job of making you believe this very...

Wonderful story of a brother's love for his little sister
This 1997 film is from Iran. And it's the kind of film that the whole family can enjoy. It's about a 9-year old boy who loses his 7-year old sister's shoes through no fault of his own. They are very poor and they both want to keep it a secret from their parents. And so they share his only pair of worn-out sneakers. She wears them to school in the morning, and then runs through the streets, gives him the shoes and he wears them in the afternoon. Such a plan is not without its challenges, however. She almost loses a shoe when it falls into a gutter. He's late for school. The shoes are worn. Both of them crave a pair of their own.

Amir Farrokh Hasherman is cast as the boy. He has the biggest, most expressive eyes I've ever seen and my heart immediately went out to him. Bahare Seddiqi is the little sister. She wears a long dress and a white head covering just like all the other little girls. It's their shoes that show their individuality and she is always looking at all...

work of art
The wonderful Iranian film, "Children of Heaven," and its companion piece, "The White Balloon", remind one of those great Czechoslovakian films of the 1960's ("The Shop on Main Street" and "Loves of a Blonde" etc.) in that they achieve their artistry by providing keenly observed glimpses into the minutiae of everyday life. They also help to humanize a culture often regarded as alien and even incomprehensible to western eyes. Above all, this magnificent film reminds us that real drama comes not in the form of overplotted special effects laden extravaganzas, but from films that examine the universal simplicities of life as we all know it. When it is distilled through the eyes of a poet - this is when art is achieved.

"Children of Heaven" has its roots planted firmly in the neorealist tradition. Its simple story echoes not merely the earlier "The White Balloon" but the original Italian classic, "The Bicycle...

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K-9: P.I.

3 very funny and exciting films!
This is a fantastic bargain. There is one disc here, but you get all 3 K-9 films. The first 2 films on side one. The 3rd film of the trilogy on side 2.

James Belushi is perfectly comfortable in his ad-lib role as the cop with the German Shepheard partner. The timing is right on and the action non-stop. Bravo!

A Dog lovers must.
What a great buy!!! All 3 of the K-9 movies for the price of one. The first movie is the best, Jerry Lee really has an attitude in that one, but I loved them all. James Belushi is funny in all of the movies. This set is a must for every dog lover.

awesome
a must have! this pack is well-priced, and lots of laughs.

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Unfaithfully Yours [HD]

His Last Bow
In hindsight, Paramount's decision to terminate their relationship with Preston Sturges occupies the region between 'insane', 'irresponsible' and that old standby, 'stupid'. Sturges' subsequent relocation to Fox was, of course, utterly disastrous; which makes UNFAITHFULLY YOURS as much a miracle as it is a great comedy. His stock company (save for a very funny Rudy Vallee) was now a thing of the past; although the cast he assembled here is game and lively, Edgar Kennedy foremost among them. Nevertheless, UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is Sturges' second consecutive attempt (after MAD WEDNESDAY) to move away from his trademark of the inspired dialogue-comedy and towards a more visual (or in this case, audio-visual) farce. Fortunately for us, he succeeded brilliantly (not that it cut him any ice in an increasingly desperate studio-system that not only didn't know what to do with its few geniuses but began to openly despise them). Rex Harrison plays a vain, high-strung symphony conductor who -thanks...

One of Sturges' very best
Only The Lady Eve forces me to edge this movie out of number-one spot among Preston Sturges' comedies. The dialogue is snappy as ever (Doltish husband: "Too much temperament! Give me the simple viewpoint!" His wisecracking wife: "You've got it, kid. You don't have to yearn for it.") but the slapstick of the finale is cleverer by far than any in his other movies. The use of music is inspired, both in Harrison's concert revenge-fantasies and in his later attempts to put them into action, when the music is spiked with comic effects. A little slow to get started, this movie soon enough develops a quirky, unpredictable, and completely fascinating story line. Don't deprive yourself of seeing this!

Classic Struges comedy finally comes to DVD
In "Unfaithfully Yours" Rex Harrison plays a conductor who imagines what he would do to his wife (who he believes to be cheating on him)during a performance. Unfortunately, he discovers that real life never works as smoothly as one's fantasies. A classic Preston Sturges comedy, "Unfaithfully Yours" captures the brilliant comedy director in top form. Although there was an anemic remake with Dudley Moore in 1984 (with a screenplay co-written by Valerie Curtain the cousin of Jane Curtain of "Saturday Night Live" fame and one of the original cast members of "Three's Company"), all it does is prove not to mess with a classic film.

This new Criterion edition has some really cool extras and the image quality is very, very good. The audio Audio commentary by Sturges scholars James Harvey, Diane Jacobs, and Brian Henderson are fascinating but I honestly preferred the video appreciation by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) as well as the video interview with Sandy Sturges. There's...

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Love'S Labour'S Lost [HD]

You will be smiling...
I've always loved Branagh. From the moment he made film history with HENRY V (by being the first person since Orson Welles to earn Oscar nominations for both actor and director for the same film) to the light touch he brough to his voice acting in the animated ROAD TO EL DORADO, he has always been a favorite.

But--a film musical based on one of Shakespeare's least-important works? Set in the late 1930's no less? Sounds almost as bad an idea as MOULIN ROUGE. Intrigued, we rented the film from Netflix.

AND FELL IN LOVE. Who cares about the chop-job he did on the "sacred" text? Who cares about the lack of voice in some of his singers? What we watched was a film that made us smile from the opening credits all the way through the final act.
Set aside your preconceptions about what a Shakespeare film should be. Set aside your ideas about what a musical should look like. Enjoy the fun of the film, the glamour of its costuming, its very likable cast. When most movies try to...

LLL 40% Shakespeare, 100% fun
Love's Labour's Lost is true to the spirit of Shakespeare's comedy if not the text itself. A delightfully entertaining blend of Gershwin, Porter, and a little bit of the Bard, LLL is highly recommended for musical theatre lovers and anyone willing to consider Renaissance theatre in ways not involving pantaloons and talking to skulls. Nathan Lane is brilliant as Costard, here interpreted as a struggling vaudevillian; Lane lends vocal support (the weakest area of the cast) to the eleven o'clock number "There's No Business Like Show Business." Though the ensemble struggles through some of the musical numbers, the bittersweet "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is all the more moving because of their difficulties. The only number which seems not to fit within the framework of the play/musical/film is also its chief selling point; LLL publicity has focused upon the Fosse-esque "Let's Face the Music and Dance," which stands out in an otherwise charmingly coquettish production as a...

Much Ado About a Musical
This film was not widely released, but being an avid Branagh fan I made a trip to go see it, hoping it would become a favorite like his earlier film, Much Ado About Nothing. Alas, this was not the case. Although very cute, I felt like I was watching a high school drama production -mind you, a very good one- but I didn't think it was as up to par as some of his earlier films. The movie definitely does have a feeling of a MGM musical (I think that's what they were going for) and the songs are old favorites by Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and Irving Berlin. Amazingly enough, the actors sing, and quite well. Adrian Lester (previously seen in Primary Colors) has a great voice and was the best dancer in the cast. At times I felt that Alicia Silverstone (The Princess) seemed a little too southern California for Shakespeare, but even she began to grow on me during the movie.

Love's Labour's Lost is one of the Bard's lesser known plays and is very easy to understand. Although I seemed...

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Reindeer Games [HD]

Great Video and Audio Quality
Please describe the audio and video quality of any Blu-Ray you review. Thanks to those who do this.

I am reviewing the Director's Cut Blu-Ray version released on 03/06/12. I noticed no difference in the movie with this Director's Cut compared to the version I recently saw on satellite TV. The aspect ratio is 2.35:1, not 1.85:1. Sound is DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, which is really great (lot's of surround sound and sub-woofer bass). Video quality is outstanding.

I think this is a good movie, and a very good Blu-Ray purchase (especially at this price).

Mr. Ben's Mild Ride
After trashing "Pearl Harbor" last year and "The Sum of All Fears" this year, I felt the pangs of guilt telling me I was picking on local boy Ben Affleck. Therefore, to appease my conscience, I decided to review a Ben Affleck film I enjoy - John Frankenheimer's "Reindeer Games".

"Reindeer Games" is just about the most unremarkable, low-stakes thriller you could ever expect to see, featuring all the obvious twists, all the obvious turns, and set in locations and in pursuit of prizes that do not exactly get the viewer buzzing with excitement. What makes the film work, in its own modest way, are the director and the cast.

Frankenheimer is covering old territory here, but it is like watching a veteran baseball player at the plate or in the field - you've seen it a thousand times before but it is still fun to watch. Frankenheimer knows how to edit his films just right, and he always gets a kinky, dark edge out of all his scripts...

One extremely thrilling and suspenseful ride
I didn't think Reindeer Games was anywhere near as mediocre as the critics thought it was. As a matter of fact, I loved the film, and it's certainly much better than that other much overrated plot twisting thriller Wild Things (a mostly suspenseless which might hold some sort of cinematic record for most plot twists ever).

The film is about a car thief named Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck). His best friend, Nick, who has a pen pal named he plans on meeting after he's released-which is also the same day Rudy will be let out-is killed during a food fight. Rudy, in a very tough decision, decides to pretend he's Nick and meets the beautiful Ashley, Nick's pen pal. At first, everything seems to be going right for him for the first time, until Ashley's brother Gabriel arrives and demands Rudy, whom he thinks is Nick, to help him and his band of cronies rob a casino since Nick used to work as a security guard there. Now, Rudy has to try to pretend he's Nick and convince Gabriel...

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The Barbarian Invasions [HD]

Death of a bon vivant
Infrequently, if at all, does a film for general release revolve around normal, natural death, i.e. one not brought on by fanged space aliens, world-renting cataclysms, wild gunfights, or some other Tinseltown special FX. Hollywood script writers should walk though any cemetery sometime. Not since the 2001 tour de force, WIT, starring Emma Thompson, has the topic been intelligently portrayed. Now comes THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS, a powerful French Canadian film of albeit misleading title.

London investor Sebastien (Stephane Rousseau) is summoned home to Quebec by his mother, Louise (Dorothee Berryman) to attend the approaching death of his father, Remy (Remy Girard). Father and son have been long estranged - ever since Remy and Louise divorced. Remy, an outspoken Professor of History and a self-described "sensuous socialist", has spent his life indulging in wine, women, song, and learned conversation. Especially women. The reunion shows little promise of succeeding,...

The Decline and Fall of Quebecois Utopia
It was rather surprising to learn that this anti-socialist movie won a Foreign Film Oscar. Denys Arcand is well-know for his biting satire of Québécois society, against the clergy in Jésus of Montréal and against Québécois politics in this movie. Invasions Barbares is a sequel to the famous Le Déclin de l'Empire Américan (The Decline of the American Empire), where he philosophizes on the end of the American hegemony based on history and some fast-and-dirty sociology.

In this movie, the Fall of the American Empire is represented by the WTC attack, but the bulk of the movie is not concerned with the United States but with Quebec. In this, Rémy (Rémy Girard), the history professor with a high libido, is dying of cancer and his previous relationships give him no solace. Everyone from Déclin comes back to support him in his hard times, including his estrangled son Sébastien (Stéphane...

AMIDST IDEOLOGICAL CHITCHAT, A FULL-BODIED ODE TO LIFE
The Barbarian Invasions is nothing if not a chatty movie, almost every character is well developed and most of what is said is amusing without the self-satisfied piety or strenuous jokiness of garden variety Hollywood flicks.

A man on his death bed, Remy, invites all his friends and family hoping in such a reunion to pass on his pearls of wisdom, and to reconcile all that has remained undone or that shouldn't have been done.

Woven around this seemingly simple frame are many relationships, all explored richly and with fluid rhythm, and some fabulous dialogue veering around insightful ideologies.

For instance, Remy and his son wage what seems to be a lifelong argument, the young man defending his free-market values, faith in technological progress and ascetic lifestyle, and Remy extolling the virtues of socialism and epicurean excess. I was surprised to see some footage of 9/11 in support for the negatives that accompany American-style capitalism...

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Reindeer Games (Director's Cut) [HD]

Great Video and Audio Quality
Please describe the audio and video quality of any Blu-Ray you review. Thanks to those who do this.

I am reviewing the Director's Cut Blu-Ray version released on 03/06/12. I noticed no difference in the movie with this Director's Cut compared to the version I recently saw on satellite TV. The aspect ratio is 2.35:1, not 1.85:1. Sound is DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, which is really great (lot's of surround sound and sub-woofer bass). Video quality is outstanding.

I think this is a good movie, and a very good Blu-Ray purchase (especially at this price).

Mr. Ben's Mild Ride
After trashing "Pearl Harbor" last year and "The Sum of All Fears" this year, I felt the pangs of guilt telling me I was picking on local boy Ben Affleck. Therefore, to appease my conscience, I decided to review a Ben Affleck film I enjoy - John Frankenheimer's "Reindeer Games".

"Reindeer Games" is just about the most unremarkable, low-stakes thriller you could ever expect to see, featuring all the obvious twists, all the obvious turns, and set in locations and in pursuit of prizes that do not exactly get the viewer buzzing with excitement. What makes the film work, in its own modest way, are the director and the cast.

Frankenheimer is covering old territory here, but it is like watching a veteran baseball player at the plate or in the field - you've seen it a thousand times before but it is still fun to watch. Frankenheimer knows how to edit his films just right, and he always gets a kinky, dark edge out of all his scripts...

One extremely thrilling and suspenseful ride
I didn't think Reindeer Games was anywhere near as mediocre as the critics thought it was. As a matter of fact, I loved the film, and it's certainly much better than that other much overrated plot twisting thriller Wild Things (a mostly suspenseless which might hold some sort of cinematic record for most plot twists ever).

The film is about a car thief named Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck). His best friend, Nick, who has a pen pal named he plans on meeting after he's released-which is also the same day Rudy will be let out-is killed during a food fight. Rudy, in a very tough decision, decides to pretend he's Nick and meets the beautiful Ashley, Nick's pen pal. At first, everything seems to be going right for him for the first time, until Ashley's brother Gabriel arrives and demands Rudy, whom he thinks is Nick, to help him and his band of cronies rob a casino since Nick used to work as a security guard there. Now, Rudy has to try to pretend he's Nick and convince Gabriel...

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Much Ado In Mostar

A piece of peace
A documentary that chronicles the summer when a Dartmouth prof trained a mix of young Serbs, Croats & Muslims to perform Shakespeare's classic "Much Ado About Nothing". The cast express their opinions about peace and their desires to live without war; most were born just before or during the 1991-1994 war in Serbia & Bosnia. Their opinions & example should be the peace guideline followed in the U.N. They proved to themselves that they not only could coexist, but did during the presentation of the play. Their futures would be an interesting follow-up.





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Edward, My Son

Just love this movie
I really love this movie...but then, I love almost all classic films. This is perhaps a lesser known one, but it is entertaining! I always enjoy Spencer Tracy and Deborah Kerr.

One Self Centered Father would be a better title
I recorded this movie few days ago and watch it over several different days it is a little long but that is OK since you want to find out about Edward the Son. The father played by Spencer Tracy is Lord Boult and what he wants he gets all for Edward. The Wife Debora Kerr does not have a big a part as the viewer might thinks and she wants a divorce but Old Lord Boult will not grant her one. She wants to move to America again Old Boult says no. Talk about a real heal he steps on anybody and everybody his best friend needs help but does old Boult help him nope he just watching him laying on the laying on street several stories below. Again and again her says does doing it for his Son Edward and he has affair with the office sectary when the wife does same he get his way again and get the wife lover to leave her be yep old old Lord Boult what a two face s@#$B is he.
But he get his in the end they found out he burnt his store to collect on the insurance and get jail and prison time...



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Unstoppable

Hold Your Breath! Here Comes The Train!
Chris Pine has really become quite the actor. I saw him first as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, and since then, I have gone back to watch a couple of his earlier movies along with the lower-budget Sci-Fi flick, "Carriers." In "Unstoppable," he really turns on the heat, and side-by-side with good ol' Denzel, he shines.

Here was a movie that, while viewing the trailers, I was thinking, "Really? An entire movie about a runaway train?" Well, the resounding answer is, "YES!" An excellent back-story, along with a perfect amount of character-building to get us to really like these people, made for a foundation on which to build one heck of an over-the-top mountain of suspense! In addition to Chris, Denzel Washington was excellent, as always, and the rest of the acting crew, especially Rosario Dawson, were perfectly cast and on top of their game as well. The main character was more than just a menace, though, it was downright deadly...THE TRAIN!

A review I read on another...

Pure Fun
Why is it that people love going to the movies so much? Escapism. This is exactly what this movie is. Great escapism.

This movie is pure fun. It's loud, fast, and once it gets going it keeps you at the edge of your seat until it's done. It's one of those movies where once you reach the end, you feel like you've been holding your breath the entire time. It gets your heart pounding.

Anyone who likes Speed would like this movie.

And you think you had a rough day at work...
When human error leads to the spectacle of a fully powered, unmanned freight train carrying toxic materials at over 70 mph into a heavily populated area, a veteran railroader (Denzel Washington) and a rookie (Chris Pine) must work together to bring it to a halt while the nation watches on cable television.

I've been waiting for a really good runaway train movie since...well, "Runaway Train," and it's finally here. Director Tony Scott lets nothing stand in the way of the action, yet still manages to present characters we care about and an intelligent story (screenwriter Mark Bomback) that clearly explains the factors that led to the disaster and the steps taken to rectify it. The result is an efficient, thrilling action picture that is easy to recommend.

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The People Against O'Hara

"Couldn't beat it, could ya? Just a worn down, old lush."
When has Spencer Tracy not ever been in top form? He's solid yet again and appropriately world-weary in 1951's THE PEOPLE AGAINST O'HARA, and maybe it's because his character in the film bears a similar cross. Like Tracy in real life, James P. Curtayne is an alcoholic. It's what forced him to shift career tracks, from the assistant district attorney's office to the less intense field of civil suits. Curtayne's concerned daughter (Diana Lynn) has put her life on hold to ensure that he doesn't relapse. As the film starts, she thinks her job nearly done. But how can James P. Curtayne reject the pleas of an elderly couple from the old neighborhood whose son had just been arrested on a murder charge? He's known his latest client, John Fordman O'Hara (James Arness of GUNSMOKE), from when Johnny was a pup. He's back to practicing criminal law.

Except that Johnny O'Hara's alibi is flimsy, practically insubstantial. The case against him is strong. Curtayne has his work cut out, and...

THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE GRIND SLOWLY...
Spencer Tracy is a standout in this tale of redemption. Playing the role of James Curtayne, an attorney who was once a formidable and respected prosecutor and is now in his own practice handling civil suits, brought low by his penchant for booze, he is clearly a man battling his own demons. Staying on the straight and narrow with the help of his devoted daughter (Diana Lynn), all is well until he decides to help out a Johnny O'Hara (James Arness), a young man whom he has known for a long time.

It appears that Johnny has gone and found himself charged with Murder in the First Degree for a crime he did not commit. His elderly, impoverished parents implore James Curtayne to help their son. He tries to explain that he does not handle criminal cases but finds himself, in a moment of weakness, caving in and taking the case for peanuts. He is, however, thrilled to be back in the game.

Unfortunately, there are many impediments to his quest to vindication for his...



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The Constant Nymph

WARNER'S ARCHIVE RELEASE EXCELLENT HIDDEN GEM!
For those wondering the quality of the print of this Warner Archive release, please be aware that it is NOT clean and flaw-free. In fact, I would compare it to earlier releases from the Turner-era, before digital cleaning and repair became the norm. This print indeed has its minor short-comings.

But to finally be able to see this beautiful classic makes up for the lack of polish and digital magic. There are no serious breaks in the film stock, and the sound is quite clean overall, so the fact that it is not perfect matters little to me. No doubt I will be viewing this film again and again for some time.

Enjoy!

She was robbed!
It took us several days to get through the moving and glittery CONSTANT NYMPH, but others may just want to dive in and drown in its luxurious Warner Brothers gloss and the fabulous Korngold music. As Glenn Erickson says on the DVD Savant blog, THE CONSTANT NYMPH dramatizes the making of a musical composition, the "symphonic poem" TO-MORROW which gradually grows and changes and attains its final expression during the course of the film, and this part of the film is a triumphant success. It is a glorious piece of music and the oddest thing is that when the singer, the glorious Clemence Groves, begins her solo, the chord changes are dramatically similar to those of a much later piece of musical theater, Stephen Sondheim's "Losing My Mind" from FOLLIES--and I'm like, hey, that's weird, didn't FOLLIES also have Alexis Smith in it? I wondered if Sondheim had played around with "To-Morrow" when he was composing "Losing My Mind" as a tribute to his great star.

Well, maybe it's...

How should I review this movie?
I not only remembered the name but the stars of this movie I saw only one time over 60 years ago. It was a movie I saw as a teenager and could not forget with the passage of time. How many movies can you say that about.

I gave this short and simple movie five stars because it far superior to many movies given an academy award today. Frankly it is what I would call a condensed soap opera or a "B Grade" which were so popular in the past - in other words a movie worth about 4 stars; but a movie you have a hard time forgetting. To sum it up, the movie makes you feel human emotions which most movies do not do anymore.

Most movies are not only unrealistic but the charactors are dehuminized to objects that will do anything to get what they want. That is why the underlying fabric of our society is crumbling. The old movie producers might not have lived perfect lives; but they did try to give society a model to follow to help the public to surive this imperfect society -...

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After Image [HD]

Kind of unnecessary...
I used to like thrillers over horror movies because I figured that the psychology involved meant a lot more thought needed to be put into the characters and plotline to make it work. Lately that kind of reasoning has been kind of failing me.

Not that this is a bad movie by any means. It's just kind of unnecessary. The idea is good and I'm attracted to it because of a similar situation in a Carl Hiaasen novel. A crime-scene photographer who is severely affected by the nature of his photographs decides to escape for a while, going to stay with his aunt. Unfortunately, a psychopath is loose and chasing down the photographer and his new girlfriend, who is deaf and sees visions of future crimes, a la something like In Dreams and whatnot.

I figured this movie would be interesting to see because of the idea of an "after image" affecting the photographer character and how he deals with his, erm, photographic memory, but it didn't really concentrate on that. I...

John might want to stay w/writing & singing his music
Mellencamp - so talented & so sexy w/song. Catch his "moves" on older videos. I digress - this movie is confusing & he's not an actor. Not even better then his corny film about a famous performer coming home only to return to his old/wild ways. M. Hemingway is incredibly miscast as his wife - too elegant for him - too elegant for the movie. Must not have had much to say about "After Image" - may have fallen asleep...

Movie
This movie is a little weird and it is a darker type of movie so it hard to see at some points. But I love John Mellencamp though!

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